Dick Foster
Platinum Member
Back when I was in the air force attending tech school I had an extra duty to teach others who didn't know how to swim. I was at Keesler AFB in Mississippi which is on the coast with lots of water around. The base commander had started a swimming program to gain control over the large numbers of airmen falling victim to drowning.
I've got to tell ya as most others experienced in this area will, the problem isn't really teaching anyone to swim it's really getting control over their panic and fear of the water.
It's actually easier to teach young kids to swim than adults because kids don't have the same level of irrational fear that adults do.
It was odd and at the same time sad to see fully grown men go into panic when confronted with the specter of going into the waist deep shallow end of the pool. It was not really the water that was killing them it was mostly their panic. As soon as they relaxed and began to listen to reason and act rationally you can effectively drown proof most folks in a matter of minutes. After that, they will teach themselves to swim.
As I look around today I see a lot of that same sort of irrational panic going on. Let's not drown ourselves folks.
I've got to tell ya as most others experienced in this area will, the problem isn't really teaching anyone to swim it's really getting control over their panic and fear of the water.
It's actually easier to teach young kids to swim than adults because kids don't have the same level of irrational fear that adults do.
It was odd and at the same time sad to see fully grown men go into panic when confronted with the specter of going into the waist deep shallow end of the pool. It was not really the water that was killing them it was mostly their panic. As soon as they relaxed and began to listen to reason and act rationally you can effectively drown proof most folks in a matter of minutes. After that, they will teach themselves to swim.
As I look around today I see a lot of that same sort of irrational panic going on. Let's not drown ourselves folks.