Bergford—who owns Altitude Dog Training and Uptown Dog, two Longmont, Colo.–based canine training and boarding companies he started with his wife, Gina—has lived for some 30 years simply avoiding the water as a means of coping with his fear. But over time, this tactic began to chafe him. He isn’t the sort of person who’s comfortable leaving a limitation alone. “I could have spent my life avoiding it, but I realized that’s not my nature and not part of who I am as a person,” he says. “I’m not going to have my fears dictate what I’m going to be able to do and accomplish and the impact I’m going to have.” He made a similarly bold move when attempting to overcome a fear of heights. “When I realized how much a fear of heights was affecting me—it wasn’t to the level of the water thing—but the fear of heights got to me, so I decided to take up rock-climbing, because that’s the next logical step, right?” he says. LEARNING TO DOG PADDLE He decided to eradicate his fear of water the only way that made sense to him—by facing it head-on—or, rather, head-in. “I realized how small I was playing by allowing some fear to control me and what I was doing,” Bergford says. “So I kind of just flipped it on its head and said, ‘To heck with it! I’m going to dive in and attack this thing.’” But that would take a lot of effort and the support of an understanding teacher named Bob Bowman. No, not that Bob Bowman, coach of legendary swimmer Michael Phelps—though Bergford says Phelps’s stunning success in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was an inspiration to him to finally get over his fear of the water. Rather, Bergford looked up a local swimming instructor and found a willing partner in Colorado Masters Swimming member Brian Bergford owns Altitude Dog Training and Uptown Dog, two Longmont, Colo.–based canine training and boarding companies. 20 usms.org