Can You Swim?

[Loricybin]

i guess everyone on the science forums is in tune with their bodies capabilities?

 

isn't ANYONE here unable to swim???

laughing out loud, quite illiterally, which isn't a word. i dont think. no really, i do not think. ever.

[bpjg2fat]

when i was little, i remember shitting in the baby pool at this jewish club my family belonged to, running away and screaming someone pooped in the pool. =D

[Queso]

Hahahahahahaha!!!!

[Turtle]

____The primary concern in teaching swimming from my perspective is the matter of safety. Safety in the teaching environment, and safety for the person who has some ability to swim.

___I have taught swimming & lifeguarded in pools, rivers, & lakes, but not the ocean, and each has its challenges to the instructor & swimmer alike. As a lifeguard at pools, I have fished out no end of turds shat out by children & adults alike, & of course there is the the matter of pee which one cannot fish out. Beyond injury & drowning in a pool, the cleanliness of the water is of great concern to people's safety when swiwmming there. Too few pools have staff adequately schooled in maintaing the water cleanliness, & even with such a person, all it takes is a large group entering the pool at once to throw the whole chemistry off. It is a law in virtually every stste in the US that a swimmer take a nude soap shower before entering a pool; virtually no one follows or enforces the law, and as a consequence people routinely swim in a soup of bacteria, dirt, skin particles, hair, phlem, etc.. It is for this reason that I think teaching babies to swim (quite a hot trend these days) in a public pool is a major health hazard. The home bathtub is adequate for letting baby "swim", & only when a child reaches toddler age should pool instruction begin.

___Great replies so far; more to come.:lol:

[Jay-qu]

well its unanimous across all cultures so far - everyone has learnt to swim at a young age. Its fairly wierd (and kinda funny) that a species of mammels should all know how to swim from childhood B)

[Chacmool]

I'm the first one to go with the option "No, but I would like to." I probably won't drown if I'm thrown into a swimming pool, but I won't get out very elegantly either. I was never taught to swim when I was a child (maybe because my mother can't swim either?) and I've tried as an adult, but without success.

 

After almost drowning a few times as a child, I eventually figured out some sort of doggy paddle to keep me afloat for very short periods. This later evolved into a kind of breast stroke which will save me in emergencies, but won't get me any medals at the Olympics. B) I cannot swim using the ordinary freestyle stroke at all. I'm not very fond of water - actually even a bit scared of large masses of water. Although I would like to be a better swimmer, I'm not sure if it's a skill I'll ever acquire.

[Turtle]

well its unanimous across all cultures so far - everyone has learnt to swim at a young age. Its fairly wierd (and kinda funny) that a species of mammels should all know how to swim from childhood

___Hey JQ! I read your post, but before I replied Chacmool broke the unanimity. The wierd (and kinda funny) aspect is in the context of the poll, which is non-scientific; in my experience, many adults who can't swim have some embarrasment over the issue & often never discuss their non-swimming status with others. Moreover, if directly asked they often assert they can swim.

 

 

I'm the first one to go with the option "No, but I would like to." I probably won't drown if I'm thrown into a swimming pool, but I won't get out very elegantly either. I was never taught to swim when I was a child (maybe because my mother can't swim either?) and I've tried as an adult, but without success.

 

After almost drowning a few times as a child, I eventually figured out some sort of doggy paddle to keep me afloat for very short periods. This later evolved into a kind of breast stroke which will save me in emergencies, but won't get me any medals at the Olympics. B) I cannot swim using the ordinary freestyle stroke at all. I'm not very fond of water - actually even a bit scared of large masses of water. Although I would like to be a better swimmer, I'm not sure if it's a skill I'll ever acquire.

 

___Good for you Chacmool! Of course all African Flowers float.B) I found it often the case that teaching an adult to swim is by far more challenging than teaching a child; challenging for both the instructor and the pupil. Here is a story that comes to mind.

____I started a series of adult lessons at a pool I taught at, and one day a woman from the water-cise class came up and told me about her daughter's extreme fear of water & asked if I thought I could teach her. The girl, call her Gwyn, was in her late 20's or early 30's and so afraid of water that she drove miles out of the way to avoid even seeing it. As the area had numerous rivers & bays, this was quite a problem.

____Just about anyone can learn to swim at just about any time, so I told Gwyn's Mom to bring her down. Scared as she was, Gwyn braved her fear & visited the pool to talk with me about this swimming business. We came to an agreement to take it slow, and she signed up for a class that ran 6 weeks & met twice a week. For the first 2 weeks, I let her sit fully clothed in the guard room & watch the class. The next 2-weeks, she moved to sit on a bench on the pool deck & watch, still fully clothed. The next week, she sat on the bench in her bathing suit. The final week, she sat on the pool edge with her feet in the water on a top step.

____She signed up again. And again. And again. Each time working up her courage & trust to try more. While she never lost her fear completely, Gwyn learned to tread water for 20 minutes or so, do the survival float, float & swim on her back, & even swim the crawl stroke 25 yards.

___Now as to the crawl stroke, it isn't necessary to learn it to call yourself a swimmer. It is merely the fastest stroke & more or less what people "think" is real swimming. It is ubiquitously taught to children, but I only taught it to adults if they wanted to learn it. A heads-up breaststroke or any of the variations of side-stroke make for adequate swiiming skills for most water activities, short of the Olympics.B)

[Loricybin]

actually even a bit scared of large masses of water.

 

i know that feeling completely, like swimming in a really deep pool and looking underwater with goggles can make me nervous.

and if i were dropped into the middle of the ocean to tread water, i think i would go mad with fear and drown pretty quickly

is this called aquaphobia?

[InfiniteNow]

is this called aquaphobia?

Perhaps hydrophobia... as in the opposite of hydrophillia. Generally used to describe the physical property of a molecule that is repelled by water, but also represents a fear of water by humans (generally deep water).

[Loricybin]

Perhaps hydrophobia... as in the opposite of hydrophillia. Generally used to describe the physical property of a molecule that is repelled by water, but also represents a fear of water by humans (generally deep water).

 

THAT'S THE ONE, i knew it was something like that.

 

 

:confused: haha, aquaphobia, B)

[InfiniteNow]

THAT'S THE ONE, i knew it was something like that.

 

 

B) haha, aquaphobia, B)

That's just how they say fear of water in Spanish scientific journals... No worries. You can just tell everyone you were feeling a bit "international" today. :confused:

[Chacmool]

i know that feeling completely, like swimming in a really deep pool and looking underwater with goggles can make me nervous.

and if i were dropped into the middle of the ocean to tread water, i think i would go mad with fear and drown pretty quickly

is this called aquaphobia?

By "large masses of water" I mean anything larger than a bathtub! I'm really quite scared of water, and I've always had recurring nightmares of giant tsunamis engulfing me. B)

[Queso]

haha, i love you guys

and i love the ocean

even though i used to be scared of it when i was a kid

because i was kayaking on a windy day in maui

and a white tip reef shark swam underneath me

and on my frantic way back i fell out

this was the first panic attack of my life! haha, wow.

 

i was afraid of the ocean for years after that,

but recently i've fallen in love with the rhythm of the tide

and love how easily it could wash me away

[Turtle]

... on my frantic way back i fell out

this was the first panic attack of my life! haha, wow...

 

___Ahhh panic...the adversary of even the best of swimmers. The definition is a lifequard's mantra.

 

Panic...the sudden unreasoning fear in the face of real or fancied danger.B)

[Loricybin]

By "large masses of water" I mean anything larger than a bathtub! I'm really quite scared of water, and I've always had recurring nightmares of giant tsunamis engulfing me. :confused:

 

 

hmm, i suppose i just have a less intense fear of water then

[Drip Curl Magic]

I learned how to swim as a child.... but I was kind of late. I hadn't been exposed to water of the right temperature for swimming for the longest time. Then when I was 12, I gained access to a pool. Picked it up pretty fast from there.

[arkain101]

yah sure I can move in water but I sure dont float very well.