Can you swim?

Publius

This is inspired by an entire family down at our pool right now getting a group swimming lesson.  It's the same family that gives me a heart attack every time they come down to the pool because they let their two year old run around by himself at the pool's edge even though none of them can swim, but that's a different story.[Poll]

Coffee&Cream

A lot of my British colleagues have never learned to swim.  I find it odd that they didn't learn as children.

dorothyinAus

Swimming was a required class at my college.  I learned basic water safety techniques, Olympic swimming strokes and a few other handy strokes.

The Irish Gal

I swam competitively as a kid.  Have always loved swimming.  But there are a lot of Irish people who can't swim, particularly people who grew up outside Dublin it seems... not many pools in the middle of the countryside...

allibally

I learned as a kid. Including the baby classes. I usually took them in Summer and it was a big deal when you got to go up a level! I'm glad it was something I was taught. It was always sad when I would read the news in Zurich about the kids from immigrant families who drowned while at the river or lakes. Our kids will be taking lots of lessons as I think it's really important to know.

While I'm a good swimmer and have mastered treading water and floating (DH can't float at all!) I still have a bit of fear in open water. So I don't go to far from shore. When I went snorkeling in Australia I wore a life vest for 90% of the time because I was paranoid. Plus, it helps float you above the coral and some member in my group had nasty gashes from it.

Publius

allibally:

 

 

While I'm a good swimmer and have mastered treading water and floating (DH can't float at all!) I still have a bit of fear in open water. So I don't go to far from shore. When I went snorkeling in Australia I wore a life vest for 90% of the time because I was paranoid. Plus, it helps float you above the coral and some member in my group had nasty gashes from it.

I swam long distances competitively for a good chunk of my life and open water still scares the ever loving crap out of me.  Especially when it's not crystal clear and you can't see the bottom.  There's no way of knowing what is in the water with you and my mind runs rampant with possibilities.  

anna7602

My parents are from an island and know many people who have drowned (even people who were good swimmers, due to capricious waves & such). Swimming classes were an important part of my childhood. I started DD in mommy & me classes at 6 months. We don't mess around with this.

aMrsin09

I can float on my back and mostly make it from one side of the pool to the other (width, not length).  I am also an offshore sailor.  If I go overboard in heavy seas, my auto-inflate PFD/tether will help save me more than any swimming skills will.

kelly321

I also took lessons as a child and will do the same with our children. I'm not a great swimmer, and I'm definitely with those who are scared of open water. I wasn't as a child, but as an adult I get freaked out if I'm in an ocean/large lake and get too far from the point where I can't see or touch the bottom. It also worries me when DH swims out too far even though he did competitive swimming as a youth. I don't even want to think of how worried I'll be if my kid(s) get adventurous in the ocean.

Tofumonkey

allibally:

I still have a bit of fear in open water. So I don't go to far from shore. When I went snorkeling in Australia I wore a life vest for 90% of the time because I was paranoid. Plus, it helps float you above the coral and some member in my group had nasty gashes from it.

I have the same fear, but it's because of sharks and sea monsters.

(they can't get you if you don't go in)

j_jaye

I am part fish- we would spend summers at the beach and I was a nipper (juniour surf life svaer). When I went to primary school in Australua swimming was part fo the curriculum and went to school in the UK it was also part of PE.

I love open water swimming- nothing like diving off a boat and swimming around with all the sea creatures...I mean sea monsters!

Potato Pie

I took lessons as a kid and we were always at the city pool or the family lake spot. But I must admit I wore noseplugs until about 13. And I still plug my nose if I jump in (I never dive). And I only like to swim with my head above water. At least I'll do breaststroke that way.

MintChocoChip

I learned as a kid. We spent our summers at a swim club so I was in the pool all summer with friends. It was part of our high school PE requirements later in life and then I became a life guard in high school. I took swimming as a class in college. I live to swim but hate that it makes my hair green so I don't do it a lot. 

NCV2

I was on the swim team for years as a child.  My mom took me to Mommy and me swim classes as a baby.  Oddly she can't swim.

azure_azure

I was a water baby, swimming by two. I swam competitively for over 10 years and was a life guard in high school.

M took lessons while we were in Canada last summer, he loved it. I would like to put him here but they don't start the lessons without a parent in the water until the kids are 4. 

ukyankee

dorothyinAus:

Swimming was a required class at my college.  I learned basic water safety techniques, Olympic swimming strokes and a few other handy strokes.

Me too (though you could get out of it if you passed a test, which I did).

frlcb

Publius:

allibally:

 

 

While I'm a good swimmer and have mastered treading water and floating (DH can't float at all!) I still have a bit of fear in open water. So I don't go to far from shore. When I went snorkeling in Australia I wore a life vest for 90% of the time because I was paranoid. Plus, it helps float you above the coral and some member in my group had nasty gashes from it.

I swam long distances competitively for a good chunk of my life and open water still scares the ever loving crap out of me.  Especially when it's not crystal clear and you can't see the bottom.  There's no way of knowing what is in the water with you and my mind runs rampant with possibilities.  

This is me exactly. I love pools, hate open bodies of water and I am convinced it's from all my years of competitive swimming. I was swimming on a team by 5, and drowning is my biggest fear for my kids. I am actually considering that infant resource thing for Lila where they basically throw them in the water and babies instinctually float so it teaches them to swim

The Irish Gal

kelly321:

I also took lessons as a child and will do the same with our children. I'm not a great swimmer, and I'm definitely with those who are scared of open water. I wasn't as a child, but as an adult I get freaked out if I'm in an ocean/large lake and get too far from the point where I can't see or touch the bottom. It also worries me when DH swims out too far even though he did competitive swimming as a youth. I don't even want to think of how worried I'll be if my kid(s) get adventurous in the ocean.

This... He loves the open water and I am not too fond of swimming in the sea (probably from an incident when I was 10 and was turning and pushed my foot off the side of a boat forgetting that it was not straight like a pool wall...).  I don't think he shows enough respect to the sea and how powerful it can be.  I'm not even thinking about beasts in the water - the Atlantic off the Irish coast is beast enough on a normal day...

Smudges*Mom

I swam competitively in high school and was a certified life guard in college. Knowing how to swim is something I value quite a bit, and I take water safety seriously. I also view swimming as a social skill. I have seen too many kids (and adults) sit by the side of the pool, as their friends frolic and play, because they didn't have the skills to join in. Needless to say, our LO will know how to swim and behave safely in and around the water.

Publius

The Irish Gal:

kelly321:

I also took lessons as a child and will do the same with our children. I'm not a great swimmer, and I'm definitely with those who are scared of open water. I wasn't as a child, but as an adult I get freaked out if I'm in an ocean/large lake and get too far from the point where I can't see or touch the bottom. It also worries me when DH swims out too far even though he did competitive swimming as a youth. I don't even want to think of how worried I'll be if my kid(s) get adventurous in the ocean.

This... He loves the open water and I am not too fond of swimming in the sea (probably from an incident when I was 10 and was turning and pushed my foot off the side of a boat forgetting that it was not straight like a pool wall...).  I don't think he shows enough respect to the sea and how powerful it can be.  I'm not even thinking about beasts in the water - the Atlantic off the Irish coast is beast enough on a normal day...

My uncle swam competitively and was a life guard. That didn't stop him from drowning after being caught in an undertow at the age of 21. Open water isn't anything to take lightly. That must be a terrible way to go.

Emily523

allibally:

 

 

While I'm a good swimmer and have mastered treading water and floating (DH can't float at all!) I still have a bit of fear in open water. So I don't go to far from shore. When I went snorkeling in Australia I wore a life vest for 90% of the time because I was paranoid. Plus, it helps float you above the coral and some member in my group had nasty gashes from it.

Me too.  I have more than just a bit of fear of open water, though.   

bluegirl2006

I can swim but my H can't. He had a traumatic incident in a pool at school when he was a kid and he's never been a fan of being in deep water since.

MrsBini10

I can't even remember not knowing how to swim. DH on the other hand never learned at all. He seriously doesn't even like baths because of "all the deep water" lol!

GilliC

I learned as a little kid,the had intermediate lessons at Girl Scout camp every summer and everyone had a few weeks in middle and high school gym class.

Indians never seem to learn to swim. At beaches in India, the lifeguards assume that no one can swim and will blow their whistle at anyone who starts to get out above shoulder-deep insisting they come back in. ...unless you look foreign, and then they assume you know what you're doing.