About to begin swimming lessons soon and not only do i have the worry of deep water but the fear of how my hair will look and how the chlorine etc will affect it in the swimming bath

Id appreciate any advice on this very tough subject for me

i worry about the same thing. You often hear of people (especially Farrell) say you can swim with your hair attached.. but i worry about what the chemicals in the pool are going to do to the piece... and of course what it'll look like while swimming without having a mirror on hand to quickly finger-style it to looking good again.

You can get 'sun & swim' protection for the hair that creates a barrier to chemicals.
Its usually just a spray-on, comb-thru thing.
We in the UK have this, but I'm sure there are equivalents in other countries.
http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Sun-Swim-a...l_1262097/

The hair will look perfectly natural when you're swimming.
When you emerge from the water, I usually come straight up out of the water and give my head a sideways flick.
That way all the hair is hanging down, with the front swept to one side.
You'll then look like anyone else with soaked hair.

You just need to make sure your attachment is recent & solid on the day you go swimming.
You'll be fine!

PS. You could always emerge from the water having had this mishap and you'll find no-one is looking at your hair:

ROFLMAO ...!!! Thanks Hersute, that was great.