Current Events > 303 people who don't know how to swim

(+) Yeah! (+)

Unless you want to be a competitive swimmer, it's not a skill most people will ever need.

when was I supposed to learn

Yes, not being able to swim is a decently well-documented socioeconomic issue.

never even been near a body of water

I think the biggest reason why I went to the elementary school that I did (which was about 6 miles away from home) was the amenities, which included a computer room, a track, a regular gym, a gymnastics room, and a swimming pool. Those were a very big deal for a public school in my area at the time. Consequently, I learned how to swim from my PE teacher in 1st grade. We had weekly swimming class from 1st through 5th grade.

If not for that, I'd have learned in the Boy Scouts, since swimming was big part of summer camp and we had two water-oriented campouts a year.

I'm quite thankful for the knowledge, as statistically, I'm an outlier for people who came from my socioeconomic background in my area. In contrast, my younger sister didn't have the opportunity to learn the skill because she went to different schools.

I can swim, and I'm not fat, but I have a hard time keeping afloat, especially vertically.

I haven't swam in 25ish years. I'm sure I can do it, but can i swim well? Ehhhhhh I doubt it.

Pools are expensive to install, maintain ans operate. Which means pool availability has a strong correlation to the economic prosperity of the area. It's also generational. If your parents can't swim it makes it less likely that you will learn to swim. So the effect builds on itself.

I'm so glad my family was lucky enough to have a pool/be around water all my life

I love to swim.

I learned how to swim at NO_U_L7's luxury condo

I'm terrified being submerged in more water than say, a bathtub. Tried to learn to swim as a kid, but was just too tense and poorly coordinated.

Growing up as an Australian I was always baffled when movies and TV had characters flailing about in the water screaming they can't swim. Here it's part of the school curriculum.

El_Marsh posted...

I think the biggest reason why I went to the elementary school that I did (which was about 6 miles away from home) was the amenities, which included a computer room, a track, a regular gym, a gymnastics room, and a swimming pool. Those were a very big deal for a public school in my area at the time. Consequently, I learned how to swim from my PE teacher in 1st grade. We had weekly swimming class from 1st through 5th grade.

Thats standard in the UK. All primary school kids have to have lessons.

I never fill the bath to that level.

I understand the mechanics of swimming and learned when I was a child, but I internally freak out if I can't touch the bottom and I sink like a stone no matter what I try when I try to float

Glob posted...

Thats standard in the UK. All primary school kids have to have lessons.

Our PE teacher didn't know how to swim, but due to the staff timetable he was the only one available when we had swimming lessons. So for those of us non-swimmers, he would tell us to grab a float (usually broken) and just sort of figure it out for ourselves while he went for a cigarette.

I learned how to swim but it turns out that shit is exhausting. I can't even complete a single lap at non casual speeds. I can do like half a lap then on the way back my body is like "ok time to give up"

I can't swim well either.

Everyone should learn basic swimming. It's a potentially life saving skill.

I've lived in Michigan my whole life, plenty of bodies of water everywhere, never learned how to swim.

Vampire_Chicken posted...

Our PE teacher didn't know how to swim, but due to the staff timetable he was the only one available when we had swimming lessons. So for those of us non-swimmers, he would tell us to grab a float (usually broken) and just sort of figure it out for ourselves while he went for a cigarette.

The school could have been put into special measures for that alone.

Glob posted...

The school could have been put into special measures for that alone.

Different era. Our metalwork teacher used to wear a signet ring that he'd twist around on his finger so that the stone faced inward, so it'd hurt more when he slapped you across the face. That kind of thing was just part of school life back then.

Vampire_Chicken posted...

Different era. Our metalwork teacher used to wear a signet ring that he'd twist around on his finger so that the stone faced inward, so it'd hurt more when he slapped you across the face. That kind of thing was just part of school life back then.

Yeah, the game has changed. We had a lot of teachers who used to pull shit when I was at school that simply wouldnt fly today.

Glob posted...

Thats standard in the UK. All primary school kids have to have lessons.

Interesting. I cant say it's a huge surprise, as it's an island nation, but still very different from my part of the world. IIRC, my grade school was one of only two (out of around 20, at the time) in our district that had a working swimming pool, and by the time I was in HS, only one of six had one. Not many public pools either, though one experience at one was enough for me. *shudder*

El_Marsh posted...

Interesting. I cant say it's a huge surprise, as it's an island nation, but still very different from my part of the world. IIRC, my grade school was one of only two (out of around 20, at the time) in our district that had a working swimming pool, and by the time I was in HS, only one of six had one. Not many public pools either, though one experience at one was enough for me. *shudder*

I found it really weird when I moved to Vietnam and most of the Vietnamese people I speak to cant swim but go to the beach at every opportunity.

Knowing how to swim is like knowing CPR, basic skill that can save your/someone else's life (if you're not a trained lifeguard don't try to help a grown adult drowning by swimming to them, they will instinctually push you down to try to get air).

El_Marsh posted...

Not many public pools either, though one experience at one was enough for me. *shudder*

I'm still psychologically scarred because we had communal changing rooms with bad lighting and I once wore another kid's underpants for the whole afternoon by mistake.

A lot of people from third world or even landlocked countries I've met never learnt to swim growing up. It's not really an smh thing

It's all about where you're from.

If aren't a good swimmer by the age of like 6 you're a laughing stock where I'm from.

But you couldn't pay me enough to just put on a pair of skis.

Still, I can't imagine not knowing how to swim because you're most definitely going to need it at one point.

Tyranthraxus posted...

I learned how to swim but it turns out that shit is exhausting. I can't even complete a single lap at non casual speeds. I can do like half a lap then on the way back my body is like "ok time to give up"

It's a great workout. I can barely manage 10 laps (more like 8 - with breaks) but there's a lady who does 25 every time I'm there.

brestugo posted...

It's a great workout. I can barely manage 10 laps (more like 8 - with breaks) but there's a lady who does 25 every time I'm there.

I usually go for 64 if Im doing it as a workout as thats a mile in the pool I do it in. Im not a fast swimmer though so takes me a while.

I had no reason to learn how to swim for a long time. Was never near a large body of water and swim clubs were too expensive for my family. But then I decided to go fake white water rafting (artificial barriers to build up current) while in Indiana for grad school and the boat flipped >_>

So I learned how to swim after that. Now in Maryland I just do it for exercise since I found a local gym/swim club/tennis club that doesn't cost a dumb amount of money and it's usually empty since most of the clientele are senior citizens (assisted living building right across the street from it)

I am for 21 laps whenever I do go since the pool is 25 meters long, and I do the extra lap to make up for me kicking off the wall so it can be closer to one kilometer of actual swimming