You've heard of "water-boarding" perhaps? That's what you experienced, except with water-boarding you don't get to come to the surface. Back to swimming: one

You've heard of "water-boarding" perhaps? That's what you experienced, except with water-boarding you don't get to come to the surface. Back to swimming: one never overcomes the sensations, one merely learn that it will happen, that it's unpleasant, and that, when it occurs, to control one's response. Here's what you want to learn to do when you get a snootful of H20: 1. stop inhaling immediately: close the throat and back of the nose, 2. exhale sharply through the nose, no matter how little breath your lungs are holding. Use your belly muscles to force the cough, 3. get to the surface and _slowly_ breathe in a full breath, 4. then sharply exhale through mouth and nose to clear the airways. Repeat as required. You can practice this on dry land. I guess what makes this really difficult is that one must learn to suppress the feeling that "I'm gonna die!".