Can you swim?

[JakeStarkey]

I have been able to swim almost as soon as I was able to walk.

At my age I could no longer swim out to the pipeline buoys off the Carlsbad jetty to the power plant in the south lagoon.

I think I can still surf and body surf the shore line breakers.

 

[AquaAthena]

Learn to swim.

Drowning really sucks, believe me.

At the very least, learn how to drown float. It could save your life if trapped in water over your head, e.g., your car finds itself in the water with you finding a way out and trying to survive. Drown floating is one of my fave things to do in the water. I love to watch the sky.

 

[JakeStarkey]

yes, when the weather permists i swim a half mile every day. i swam in HS and in college.

I can't do that in open water anymore. Have to be inshore or in a pool.

 

[AquaAthena]

okay realistically how long would it take me to learn at adult swim?

Minutes....

 

[JakeStarkey]

okay realistically how long would it take me to learn at adult swim?

Get into your bathing suit, jump out about four feet from the side of the pool into six feet of water, and find your way back to the side.

Do that a dozen times. You will end up with a healthy respect for the water, not fear, and the confidence you won't drown when you get into the water. Do have a certified instructor present.

Then go to about four feet of water and take swimming lessons from a certified instructor.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

If not, why did you never learn?
Can you pass a basic survival test?

Many swimmers come up short in water-safety skills


Competency with all five —
-floating or treading water for one minute without a flotation device;

can do....
-stepping or jumping into water over your head and returning to the surface;

can do...

- treading water or floating in a full circle and then finding a way out of the water;

hm not sure of the question

- exiting a pool without using a ladder;

maybe....upper body is not that strong but ass is not that large


- swimming 25 yards (the length of a standard pool) without stopping —

o hell no....

is essential to being able to help yourself in a pool or open-water emergency,

my son was in swim lessons at 3 ish....he is an excellent swimmer....i truly believe in life saving skills....

Same with my g-kids. They're like little fish, fearless and completely at home in the water.

Strolling - even if you don't swim, go to a pool to exercise. Its wonderful. According to an arthritis agency, you get twice the benefit for half the effort.

I had to work at it to get comfortable with being in water. Go with someone you trust and with whom you feel safe, not with an idiot who thinks "immersion therapy" is a good thing.

And ignore the idiots who make fun of you. They have no idea why you feel the way you do and they don't care. That's their problem, not yours.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

okay realistically how long would it take me to learn at adult swim?

Minutes....

Not quite true but once I got past the fear of just being in that much water, I was able to learn to do other things very quickly.

Again, I think the most important thing is to be with someone you trust and who respects your fear and uncertainty. Oh and who can swim very well!

 

[NLT]

I was taught to swim @ age 5 at the Navy Base Pool by a Navy diver volunteer. My wife and I had our boy and girl in the pool when they were infants, both can swim very well. If you are taught to swim at a very young age, its like riding a bike, you never forget how.

 

[Darkwind]

I could swim almost before I could walk.

 

[Spoonman]

yes, when the weather permists i swim a half mile every day. i swam in HS and in college.

I can't do that in open water anymore. Have to be inshore or in a pool.

open water is a totally different game. winds, waves, currrents. if they're going agaisnt you, you're screwed. the summer before last i swam across this lake. less than a quarter mile for sure. maybe even a lot less. i got like 2/3 of the way across and i'm like man i'm screwed. heavy chop and a real strong diagonal headwind. i floated on my back for a few minutes to catch my breath, just paddling lightly towards the shore. when i flipped back over to resume swimming i was blown about 150' off my target and had actually lost some ground.

 

[MHunterB]

Learn to swim.

Drowning really sucks, believe me.

At the very least, learn how to drown float. It could save your life if trapped in water over your head, e.g., your car finds itself in the water with you finding a way out and trying to survive. Drown floating is one of my fave things to do in the water. I love to watch the sky.

You should try that at night in the cruise ship pool......halfway across the Atlantic. Truly a 'Magic-al' experience : )) STARS!!!

(the hot tub wasn't bad either, but the pool was so quiet......)

 

[DGS49]

Many years ago, my wife (who could barely take a bath without drowning) was talked into taking an adult swim class by a friend of hers. I went along to hold her hand. I thought I could swim OK, but I was wrong.

This class was great. They took people who were petrified of swimming or even going into water and by the end of 8 sessions we could all do everything mentioned at the top of this thread (tread water, bob, float, swim the length of the pool, etc). This is no exaggeration: it took some of the old women an hour just to be able to put their faces in the water. And yet, by the end they were willing to jump into deep water, bob for a couple minutes, and then swim to the other end of the pool.

Best $50 I ever spent.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

yes, when the weather permists i swim a half mile every day. i swam in HS and in college.

I can't do that in open water anymore. Have to be inshore or in a pool.

open water is a totally different game. winds, waves, currrents. if they're going agaisnt you, you're screwed. the summer before last i swam across this lake. less than a quarter mile for sure. maybe even a lot less. i got like 2/3 of the way across and i'm like man i'm screwed. heavy chop and a real strong diagonal headwind. i floated on my back for a few minutes to catch my breath, just paddling lightly towards the shore. when i flipped back over to resume swimming i was blown about 150' off my target and had actually lost some ground.

Best not to fight the current or wind head on. Always diagonal.
I loved the rip tide along the Jetties. Use em to suck you out to the end of the Jetties and surf back in.
Most people make the mistake of fighting the rip instead of going with it,eventually it will end and you can swim back in.

 

[Spoonman]

I can't do that in open water anymore. Have to be inshore or in a pool.

open water is a totally different game. winds, waves, currrents. if they're going agaisnt you, you're screwed. the summer before last i swam across this lake. less than a quarter mile for sure. maybe even a lot less. i got like 2/3 of the way across and i'm like man i'm screwed. heavy chop and a real strong diagonal headwind. i floated on my back for a few minutes to catch my breath, just paddling lightly towards the shore. when i flipped back over to resume swimming i was blown about 150' off my target and had actually lost some ground.

Best not to fight the current or wind head on. Always diagonal.
I loved the rip tide along the Jetties. Use em to suck you out to the end of the Jetties and surf back in.
Most people make the mistake of fighting the rip instead of going with it,eventually it will end and you can swim back in.

we have a house down the shore. we usually get on the beach to catch the sunrise and i'm usually swimming hours before anyone shows up, including life guards. most of the time you can see the telltale signs of a rip current, but a few times i've ben caught in them. yea you have to kind of go with them and swim sideways until you are out of it.

 

[DGS49]

In the old English navy, the sailors made it a point NOT to learn how to swim. If your ship went down, better to just sink and drown quickly than to bob around for a couple hours and prolong the agony.

Today, the reason to learn is so that if you fall off a dock, or out of a boat, or your boat capsizes, you can get back to safety (generally no great distance) without drowning.

 

[Sallow]

If not, why did you never learn?
Can you pass a basic survival test?

Many swimmers come up short in water-safety skills


Competency with all five —
-floating or treading water for one minute without a flotation device;
-stepping or jumping into water over your head and returning to the surface;
- treading water or floating in a full circle and then finding a way out of the water;
- exiting a pool without using a ladder;
- swimming 25 yards (the length of a standard pool) without stopping —

is essential to being able to help yourself in a pool or open-water emergency,

Not a good swimmer...but I can do all that.

 

[Truthseeker420]

I was in the Navy so yes. I also grew up at a private lake and would sometimes swim the across the lake witch is about 2 miles.

 

[Asclepias]

Swimming is one of the best ways to exercise. Taught myself how to swim at the Y before my session for swimming lessons came up. Worked as a life guard for 2 summers. Had to pass a similar test in the military in a pool with full uniform on.

 

[syrenn]

If not, why did you never learn?
Can you pass a basic survival test?

Many swimmers come up short in water-safety skills


Competency with all five —
-floating or treading water for one minute without a flotation device;
-stepping or jumping into water over your head and returning to the surface;
- treading water or floating in a full circle and then finding a way out of the water;
- exiting a pool without using a ladder;
- swimming 25 yards (the length of a standard pool) without stopping —

is essential to being able to help yourself in a pool or open-water emergency,

lol

like a fish.

I was a swimming instructor when i was a 13.

There was a time here in the city when you had to pass a swimming test to graduate HS. Sadly they have dropped that requirement.

 

[westwall]

My family all swim. My daughter will be 8 in a few weeks and can do all of the safety skills you posted. She can also swim a full mile now. Basically she's a fish. I used to be. Now I just like snorkeling about.