The person who taught you to swim taught you something that could save your life. That’s worth a thank-you.

Lessons that could keep you alive get taught by people you promptly forget. Somebody stood in waist-deep water holding you up, repeating the same instruction, until your body learned something it will still know at seventy. Nobody frames that as a major contribution, including them. The teachers of basics are the ones who disappear from the story first.

Thank whoever taught you if they are still reachable. Then pass on one basic to somebody who does not have it, whether that is swimming, driving a stick shift or cooking one real meal.