Why cant you swim?

I can swim but not good at all the reason for that is that i dont go around water much. But did you know that most sailors on the old ships couldnt swim??? actualy it was rare for anyone to know how to swim. What i did learn about swimming i learned on my own when i had to get some place across the lake
 
Grim/Don said:
Do what I did with my son... take him to the pool everyday and let him do what HE wants to do. If he wants to sit on the side with his toes in, that's cool. If he wants to play Matchbox cars in the shade, that's cool as well. Every now and then, ask him if he wants to get in and BE THERE to help him if he does. Have floaties for him, and/or a ring for him to play on. Take him to Walmart and let him pick out his own pool toy. If he still doesn't want to get in, play with the toy yourself and have fun doing it. If he sees you're having fun (and not scared), he'll be far more likely to want to join you.

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That's more or less what my dad did. He took us to a really shallow pool and let us play in it till we were kind of swimming, then he gave us life vests and let us go with him out to deep water so we wouldn't be afraid of swimming in a lake, and then he taught us to swim.

One of the things he did to me was to take me to an actual pool. ( we always went swimming in a lake) and put me in the 8 foot section. (when I was about 7 I think) Anyway he told me to hold my breath, drop to the bottom, kick back up, and take another breath.

Once I had got that going he said "see, you couldn't drown here so there's no reason to be afraid of the water" :thumbup:
 
I have been to the beach, lakes, pools etc. all my life, and thought I could swim. I went to Cub scout resident camp a couple years ago with my son, and you have to take a swim test to gauge your ability.

I don't know if it was the shoulder injury I had, the extra pounds I was packing :o , or what, but I couldn't even finish the test. Classifed (non-swimmer)

I was very embarrassed to be an adult and be a non-swimmer, and my son was also a non-swimmer. That is somewhat disheartening for a boy to not be able to hang with most of his friends out at the raft. Even more so for an adult. :rolleyes:

We did send my son to swim lessons (I probably should have taken some myself), and last year at camp, we both got beginner. I was proud of both of us.

So there hope for my son. As for myself, I am either out of shape, or just not a good swimmer. I am okay with that...

Glenn
 
I'm a SCUBA Instructor, and feel quite comfortable in the water. I can't imagine not knowing how to swim; it seems extremely irresponsible.

I leaned to swim when I was about 5 years old. My parents signed me up for swim lessons, and we eventually bought a house with a pool. I didn't really develop efficient technique until I worked with the school swim coach in college. I'm sort of getting back into swimming now; it's great exercise.
 
Couldn't help it, in Nova Scotia we have more lakes/rivers/beaches than we know what to do with.

I remember once me and a friend (12 years old) swam at least a kilometer and half across a lake to an island and back, his father just watched us go and wasn't concerned.

Can you even help a swimmer being taken out by the tide if you are a swimmer yourself? (in the same situation) It's come up before
 
I learned how to swim around the time I was 3 or 4 years old. It's kind of necessary since I live between two bodies of water (Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean). I've gone to rivers and beaches with non-swimmers before, and can't imagine not being able to swim. One way to look at it, if you know how to swim, it doesn't just make it easier for you to help yourself, it'll be easier for someone else to help you if you get in a jam.


The funny thing is, I can't float to save my life. As soon as I stop swimming, I start to sink. Anyone else have the same issue?
 
I cannot remember being taught to swim. From the time I was 1 1/2, my family vacationed at a campground in the Ozarks on a creek with a gravel bottomed pool to swim in. I can remember wearing a life jacket until I was about four, then one day I just took it off and swam.

I swim as a part of my job now repairing swimming pools, and while I can stay down a few minutes, I find it much easier to work with my doublelung compressor and a weight belt. I can stay down as long as there is gas in the tank, up to two hours.

I taught my kids to swim pretty much the same way. I started them when they were less than a year old, and by four they could swim and dive, and swim strongly by six. My youngest joined a swim team then, and won all sorts of ribbons and trophies. My exwife did not swim. Her father tossed her in the water and terrorized her, something she never got over.

Codger
 
Are there that many folks that can’t swim!! I didn’t realize. For those who came out the closed, its hard to tell I guess, thanks! And keep posting if you are interested!
 
I took swimming lessons as a kid, and was so uncoordinated, I wasn't able to learn how. Just never tried after that. I don't hang out around the water much, but if I go out on a boat to fish or whatever, I always wear a life vest. I guess over the years I've looked at it as something that would be nice to know how to do, but not critical enough to attempt to learn it again. I suppose if I ever drove my car into the water I'd be in trouble, but don't really hang out around the water in my daily life.
 
I doubt that anyone that CAN'T swim is going to post in this thread,for obvious reasons.

Except of course for me.

I'm a masochist.
 
Humans, being non aquatic creatures, I wouldn't necessarily consider swimming an essential survival skill. In fact, I'd venture to guess millions of mountain men who'd laugh at our survival skills, never learned to swim throughout history.

That being said, I can't imagine why anyone with reasonable access to a swimmable body of water wouldn't learn at least basic swimming skills.
 
im not a swimmer. water doesnt scare me though. ive been smorkleing in the pacific. bog crawling in the army (sliding through fresh and saltwater marsh to measure bridge supports) i also go sinking with friends at the local swim hole they all igree that what i do in the water doesnt qualify as swimming.
the big thig is it takes me a lot of effert to stay above water and i tire rapidly. i prefer to stay under the surface and pop up when i need air.
 
Chris Mapp said:
The funny thing is, I can't float to save my life. As soon as I stop swimming, I start to sink. Anyone else have the same issue?
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You probably don't have much body fat. Don't worry, with age and time, you'll be able to float. :)

Seriously, though, you probably will float so long as your lungs are full of air. They're basically big airbags and it's a rare human body that won't float if the lungs are full. However, you may be so close to neutral boyancy that at first you'll bob down a few feet before you bob back up again. Also, you might only be able to float face down.

Try going to a pool (shallow end), take a deep breath, curl up into a fetal position, don't panic if you start to sink, and see if you come back up to the surface. Like I said, I'm guessing you will.

Still, some men (it's always men) have a combination of low body fat, large muscles and big bones that prevents them from floating at all. I knew some football players in highschool like that. As for me, in highschool I could float on my back but only my mouth and nose would stay out of the water. Now, of course, 25 years later I float just fine. ;)
 
I've never met anyone who can't swim! - would like to 'though.
I 'drowned' as a baby- 11 months old. My parents found me on the bottom of a pool, quite content, just staring back up at them. None of the adults heard me slip into the water, apparently I didn't make a sound, and noone knows how long I was there. I don't have kids, but to this day I'm always watching other peoples' kids if there is water near by; i couldn't live with myself if i let a kid drown on my watch; it just happens so quietly. As far as I know everyone in Australia is taught to swim at an early age. Many of the drownings here happen to very young kids or adulst trying to save them, tourists from Japan, and fishermen who get washed off the rocks or fishermen in small craft who capsize. The scariest thing about swimming where I live is that teh snakes like to have a swim on a hot day as well! :)
 
The funny thing is, I can't float to save my life. As soon as I stop swimming, I start to sink. Anyone else have the same issue?
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Nope. No floating here, either. My mother taught swimming most of her life and couldn't believe I didn't float. My dad can't either. Sinks like a stone. I can swim, but not well.

Jim
 
When I was young- pre-K through middle school- I took swimming lessons every summer through the Park & Rec Department/ Red Cross. I passed all the levels that were offered (the highest levels were not offered). I also grew up around a pool, with a public pool three doors down from my house. I learned how to swim young, and find it a vital skill. I know, for a fact, that I would be dead right now if I didn't know how to swim.

I have heard that in some areas, it is a requirement to graduate high school. I have a relative who recieves swimming instructions in PE class. I believe more areas should do that. This concept echos in my head whenever I hear about some kid drowning on the news.
 
Dogsmeadow said:
Nope. No floating here, either. My mother taught swimming most of her life and couldn't believe I didn't float. My dad can't either. Sinks like a stone. I can swim, but not well.

Jim
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Floating is a mater of salt in the water and body fat. Thats why we real man cant float ;)
 
I learned to swim around the age of six or so, and I can swim underwater or on top of the water--I can also float on my back...but it does take me more effort than most folks seem to expend.

In the Army I was told that I was "negatively buoyant".

While stationed at Ft. Lewis (9thID, 15th Engineers) we had to do the "Combat Swim": basically you just have to swim the length of a olympic size pool.
BUT we had to do the swim while wearing military BDU's (and you had to soak yourself and your uniform in the shower before diving in to the pool), combat boots, LBE with full magazine pouches and two full 1 quart canteens, and while carrying a rubber training rifle.
And even though I can swim normally, I never could pass the "Combat Swim".

That's when the instructors told me that I was "negatively buoyant".
They also said that it was more common with African-Americans than European-Americans.
Does anyone who if this is true, or has ever even heard of such a thing?
 
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