Poll
Question:
Read the topic
Option 1: Yes, like a fish!
Option 2: Enough to keep my head above water
Option 3: No
Recently I've met several people who do not know how to swim. Their argument is that they grew up in the midwest, so they never had the chance to learn. I cry bullshit, since I grew up in Des Moines, IA, and swim like a fish. (Okay, more like a whale lately, but I still don't drown.)
So it got me wondering. How many of you guys know how to swim?
Nopey-dope
Swim like a fish, taught as part of my upbringing...
They don't have swimmin' pools in the Midwest?
Yeah, same here. Mom insisted that we learn to swim despite (because of?) Dad's near total fear of water. We spent every summer in the pool, and while we had formal lessons, most of what we learned came from just playing around in the pool or at the beach.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on August 09, 2009, 02:01:39 PM
They don't have swimmin' pools in the Midwest?
Yes, we do. People are just stoopid. <_<
Maybe not sure.
Of course I do.
Quebecers are big on pools.
Yes, I can swim. It seems weird that some people can't. Like not knowing how to walk or ride a bike.
:huh: Yes, I learned to swim when I was a little kid at the shore, but they made everyone take swim classes in school, so I didn't know anyone at all growing up who didn't know how. I guess I kinda assumed everyone did, really.
Quote from: Caliga on August 09, 2009, 02:24:27 PM
:huh: Yes, I learned to swim when I was a little kid at the shore, but they made everyone take swim classes in school, so I didn't know anyone at all growing up who didn't know how. I guess I kinda assumed everyone did, really.
That's kind of what I thought, too. But apparently we were both mistaken.
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on August 09, 2009, 02:22:16 PM
Yes, I can swim. It seems weird that some people can't. Like not knowing how to walk or ride a bike.
I've met a quite a few people who don't know how to ride a bike, too. This was up in Chicago, though, not down here.
In water?
No, quicksand.
<_<
I can a bit but I tend to swim underwater. 'tis better.
Not particularly fast (anymore :cry:), but I can swim.
Never figured out that dolphin style though.
Yes, I can swim.
I was born in the Mediterranean. ;)
I grew up by Lake Champlain, so I swim quite well after spending so many summers at the beach.
Oddly enough, a lot of people drown in NC because they cannot swim but jump in pools and lakes assuming that it will come naturally to them (I guess). :rolleyes:
Quote from: The Brain on August 09, 2009, 02:20:09 PM
I thought only black pipple didn't know how to swim. And Hungarian gypsies obviosuly.
Asians too
Tamas is too cool to swim(or dance)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31vbS1bOrbg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31vbS1bOrbg)
I don't see how you could not know how to swim. :huh:
Nope.
How else was I gonna cross the rio grand?
Quote from: Strix on August 09, 2009, 03:15:25 PM
I grew up by Lake Champlain, so I swim quite well after spending so many summers at the beach.
Oddly enough, a lot of people drown in NC because they cannot swim but jump in pools and lakes assuming that it will come naturally to them (I guess). :rolleyes:
As long as you don't panic and you don't jump into the deep end I don't see how you couldn't be able to teach yourself how to swim in ten minutes. It's pretty damn simple.
In the first world, we have swimming pools.
Was the 17-18 age group champion of Central Norway in the 50 M backstroke, 2nd in the 100 M backstroke, 3rd in the 200 M backstroke and golds in all the 400 and 800 medley team relays.
So, yeah, I can swim. Since I'm a pretty chubby guy I have husseled jocks at swimming.
Quote from: Mr.Penguin on August 09, 2009, 01:59:52 PM
Swim like a fish, taught as part of my upbringing...
Same here
I do. It's funny with me, because when I was a kid (like 10 y.o.) my parents would send me to swimming lessons and it was a horror as I couldn't learn it at all, and I was afraid of water and whatnot. Then, when I was like 17 I just went into a swimming pool and started swimming. :P
We already know garbon can't swim.
No, I was rarely allowed in water as a kid, because I didn't know how to swim.
Quote from: Jaron on August 09, 2009, 05:07:27 PM
We already know garbon can't swim.
Except for the fact that I had swimming lessons as a child. :mellow:
Quote from: garbon on August 09, 2009, 05:26:02 PMExcept for the fact that I had swimming lessons as a child. :mellow:
Didn't realize there was such a thing as swimming lessons (unless you count like swimming in gym at school). :huh:
Quote from: Caliga on August 09, 2009, 05:29:01 PM
Didn't realize there was such a thing as swimming lessons (unless you count like swimming in gym at school). :huh:
Sure there are. I think the first year, I had lessons at the YMCA (was 3) and then after that my sister and I started taking lessons at the local community pool (when we were still in California). You even got report-card like cards that listed what you skills you had (e.g. treading water, diving, breaststroke).
Also, we didn't have a pool in the Marlborough Public System, so no school swimming.
Oh right, I forgot about the YMCA. :face:
sure, but I've never had to swim from a sinking boat to an imperceptible shoreline perhaps several miles away. if it's there at all.
I can walk 30 miles in the snow, barefoot, without food, uphill. I can't make a similar claim for swimming. wtf do I do about the sharks?
Yes though I really had to work at it as a kid, I had a terrible phobia of water until I was like 8 or something.
Quote from: garbon on August 09, 2009, 05:26:02 PM
Quote from: Jaron on August 09, 2009, 05:07:27 PM
We already know garbon can't swim.
Except for the fact that I had swimming lessons as a child. :mellow:
Sorry, it was a black joke. :P
Yes. Competitive swimming and water polo until the end of high school (city and "school" leagues), but not fish-like enough to get a scholarship anywhere. Welp.
YMCA swimming lessons, which did diddly in comparison to spending near my first thirteen summers practically living at church friends' swimming pools.
I can swim since I was 5 years old. I find it strange that there are people who can't swim.
Just enough to keep my head above water.
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on August 09, 2009, 08:36:46 PM
Yes. Competitive swimming and water polo until the end of high school (city and "school" leagues), but not fish-like enough to get a scholarship anywhere. Welp.
Apparently on Languish, the ability to cross from one side of the pool to the other without touching the ground is fish-like. ;)
I don't think I know anyone who can't swim. A/C at home is something relatively new, the usual cure for summer temperatures when I was a kid was to spend the whole day at the building/block/neighborhood/sportsclub pool.
Quote from: Iormlund on August 10, 2009, 05:22:05 AM
I don't think I know anyone who can't swim. A/C at home is something relatively new, the usual cure for summer temperatures when I was a kid was to spend the whole day at the building/block/neighborhood/sportsclub pool.
Public pools :x
There is one on the top of my apartment building, never been in it. I bet people poop in there.
Quote from: Caliga on August 09, 2009, 02:24:27 PM
:huh: Yes, I learned to swim when I was a little kid at the shore, but they made everyone take swim classes in school, so I didn't know anyone at all growing up who didn't know how. I guess I kinda assumed everyone did, really.
Same :mellow:
Most schools in HK do not have a swimming pool. My school was kinda special. It didn't have a pool, but it did possess the development rights to a small lot near the school. That was worth hundreds of millions.
At some point the school decided to sell the rights to a developer, and one of the conditions of the sale was that the developer needed to build an indoor pool for the exclusive use of the school. So toward the end of my highschool years we had a pool.
I found that half of the class couldn't swim. At the end of the school year, the same people still couldn't swim, because swimming lessons consisted of theory and self-study :lol:
We had lessons at the local pool, had a wading pool at the local park, my mom was a champion swimmer in Connecticut before she moved to Iowa so she taught us, plus we had lessons in school. All three of us kids are pretty good swimmers, though none of us competed in the sport in school.
Even with local pools everywhere in Des Moines and lessons in school, I knew plenty of people who couldn't swim. It just seemed... odd.
I was lucky. My dad was a senior civil servant, so he was eligible for quarters. Back then, the majority of HK government quarters were occupied by British expats, who demanded and received private pools. So I could learn.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 10, 2009, 03:43:53 AM
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on August 09, 2009, 08:36:46 PM
Yes. Competitive swimming and water polo until the end of high school (city and "school" leagues), but not fish-like enough to get a scholarship anywhere. Welp.
Apparently on Languish, the ability to cross from one side of the pool to the other without touching the ground is fish-like. ;)
.
that's difficult with wading pools.
WTF? There have to be more than two people besides me who can't swim <_< :Embarrass: :cry:
Yes; I haven't really swum distances since I was a teen, though (I was once required to swim a mile in order to qualify for a place on a brigantine sailing camp).
Carl is learning to swim, and he's only 3 and a half.
When we were becalmed in the doldrums south of the Equator after we left the Galapagos I went swimming off of the sailboat in the middle of the ocean. That was cool, but it was 500 miles to shore, so I am glad I didn't have to try to make that...
Been swimming since I was three years old. Probably dont do it as well these days but yeah, still got the basics.
The water rejects me, so people try to burn me as a witch.
Hard to imagine not knowing how to swim. Clan Berkut are taught to swim whether they like it or not at a very young age.
I learned to swim in the ocean, head above water with no style kinda swimming, no swim team material.
Quote from: Sahib on August 10, 2009, 07:48:28 AM
WTF? There have to be more than two people besides me who can't swim <_< :Embarrass: :cry:
Apparently not :console:
Quote from: Martinus on August 09, 2009, 05:03:58 PM
I do. It's funny with me, because when I was a kid (like 10 y.o.) my parents would send me to swimming lessons and it was a horror as I couldn't learn it at all, and I was afraid of water and whatnot. Then, when I was like 17 I just went into a swimming pool and started swimming. :P
That sounds pretty similar to me, but a little earlier than 17.
I can swim, but I can't stay afloat while doing it.
Quote from: DGuller on August 10, 2009, 10:58:19 PM
I can swim, but I can't stay afloat while doing it.
I think you are doing it wrong.
Like a fish, but I thought I'd drown the first couple of times I did open-water swims for triathlons - being kicked in the face by 200 pairs of feet makes for something of a challenge to stay afloat.
Most swimming in the UK is pool-based, and primary schools have weekly lessons (used to be compulsory) when they'd coach us off to the local municipal pool. I learnt to swim in an outdoor pool in the Isle of White on a summer holiday.
Taught myself to swim by lieing in a tidal river and waiting for the tide to lift me upbecause I was too scared to lift up my feet on my own. God it was boring
Quote from: Iormlund on August 10, 2009, 05:22:05 AM
I don't think I know anyone who can't swim. A/C at home is something relatively new, the usual cure for summer temperatures when I was a kid was to spend the whole day at the building/block/neighborhood/sportsclub pool.
It's not that strange for the people from our parents' generation. My mother surely can't (she's only able to do short dog paddles with some support, no swimming pools in post war rural Zamora), and not for lack of trying.
I swim well, learned at a young age, as well learning more in swim courses as I got older. I don't go swimming very often, so I'd be out of shape to swim long distances or such.
I have some strange unconscious fear of deep water. can't swim really. Tho I likely could dog padle my way to safety if not too panicked. Snorkeling? no issues. The undersea world is pleasant.
Quote from: The Larch on August 11, 2009, 06:31:20 AM
Quote from: Iormlund on August 10, 2009, 05:22:05 AM
I don't think I know anyone who can't swim. A/C at home is something relatively new, the usual cure for summer temperatures when I was a kid was to spend the whole day at the building/block/neighborhood/sportsclub pool.
It's not that strange for the people from our parents' generation. My mother surely can't (she's only able to do short dog paddles with some support, no swimming pools in post war rural Zamora), and not for lack of trying.
In the countryside, people learn(t) by going to the river... Maybe not the unforgiving Douro but you get the idea.
I learnt in swimming pools.
My Grandmother had an inground poor so I learned how to swim pretty young. I should probably do it more since swimming does wonders for my back.
Quote from: BuddhaRhubarb on August 11, 2009, 11:39:50 AM
I have some strange unconscious fear of deep water.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! :cthulu:
And yes, I can swim. Learned it as a kid like most other kids. It's rather uncommon to not be able to swim here. In 7th grade I had one classmate who couldn't. The only one in my family who cannot swim is my granny.
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
With all the smoking and drinking I did up until recently, not very far anymore. <_< Probably only around a mile or so at a very slow pace. Maybe.
I'd be challenged to swim a mile myself.
There are people who can't swim? You'd figure with all of the fat asses in this country, that this problem would be eradicated.
I spent most of my youth either at the YMCA or tagging along with my well-to-do friends at the local popular Whites only country club.
There's no way me and my sister couldn't swim in our family... we did the Red Cross kiddie swimming very early and my sister was actually the first woman in the Navy to pass the Rescue Swimmers Qualifications for 1999.
Quote from: AnchorClanker on August 12, 2009, 01:25:16 PM
There's no way me and my sister couldn't swim in our family... we did the Red Cross kiddie swimming very early and my sister was actually the first woman in the Navy to pass the Rescue Swimmers Qualifications for 1999.
Yikes. The water is pretty cold in January.
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
By that phrase, I meant that they easily frolic in the deep end, can swim various strokes, and have no problem swimming out to the dock from the beach at the local pond/lake. (I grew up in Iowa, for heaven's sake. No one had to swim a mile to do anything. We didn't even have a single lake that I knew of that was a mile across when I was a kid.)
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
of course, a number of people here sound like they can't walk a mile, so I guess it goes to show.
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 07:31:38 PM
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
of course, a number of people here sound like they can't walk a mile, so I guess it goes to show.
Why walk when you can ride?
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 07:31:38 PM
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
:shrug: There wasn't anything else above "enough to keep my head above water."
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 07:31:38 PM
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
of course, a number of people here sound like they can't walk a mile, so I guess it goes to show.
I can walk to my car, what more do I need?
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 07:31:38 PM
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
Well when people use the phrase "he/she swims like a fish" they generally are just describing that a person loves to swim, not that the individual has great prowess.
Quote from: ulmont on August 12, 2009, 07:39:28 PM
:shrug: There wasn't anything else above "enough to keep my head above water."
And that's simply treading, not swimming.
I too find it odd that there are many people who don't know how to swim, unless they're handicapped or something. And I grew up in West Virginia. We didn't have pools in the schools (at least not primary or secondary schools, with maybe a couple of exceptions; colleges were a different matter), nor are there a lot of Y's or other public pools, but still pretty much everyone I grew up with knew how to swim.
Quote from: dps on August 12, 2009, 11:32:58 PM
I too find it odd that there are many people who don't know how to swim, unless they're handicapped or something. And I grew up in West Virginia. We didn't have pools in the schools (at least not primary or secondary schools, with maybe a couple of exceptions; colleges were a different matter), nor are there a lot of Y's or other public pools, but still pretty much everyone I grew up with knew how to swim.
The reason I can't swim is because I was extremely skinny when I was a child in Ukraine, and the gym teacher was very bad at conveying the basics of propelling yourself in water. That led to lack of confidence, and lack of desire, to swim later in life.
Like a fish.. though my stamina will be lower now than it used to... and I never got to learn the butterfly :(
Denmark have compulsory swim classes at school.. at least for now.. but with one of the longest coastlines compared to size it would be obvious for most danes to learn to swim :)
V
Quote from: ulmont on August 12, 2009, 07:39:28 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 07:31:38 PM
it seems we have a very low bar for "swimming like a fish."
:shrug: There wasn't anything else above "enough to keep my head above water."
My thoughts exactly :)
V
"swim like a fish" would imply adapting to water like a fish. so basic floundering really shouldn't count.
bad use of metaphor. bad poll.
Quote from: DGuller on August 12, 2009, 11:36:14 PM
The reason I can't swim is because I was extremely skinny when I was a child in Ukraine, and the gym teacher was very bad at conveying the basics of propelling yourself in water. That led to lack of confidence, and lack of desire, to swim later in life.
Well, hopefully you've managed to fatten yourself up since coming to America. :)
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
I recently swam in the lake by my town and it was the first time I've been swimming since I was in Mexico in 2005 or so. The next time I go swimming in the lake I'll see how far I can go and report back. :cool:
Quote from: dps on August 12, 2009, 11:32:58 PM
I too find it odd that there are many people who don't know how to swim, unless they're handicapped or something. And I grew up in West Virginia. We didn't have pools in the schools (at least not primary or secondary schools, with maybe a couple of exceptions; colleges were a different matter), nor are there a lot of Y's or other public pools, but still pretty much everyone I grew up with knew how to swim.
Some of us wasn't beggar children who ran down to the pond or creek in the holler every evening to cool off.
Quote from: Caliga on August 13, 2009, 07:16:16 AM
Quote from: DGuller on August 12, 2009, 11:36:14 PM
The reason I can't swim is because I was extremely skinny when I was a child in Ukraine, and the gym teacher was very bad at conveying the basics of propelling yourself in water. That led to lack of confidence, and lack of desire, to swim later in life.
Well, hopefully you've managed to fatten yourself up since coming to America. :)
Yes. I literally gained 20 pounds in my first month in US (and I was 12 at the time).
:cool: America, FUCK YEAH.
That explains that twinkie shortage years ago.
I learned to swim as a young kid, parents taught me. Then in the Boy Scouts with all the summer activities and aquatic type achievements, one being the mile swim. Also some water survival ideas. Then in the naval reserve, boot camp with swim qualifications and survival techniques. I especially like and still remember the one about using your pants for flotation. After taking them off, tie up the leg ends, then you can blow them up with air easily while underwater; just exhale into the waist and the air bubbles do it. Then use as a crude life preserver.
Quote from: Caliga on August 13, 2009, 07:19:05 AM
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
I recently swam in the lake by my town and it was the first time I've been swimming since I was in Mexico in 2005 or so. The next time I go swimming in the lake I'll see how far I can go and report back. :cool:
you gotta beat KRonn. he is setting the new bar.
Well, the lake is 21 miles long as I recall, but it's downright dangerous to try to swim it in its entirety, because large sections of it are used as ski courses and overloaded with ski boats/jet skis.
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
I *was* able to swim a mile (I had to prove it), but that was a long long time ago and I haven tried recently. Dunno if I could do it now - though if I was allowed to set my own pace and use various strokes, I probably could - I think. :unsure:
Growing up, we had a kick-ass pool in our development & it was in easy walking/bike distance, so I started taking lessons as soon as I was old enough. Spent just about every summer day there as a kid, as well.
My next door neighbors have a pool & hopefully they don't move away any time soon, so my kid can get the same early swimming experience.
But here's some weirdness. When I went to my ROTC basic camp, we had quite a few cadets from Puerto Rico in my company. When it came time to do our water safety training, not a single one of them could swim. They live on a small island with beaches, FFS :huh:
Quote from: saskganesh on August 13, 2009, 06:59:12 AMso basic floundering really shouldn't count.
I'm glad that "Enough to keep my head above water" was an option then. :)
Quote from: Malthus on August 13, 2009, 09:41:32 AM
Quote from: saskganesh on August 12, 2009, 11:40:21 AM
I'd like to know how far the people who can "swim like a fish" can indeed swim?
I *was* able to swim a mile (I had to prove it), but that was a long long time ago and I haven tried recently. Dunno if I could do it now - though if I was allowed to set my own pace and use various strokes, I probably could - I think. :unsure:
When I did the mile swim I used different swim strokes - sidestroke, backstroke, etc. We could stop for a rest, we weren't training for a marathon swim, just had to make the mile for the achievement. But I loved swimming and was in the water a lot.
Quote from: saskganesh on August 13, 2009, 06:59:12 AM
"swim like a fish" would imply adapting to water like a fish. so basic floundering really shouldn't count.
bad use of metaphor. bad poll.
Quote from: merithyn on August 12, 2009, 05:48:49 PM
By that phrase, I meant that they easily frolic in the deep end, can swim various strokes, and have no problem swimming out to the dock from the beach at the local pond/lake. (I grew up in Iowa, for heaven's sake. No one had to swim a mile to do anything. We didn't even have a single lake that I knew of that was a mile across when I was a kid.)
I'm pretty sure that people who can do the above are not just floundering around, but you seem to have a different assumption going. How about we just agree to disagree on the use of the phrase?
Quote from: derspiess on August 13, 2009, 10:21:02 AM
But here's some weirdness. When I went to my ROTC basic camp, we had quite a few cadets from Puerto Rico in my company. When it came time to do our water safety training, not a single one of them could swim. They live on a small island with beaches, FFS :huh:
Good rum and HOTT women at the beach = the little guys swimming ain't in the water