Do you know how to swim?

[taco.vidal]

Well, do you?

Im asking this question because of the recent drowning of the adult man in Sikome Lake whose family indicated that none of them had known how swim.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...558/story.html

Im not sure if its surprising or not how many adults don't know how to swim. I know that some of my friends that are immigrant Canadians don't know how to swim as they've never been near water before coming to Canada so thats understandable. Other people I know had taken swimming lessons as kids though they haven't swam in decades.

A few years ago when we were boating, our group of friends go into a discussion about swimming and everyones ability. A lot of bragging happened about swimming prowess that resulted in a challenge. We anchored a couple of hundred meters from shore and had a challenge to swim in, and a race for those so inclined. More than a few people who thought of themselves as strong swimmers struggled to get to shore with essentially a doggie paddle. These people had felt confident in their swimming prior though they realized its one thing to feel comfortable jumping into a lake and playing around versus having to swim some distance.

Anyways, do you swim? Are you comfortable in water? Or do you stay on dry land?

[photon]

I can swim, no problems with being in the water, but yeah probably can't do any distance like I used to, haven't swum like that in forever.

[Dion]

I can swim and have no fears of being in the water. Worst case sinerio is me treading water until help arrives.

[burn_this_city]

Swimming is a life skill everyone should have. I am appalled when people here let their kids grow up not knowing how to swim.

[jayswin]

I'm a decent swimmer, but surprisingly not as good when I'm drunk, which almost led to drowning a few times.

At nature's hideaway where there's at least one drowning per summer, due to the strong current, I once was swimming across to the cliffs drunk and holding a beer I just opened.

I used all my energy to hold my beer above water, then felt myself going under, yet I still used my last ounce of energy to hold that beer above water, then I slipped under and had nothing left to get back to the surface.

A dozen meters or so down river I kind of resurfaced, but not really under my own power, it was weird. There was about a dozen people running after me, including friends that had seen me go under.

Literally almost died trying to save my beer. Moral of the story, always try to save your beer in any situation, it's what seperates us as Canadians from the rest of the world. We will die for our beer, those other cowards would preserve their own life first.

[Oil Stain]

Seeing as how swimming is part of the school curriculum here
I imagine something like 95+% of the adult population can at least tread water and doggy paddle at the very least.

It always shocks me the amount of people from developing countries that can't swim. Even ones who grew up near the ocean.

Historically and even now the vast majority of humanity lives near some kind of surface water. I struggle with how so many cultures don't respect water enough to make swimming a universal skill.

I'd consider myself an average swimmer. I can front crawl, back stroke, breast stroke and dive. I don't particularly enjoy swimming but have swam over a kilometer before as I am in decent shape. A lot of people are probably held back more by their lack of cardio then anything else. Trying to race while swimming is very energy intensive.

[Minnie]

Yes, I know how to swim as does my husband. 2 of my kids swim like fish, my other kid hates the water and won't go near it - he's been like that since infancy. He can swim enough to get by. I had to force the issue to get him to take and finish lessons, but he still refuses to go near the water, whether it's a pool or open body of water. I'm not sure he'd ever get on a boat unless it was some sort of dire emergency.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Swimming is a life skill everyone should have. I am appalled when people here let their kids grow up not knowing how to swim.

My late father couldn't swim but never wore a life jacket when he took his boat out on the lake.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'm a decent swimmer, but surprisingly not as good when I'm drunk, which almost led to drowning a few times.

At nature's hideaway where there's at least one drowning per summer, due to the strong current, I once was swimming across to the cliffs drunk and holding a beer I just opened.

I used all my energy to hold my beer above water, then felt myself going under, yet I still used my last ounce of energy to hold that beer above water, then I slipped under and had nothing left to get back to the surface.

A dozen meters or so down river I kind of resurfaced, but not really under my own power, it was weird. There was about a dozen people running after me, including friends that had seen me go under.

Literally almost died trying to save my beer. Moral of the story, always try to save your beer in any situation, it's what seperates us as Canadians from the rest of the world. We will die for our beer, those other cowards would preserve their own life first.

I can remember treading water in the middle of the Shuswap lake when my drunken former friends took the houseboat to another part of the lake without doing a head count. It was only 20 minutes later did they realise I was gone and they turned the boat around.

[You Need a Thneed]

My wife and I swim well, and our two kids both love to be in water.

[Northendzone]

I can swim......surprises me that someone could drown at Simone (I know that a person can drown in 18 inches of water).

I see the government is going to review safety procedures at sikome, but in this case I am not sure what more could be done, short of making all persons who enter the lake take a swim test.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by fotze

Do they have swim lessons for adults?

Yes. That's how I learned. I was 14 at the time, so I was the youngest person in the class, but there were people of all ages in it. It was over 25 years ago, but I doubt much has changed.


I had a bad experience when I was younger. I don't think I was actually in danger of drowning, but it still scared the crap out of me. As a result, I can swim perfectly fine so long as I'm in water that's shallow enough that I can stand up and have my head above the water. If I get into anything deeper, I tense up and sink.

I went to Australia a few years ago and went to the Great Barrier Reef. I put on a life jacket to snorkel, and even then, when I first put my head under the water with the snorkel, I had a little panic attack.

It's the only thing that I have that's close to a phobia, and it sucks.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

but in this case I am not sure what more could be done

Mandatory life jackets.

To answer the question, yes I can. It's not pretty, but it works. I can't imagine not knowing how to swim at least to the extent to save my life.

As far as the incident is concerned, who in their right mind tries a backflip off a boat when they don't know how to swim? If the water is deep enough to literally jump in, it's deep enough to drown. And it's not like not being able to swim is one of those things you're not sure if you can do until you try it.

[JiriHrdina]

I can't swim. If you throw me in water over my nose I will die. Simple as that.

I had a couple of bad experiences when I was very young that created a fear of water - coupled with some very poor attempts to teach me that just made that fear worse.

I tried to learn when I was a teen and then again as an adult - with private 1:1 lessons. Though it made me more comfortable with the water - I still can't swim at all. Trying to learn to swim as an adult, when every part of you thinks you can't, is like trying to learn how to fly - it feels completely unnatural.

It isn't something I'm proud of and I'm working hard to make sure I don't replicate the mistakes with my daughter - who has taken well to water so far.

[flamesrule14]

I can't swim at all. When I was younger(about 9) I got a really bad earache after a day of swimming lessons at school. As it turned out I had a hole in my eardrum and I wasn't allowed to take swimming lessons anymore. Surgery wasn't an option as the doctors wanted it to heal itself which supposedly it has. And I just have never learned how to after that. I'm not a big fan of the water anyways so it's not a big deal to me. I'll gladly just stay on land.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I can't swim. If you throw me in water over my nose I will die. Simple as that.

I had a couple of bad experiences when I was very young that created a fear of water - coupled with some very poor attempts to teach me that just made that fear worse.

I tried to learn when I was a teen and then again as an adult - with private 1:1 lessons. Though it made me more comfortable with the water - I still can't swim at all. Trying to learn to swim as an adult, when every part of you thinks you can't, is like trying to learn how to fly - it feels completely unnatural.

It isn't something I'm proud of and I'm working hard to make sure I don't replicate the mistakes with my daughter - who has taken well to water so far.

That's why I never understand questions like in this thread of "I don't understand how someone can drown in "X" amount of water?"

When you grow swimming you tend to lose the idea that things like treading water or getting to the surface are very much a learned skill, not a natural instinct.

A trained swimmer falls in the water and they start treading water, a completely untrained person falls in the water and they sink. There's no natural motions that everyone in the world can do when faced with drowning.

For someone with zero training, pretty much the second their head is under water in a depth greater than their height, they're sinking and they'll continue to sink and stay under until they're A) dead, or B) someone pulls them out.

[HalifaxDrunk]

I'm like a fish (more on the whale side ) and so is my 7 year old son. He is in swimming lessons with 13-14 year olds and loves the 3 meter diving board. My 1.5 year old daughter has 0.00% fear of the water, she can't "swim" yet but I can't keep her out of the water. She loves putting her face underwater.

My wife can swim but is not very confident in her abilities and always makes me take the kids in water (which I'm more than happy to do).

I may not have "Olympic" style technique but I have swam a 6km distance many times (both sober and drunk ). Swimming has always been part of my life and I'm happy to pass it on to my kids.

[bc-chris]

i can swim, but haven't in years.... .more like decades. my wife is the same.

i'm sure our little girl be in swimming lessons eventually... but right now (a year and 5 months) she has enough issues with solid ground! ha! ha!

[wwkayaker]

I swim and enjoy swimming as part of my fitness plan. I am comfortable in all kinds of water situations. As a kayaker with a lot of time spent on rivers, I am always shocked at the lack of safety gear many people use. Despite swimming ability, it is an accident waiting to happen.

[FlamesAddiction]

I have been swimming for as long as I can remember. It was always a part of family summer activities.

In elementary school, we would get a week every year and take swimming lessons at the pool.