Do you know how to swim?

[jymbee]

Read a statistic this morning that I found hard to believe:

Only about 35% of Americans know how to swim, and only 2% to 7% swim well,...

When we were kids, long before there was a swimming pool in town, we had several favorite "swimming holes" in local creeks. Have to admit were I to drive by any of these spots today and actually saw people swimming I'd be pretty surprised. After all, lots of critters and no chlorine. But I can't think of any kids my age that didn't at least know how to swim! Have things changed that much?

Article here

 

[creekbend]

In my Youth, I went swimming in the way that you previously described.

 

[MIKE R]

I can swim. Don't know the proper techniques or names but I can move along quite well doing the frog swim.

 

[jerrybob]

Avid kayaker here......if I couldn't swim.....might not be here! Taught the kids to swim real early.....our 1.5 year old granddaughter took swim lessons this past summer......that stat. is a bit of a surprise.

 

[Lou66]

I think you are talking about the breast stroke Mike.. I don't remember learning how to swim,, I just always could,, We had a spring fed creek that was damed up.. cold in the summer and warm in the winter.. Lou

 

[Ted Summey]

Sure I know "how" but am only an okay swimmer despite the swimming lessons my parents paid for. sort of like the singing lessons except my lack of swimming skill doesn't hurt anyone else. I did a lot of "swimming" in swimming holes and at the lake growing up.

My three kids swim well and were on the high school swim team. They got their swimming skills from their mother who was a lifeguard in high school and college.

 

[dave1949]

I know how to swim, not very elegant. I stick to a side crawl and backstroke. My Mom made sure all of us kids got swimming lessons. I think they were from the Red Cross at the local swimming pool.

The number who can't swim doesn't really surprise me. Our town budgets money every year for parents who want to enroll their kids in a swimming class, it often goes unused. Given the number of lakes and rivers around here, I would be making sure my kids can swim.

 

[don45640]

My brother and I could swim,but we were heavier than water......yes,it happens! We could sink right to the bottom if we wanted.That made swimming more tiresome for me and my older Bro,while our younger bros floated just fine.
So I CAN swim,but it tires me with the extra effort it takes to stay afloat.Of course I haven't swam in years,and I've gotten fatter,so maybe I'll float now? LOL! don-ohio ^)

 

[dmccarty]

I grew up in FLA. I don't know how anyone could grow up in FLA when I was a kid and not know how to swim. I spent more time in and on the water some days than I did awake on land.

I think many people don't know how to swim which surprised me when I first saw some statistics. UNC had a requirement that all students take a swimming class to graduate. I think I just read they got rid of the requirement or were talking about doing so. Years ago I read that the requirement was from WWII when UNC had a big Navy ROTC program but I have also read that the requirement happened when some UNC students drowned many, many years ago. Nobody seems to know why the requirement exists anymore.

Later,
Dan

 

[Ted Summey]

ECU had the required swim test until Fall of 2011. Way back when I went there we had to pass the swim test that included a 100 meter swim, a one minute float on your back and 15 minutes, yes 15 minutes, of drown proofing which was a deadman float/treading water sort of thing. For a tall skinny guy that displaced enough water to fill a small bucket, floating was nearly impossible. If it weren't for the very nice female blonde grad student who worked with floating challenged, I would still be trying to pass that test.

We heard the same legend about the test being required because some students drowned. Seemed like there were all kinds of detail to the story but my memory fails me now (30 years later).:shocked:

 

[brin]

In my Youth, I went swimming in the way that you previously described.

Me too ! :thumbsup:

 

[LJH]

I can swim but not well and it isn't something I ever do on purpose. Even as a kid I hated being in the water and that hasn't changed. I mean, you can't breathe in the stuff and I really like breathing. Prolly drowned in a past life.

 

[riptides]

I learned real early. I learned right the hard way many, many years later.

All my kids learned very early.

We all are water bugs now. I cannot wait till it gets warm up here to enjoy the water.

 

[MossRoad]

It more important to learn how to float and be comfortable waiting in the water without panicing.
What usually happens is people panic and try to get their head as far above water as possible. That wears them out and they start trying to swim up-and-down instead of forward. They wear themselves out quickly, tire, and drown. It takes considerably less energy to just keep your mouth and nose above the water.

I encourage everyone to teach your kids to swim. Find the local chapter of your American Red Cross and they can usually set you up with very affordable swimming lessons.

Also, taking lessons all the way through lifesaving courses and then landing a job at a local pool or beach can be a good source of summer income for a teen/young adult and teach them some real responsibility. :thumbsup:

 

[DAD1220]

There has been a surge lately to "drown proof your toddlers." I think it's a good thing.

I grew up swimming in creeks and ponds. It WAS the "air conditioning." Besides, if I'd been in the creek that day, did I really need a bath that night?

We have a 4+ acre pond now...and the grand kids were hesitant to swim in it right up until they saw someone else in it! Once the "ice" was broken they were all for it! Now there are kids in it almost every weekend.

 

[Bird]

I grew up swimming in creeks and ponds. It WAS the "air conditioning." Besides, if I'd been in the creek that day, did I really need a bath that night?

A buddy & I learned to swim that way with no lessons when we were 10 or 11 years old. My wife never learned to swim. We put an in-ground vinyl liner pool in the backyard when our daughters were 9 and 12 years old. The girls took to the water like ducks and the pool was used a great deal until the girls were in their teens and working as lifeguards at other pools, and ours didn't get used hardly at all from then on.

I used to go fishing occasionally with my wife's oldest brother in West Virginia. He never learned to swim, loved to fish, wsn't afraid in a small boat, but he DID always wear his life jacket.

 

[polo1665]

My father would never have let us get away without learning to swim. He taught us the basics and then had us take lessons at the community beach. All of us boys also got our swimming merit badges in the scouts.

Seems like all of our vacations revolved around lakeshores and beaches. Had many good times in the water.

 

[CliffordK]

I believe every child should be taught to swim. Especially if they are ever to go fishing or boating.

I must admit that cold river water is a little different from a warm pool though.

 

[Western]

I went swimming almost every day as a kid in the summer. Hardly lucky enough to use a real "pool", mostly creeks and ponds. I cant ever remember knowing anyone that couldn't swim? I guess kids dont get out much these day's. They still have those "city pools" dont they?? I know some have been closed because of budgets around here, but COME ON!!

 

[DAD1220]

My mother-in-law couldn't swim. One day at the beach a big wave knocked her down and swept her around ten or twenty yards. She started yelling "HELP" and such.

A lifeguard got there before I did, grabbed her arm...and said, "Mame, you can stand up now."

We used that for years, every time she started to get excited about anything, we'd all say, "Mame, you can stand up now."