Answer :
Douglas recounts his childhood experience at the Y.M.C.A. pool to enable the readers
to understand the exact nature and intensity of the terror. The fear of being surrounded
by the water, the fear of putting his head in the water, the fear of choking and the fear of
his limbs going numb couldn't have been explained to a reader unacquainted with
Douglas' childhood experience. In that case, the elaborate strategy adopted by the
author (and his instructor) and the time-taken by him to learn or master even simple
things, though put in the perspective of his fear of water, couldn't have been understood
properly.
By quoting Roosevelt, "All we have to fear is fear itself," Douglas indicates the larger
meaning that he draws from his experience. For him, the importance of life became
evident when he encountered death or rather its proximity threatening his life•