Oscar Kightley says he has no problem entertaining audiences of thousands of people, but swimming ''still kind of freaks me out''.
The Samoan-born, New Zealand-raised award-winning actor, television presenter and writer said he had not been able to swim his entire life.
When Water Safety New Zealand heard last year, the organisation approached with an offer to teach him in exchange for his raising awareness of the issue and the publicity of his efforts to learn to lead other adults by example.
Kightley regaled delegates of the International Water Safety and Aquatic Education Conference in Queenstown on Friday with why he could not swim, its impact on his life and why he is so determined to ''conquer that mountain'' in one year, after a few false starts over the past 20 years.
Learning to swim was never considered a priority among family and friends in either island nation, he said. It did not stop him fishing with friends on boats, or hanging out on the beach.
''The pool was somewhere you went for holidays, somewhere to splash around, when you weren't at the movies,'' Kightley said.
''It's surprising how common that is. The more I talk to people about it I realise a lot of adults can't swim and since I've been publicising it, I've been approached by adults who said the same thing and who are encouraged to start to learn.
''Trouble is, as you get older, you think there's no point in learning that stuff, but actually, there's still a lot of value to be gained, especially when the beach or the river are such a part of the activities here.''
The ability to swim could save your life, or someone else's, Kightley said.
''Something as important as swimming should be like breathing and walking, just one of our basic tools we have in our tool kit to help us through life.''
