Do you know how to swim?
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For ~25 years I was too lean to float, so it’s a good thing I could swim.
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I can swim. I just have a seriously hard time sinking. No joke. I have to work to go down.
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That lake was mine and I peed in it.
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Its harder to remember not swimming to be honest. School swimming lessons, beach holidays, leisure centres, holidays abroad etc. I actually used to swim competetively (for my age bracket in my teenage years) for a local team. Went on to do lots of scuba diving and was a pool lifeguard for a bit
I think not swimming here is pretty rare, I want to say that maybe 10 or 15% of my year were classed as "non-swimmers" and had lessons separately to the rest.
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Yes I learned at a very young age.
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Nearly everywhere in my country mandates lessons, so yeah
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I was varsity swim team in high school.
It was what all the freaks, weirdos, and gay boys did for a sport because no one came to watch our swim meets but our families. It gave us a sense of privacy and community at the same time.
I miss it a lot sometimes. I haven't had access to a pool to do laps in in like twenty years.
It's my favorite type of exercise.
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My dad watched his brother drown when he was a kid and was unable to save him Ray Charles style and made sure he taught me to swim before dipping out
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Yes. My dad was an avid swimmer and scuba diver so he wanted to instill that onto us children.
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No, almost drown when I was a kid and have massive panic attacks getting into the water. In the last few years I've been able to get chest deep without hyperventilating but can't really seem to float out anything like that without letting go of the side.
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You got that shit if you made it chest high. Keep going!
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Yes, and I learned to float to swim further
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How does that work, is it done through school?
There was some discussion about it here (Canada) last summer
https://globalnews.ca/news/10610765/bc-mandatory-swimming-lessons/
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Despite living in a country surrounded by water, no, I can’t swim. I don’t go in water I can’t stand in
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Have you tried emptying your lungs? It sounds crazy, but you actually don't have to completely fill your lungs with air, just enough so that you can last a good while underwater and so that you're no longer buoyant. It takes some practice, and you might panic a little bit at first, but once you get used to that, it just becomes second nature.
The only times I hold as much air as possible are when I'm trying apneas (holding my breath as long as possible), but I stay near the surface for that and I remain inmobile. (Also, make sure there's more people with you and that you're signing that you're fine)
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Username checks out(?
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Nope, I had no school option, and no lake or river around home where I could learn. I went with my parents to the seaside a few days every year, but my dad didn't teach me. When I had kids of my own, it was on the "must" list: teach to ride bike, make sure they can swim.
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Yes - after I nearly drowned in the ocean as a child, I was promptly enrolled in swimming lessons.
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Trusting the float on the back makes sense to be a hard one. It's counterintuitive, the water comes over your face when you start, and you can't hold on to anything. Might be worth getting a personal coach for a session just for that if you haven't already. Someone supporting you might help with the anxiety as long as they're encouraging and not pushy.
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Yes. In sweden every child has been taught to swim for almost 100 years.
