Fear of swimming in front of others/publicly?

Your backstroke keeps your face out of the water so you can see, you can breathe as normal, BUT, have you ever considered you have a small case of claustrophobia where you don't like your face restricted from breathing.I have seen twins where the girl can swim backstroke eloquently and quite fast but her butterfly and freestyle are about 80% of the same speed of her backstroke.Her brother when he began swimming could not stand water being poured over his head and face in a bath, so when it came to the swimming pool. It was a battle but with perseverance of being on the side of the pool and hanging on lowering himself, like Dunkin' Donuts, he overcame the fear of water covering his face.It took him approximately 7 days at the pool dunking and swimming without ridicule from anyone but was assisted by the instructors to overcome this fear and now swims as many laps for his age in any stage of swimming.But he had that fear of getting his face in the water from the age of three years old or earlier when it was in the bath. But it took him courage and perseverance to overcome the face being covered this I can attest to, he did overcome it and now enjoys water more than his sister.So perseverance a little compassion and understanding you can do the same, just believe in yourself and don't worry about the rest, because they may one day come across something that is equally as traumatic and if they're lucky, they may understand where you've been, but not where you're going, so swim on your get there. Good luck