do you know how to swim?

I learned to swim when I was around 5 or so. My parents decided to get a pool and wanted me to learn to swim before it was built. Most kids in Phoenix learn to swim at an early age. I was a very good swimmer but almost drowned one summer when at San Diego. I was rather cocky and found out quickly that swimming in the Pacific Ocean is a lot different than swimming in the backyard swimming pool :rolleyes:
 

Yes I can swim. I learned to swim when I was very young and continue to swim right now. My swims are in the ocean and are usually at least a mile in distance. Currently my husband drops me off at one beach snd I swim to the next. The other day I was swimming with a lobster boat behind me.
It was really fun. In fact, all the outdoor swims are really fun. The salt water is so much easier to swim in and to be in such deep water and still see the bottom is a thrill. It’s also nice knowing where the jellyfish are.
Im currently learning about the dangers of rip tides. Tides aren’t something I’ve really ever had to deal with before but I’m learning.99A06F23-398F-4170-9014-6738B31F8800.jpeg
 
I am a solid swimmer. Spent my youth in rivers, creeks (we said cricks), and lakes.

The Navy taught me to make flotation devices out of common items of clothing so I have that to rely on as well. The Navy also taught me to swim in burning oil, but that is a skill I would rather never have to use.
 

The middle school and high school I attended both had nice swimming pools, so I learned there. I seldom swam during my working years, but one of our Daughters/Son-in-Laws have a nice pool in their yard, and when we visit during the Summer months, I usually take a pair of swimming trunks, and paddle around a bit. I can still remember how to do the "side stroke", and that is my favorite way to swim.
 
Yes, but not very well. I mostly do an "old lady sidestroke," but I've done that even when I was young. I can float and swim on my back, and can dog paddle, of course. I'm all right in a pool, but would never dream of swimming in the ocean. Up to my knees is about as far as I ever go in the ocean.

And I grew up in NJ also. I really should be a better swimmer.
 
jujube said:
I went swimming in the Great Salt Lake once. Anybody could swim in there. Problem is that you wouldn't want to.....at least not more than once.
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I live by the Great Salt Lake and even in the best of times I would never go in that lake. It’s not just the salt, of course. A lot of open channels from around the valley flow into that lake and I have seen what is in those including dead animals etc. so, yuck.
 
I tell you where you definitely wouldn't want to swim.. the River Ganges...

The Indians and Bangladeshi's.. who are too poor to bury or cremate their dead due to C-19 or in fact any other disease, throw the body into the Ganges... or leave the body on a pyre on the filthy beach, until they are eventually swept away into the river......


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Hundreds of dead bodies were seen floating in the Ganges in the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar after a ferocious second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit India in April.
Mass burial sites were also found along the riverbank in Unnao and Prayagraj districts of Uttar Pradesh, as photos of semi-buried bodies, most of them wrapped in traditional saffron cloth, emerged on social media.

Cost of cremations up during COVID-19​

At Bithoor near the main city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, a holy site along the Ganges River where cremations are held, priest Rakesh Kumar Upadhyay tells Al Jazeera the cost of cremations has shot up during the pandemic.

He says there has been a sudden surge in the demand for firewood and other items required for Hindu cremation rituals.
“Earlier the price of four quintal of firewood was 2,500 rupees ($35) but now the prices have doubled,” he says.
“On an average, a family has to spend 5,500 rupees ($75) for firewood. Then other materials such as shroud, sugar, incense sticks cost 1,500 rupees ($20) more. The cost of bringing the dead body either in an ambulance or a tractor is minimum 1,000 rupees ($14). So the cremation now costs an average of 8,000 rupees ($110), while in the month of March it was just 5,000 rupees ($69),” the priest added.


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I was taught to swim as a child, but failed the required swimming test in college as without glasses I couldn’t see the end of the Olympic-length pool, and so was swimming in an arc. Strange and humiliating too was the fact that you had to take the test naked! So I took their classes and refined what I already knew, and learned to navigate with blurry vision, plus I was then allowed to wear swimming trunks, thank heavens ... 🏊‍♀️
 
Fyrefox said:
I was taught to swim as a child, but failed the required swimming test in college as without glasses I couldn’t see the end of the Olympic-length pool, and so was swimming in an arc. Strange and humiliating too was the fact that you had to take the test naked! So I took their classes and refined what I already knew, and learned to navigate with blurry vision, plus I was then allowed to wear swimming trunks, thank heavens ... 🏊‍♀️
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Whaaaaat????:cautious:..and parents didn't question this ?
 
I can swim. My parents moved us to FL and the area we lived in had many fresh water lakes and we swam, fished and went boating nearly every week-end. Later we moved to Flagler Beach and I was always on the beach and in the water as a teen. When my son was growing up, with my first husband, we went to Long Island and to the beaches every week-end during the summer. Some weeks my son and I would stay at one of the resort hotels in the Catskills and the pool was huge. I was at it all day long.

I haven't swam now in many years but I am confident I can. I was planning on getting a membership at the YMCA so I could use their pool but due to COVID, it has been closed.
 
Yes, when I was a little kid took daily swimming lessons at local YWCA
At first I was afraid of the deep end until I learned how to swim,dive off the diving board
I haven't swum in a many yrs,probably could still do crawl,breast stroke.Its like riding a bike,it all comes back to you once you start again
 
I was a pretty good swimmer. Did lifeguard duty at the municipal pool in summers, having gone all the way thru the Red Cross lifeguard program (jr. lifeguard, lifeguard, sr. lifeguard and water safety something). I remember having to demonstrate that we could stay in deep water for hours (I think it might have been 8 hrs.) without any flotation aid or assistance. It was the one time you could pee in the pool, which was closed for maintenance.
 
I'm not a swimmer in the strictest sense, but I can keep my head above water and do a kind of side paddle/doggie stroke to save myself or get to shore. My father got me started and later as kids we spent a lot of time at the river and just figured things out.
 
Sliverfox said:
Some where in my growing up years,, I became fearful of deep water.
Hated to get my head underwater,,perhaps from too many 'ducking pranks' being done to me as youngster?

When we did go boating in married life ,,life jacket was my best buddy.
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So is my husband. He hyperventilates anywhere near deep water which is why he goes fishing when I go swimming. Years ago I taught him to swim in a pool but I’d like to get him in the ocean. The ocean is so much easier to swim in. Surprisingly so. Of course he does wear his life jacket when we go kayaking or canoeing. I’d hate to be fearful of water since I love it so much . My husband loves the water too so I hope I can help him relieve this fear some and getting him out there swimming , will do just that.
 
Keesha said:
Yes I can swim. I learned to swim when I was very young and continue to swim right now. My swims are in the ocean and are usually at least a mile in distance. Currently my husband drops me off at one beach snd I swim to the next. The other day I was swimming with a lobster boat behind me.
It was really fun. In fact, all the outdoor swims are really fun. The salt water is so much easier to swim in and to be in such deep water and still see the bottom is a thrill. It’s also nice knowing where the jellyfish are.
Im currently learning about the dangers of rip tides. Tides aren’t something I’ve really ever had to deal with before but I’m learning.View attachment 171543
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My daughter and I got caught in a riptide off the North shore of Oahu. We swam parallel to the beach for a few hundred yards before coming in. It was not a big deal except that the spot we had to come back to was mostly lava rock and that was a bit unpleasant. My daughter was 13 at the time and a strong swimmer.

My son was a rescue swimmer in the Navy aboard the USS Kennedy and participated in two rescues from a chopper. One during the day, and the other in the Eastern Med in heavy seas and at night. Now, he is our family swimmer!
 
Pecos said:
My daughter and I got caught in a riptide off the North shore of Oahu. We swam parallel to the beach for a few hundred yards before coming in. It was not a big deal except that the spot we had to come back to was mostly lava rock and that was a bit unpleasant. My daughter was 13 at the time and a strong swimmer.

My son was a rescue swimmer in the Navy aboard the USS Kennedy and participated in two rescues from a chopper. One during the day, and the other in the Eastern Med in heavy seas and at night. Now, he is our family swimmer!
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Good for you in knowing what to do. I looked this up and what you did, is exactly what was recommended. It also said that most people caught in them end up expending most of their energy fighting the current instead of going with it. Its interesting and somewhat frightening reading up on these type of unusual undercurrents that can pull people out to sea but I’d rather know than not.

The difference between tides waters here is about a foot. It must feel really good knowing that your son has helped save people’s lives.

Ive gotten my training to save life’s in the water including CPR. You never know when it might be needed.

Good that you inspired your kids to be active swimmers.
 
Fyrefox said:
I was taught to swim as a child, but failed the required swimming test in college as without glasses I couldn’t see the end of the Olympic-length pool, and so was swimming in an arc. Strange and humiliating too was the fact that you had to take the test naked! So I took their classes and refined what I already knew, and learned to navigate with blurry vision, plus I was then allowed to wear swimming trunks, thank heavens ... 🏊‍♀️
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What???? Nowhere in my training were we required to take off any clothing. What type of certification was this? It sounds highly unusual.
 
I'm a decent swimmer, but most of my life I've been very dense (some people would say in more ways than one.) so I'm a sinker even with lungs full of air. I always hated the part of the swimming lessons where I had to float and none of the instructors believed I couldn't float and thought I was doing something wrong.

I can hold my own swimming when I'm in practice, but generally try to be very cautious. I snorkel and have gone scuba diving a few times.

I've had a couple of close calls (once while swimming as a younger teenager and then scuba diving as an 18 year old) that have taught me to be careful. The scuba diving incident could have been resolved by dropping my weight belt but I didn't want to pay for it and it would have made it very difficult to get to shore.
 
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