Kept 'never swum'? That is where he started. The story is where he got to: lengths of the pool. Kept 'clung'? That was the first day. He let go.
This one really happened. Tom Walsh, from Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, had never learned to swim. After a stroke in 2022 he started going to Selkirk Leisure Centre with his wife Marian, a lifelong swimmer, and held on to the side. An instructor there, Grace Cockburn, went over to help. In one lesson she told him, "Today, Tom, we're jumping in at the deep end," and he did. He came back nearly every day to practise. For his and Marian's golden wedding anniversary he swam 25 lengths while Grace swam 50 beside him. (Border Telegraph, 4 November.)
Every word, accounted for
AA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
72-year-oldHow old he is. Stays.
strokeWhat he lived through. Stays.
survivorWho he is. Stays.
whoA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
hadA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
neverThe best wrong word here: where he started, not where he got to.
swumGoes with never. That was before.
inA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
hisA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
lifeGoes with never. That was before.
atA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
firstA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
clungWhat he did at the start. He let go in the end.
toA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
pool'sWhere it happened, not what happened.
sideWhat he clung to.
butA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
keptHow he got there. The lengths are the news.
goingA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
backGoes with kept going.
andA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
inA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
theA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
endA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
swamWhat he did. Stays.
lengthsWhat he swam. Stays.