There must be dozens of state parks, lakes, and recreational areas for swimming in your neck of the woods Hotwater
I can swim... I taught myself because I almost drowned due to my older brother throwing me in the water without my water wings, no one there to help me.. Sure I was panicked and thought I was seriously going to drown...then my cousin had to jump in and pull me out.. It was a horrible experience which made me afraid of water, wouldn't even stand near it... Then decided to get over my fear and slowly started to teach myself to swim, which now I must say I am pretty damn good...
when I was around 13 or 14, my friend and I would tie our hands to our feet so it was impossible to escape and take turns rescuing each other from the bottom of his 10 ft deep pool...