Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

[JTsyo]

Round up all the water and put it in camps.

We already do, they are called oceans, lakes, pools etc. Only trouble is that the water finds it easy to escape into clouds.

I took a semester of swimming in HS but wasn't very good at it. I got as far a dead man's float and treading water When I try any kind of stroke, I start to slowly sink.

 

[destrekor]

I always thought I almost drowned once. If I am reading this correctly, perhaps I was actually experiencing aquatic distress. Which makes sense, because I was able to help myself a little, but the situation also provided assistance.

My first time out in water over my head, without those little swimmers inflatable things on my arms, I thought I could go out and be near the buoy line at a small campground pond. Turns out I COULD, but not successfully and safely.
I sank and surfaced and bounced off the sandy bottom a foot or two beneath my kicking legs. IIRC, I was able to, somewhat wave my arms, and make attempts at screaming "mommy!" but I sucked in a ton of water and bobbed up and down a lot.

Though, this is weird... my early childhood memory of these events is usually really strong, but I absolutely cannot remember what happened between those moments and puking up pond water on the beach. Don't know if I managed to reach the beach by myself, if my mom was able to hear me and get out there, or if a lifeguard or even some other parent was able to help.
I imagine if my feet could never find a surface to shove off of and surface, I would have been in a far more dire situation and would have not had much chance of doing anything other than trying to keep myself alive.

 

[spidey07]

If you're ever in trouble, take the biggest breath you can and hold it. You'll float. And if you feel like you need to exhale, exhale only a portion of your lung capacity - it will allow you to hold your breath MUCH longer. That strong push/strain your body telling you to exhale is from buildup CO2 but there's still plenty more oxygen left in that breath to use, if you let out only a portion of your breath that strain goes away for a bit. You can continue doing this until there is no air in your lungs.

Of course if there is no air in your lungs, you'll start to sink.

 

[Red Storm]

If you're ever in trouble, take the biggest breath you can and hold it. You'll float. And if you feel like you need to exhale, exhale only a portion of your lung capacity - it will allow you to hold your breath MUCH longer. That strong push/strain your body telling you to exhale is from buildup CO2 but there's still plenty more oxygen left in that breath to use, if you let out only a portion of your breath that strain goes away for a bit. You can continue doing this until there is no air in your lungs.

Of course if there is no air in your lungs, you'll start to sink.

I'd say the single most important thing to learn is how to float on your back. I learned how to do that before learning proper swimming, and it really helped me because whenever I would get tired I just had to turn over on my back and rest. Not knowing how to do that makes swimming a very tiring exercise.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Awesome post & reminder. We raised both of our boys to be good swimmers. Too good, imho - we'll be anchored in 40 feet of water & both of them will be out of the boat, treading water, enjoying a beer and playing catch with a frisbee.

:thumbsup: Western NY is great for all the lakes.

 

[destrekor]

Awesome post & reminder. We raised both of our boys to be good swimmers. Too good, imho - we'll be anchored in 40 feet of water & both of them will be out of the boat, treading water, enjoying a beer and playing catch with a frisbee.

I've always sort of been that way too - my parents made a good effort to get me interested in the water. I never did classes or anything, and it helps that I have always taken to the water quite fondly. I love the water. Actively swimming in the deep I can do it, at a leisurely pace, for a decent while, and I can rest with minimal effort treading for a while and move on from there (and flip on my back and paddle with forward momentum that way if I am too tired to stroke normally). I won't shatter records or go long distances/times, but I can hold my own.

But damn - I don't think I could treat water, hold a beer, and actually catch frisbees without serious rest breaks. I need my arms to help at least a little, but that's because I've never had that much bodyfat to add buoyancy. I COULD, but it would waste too much energy.

But I have been fond of jumping off boats into similar depth water and playing around for a bit. On a cruise stop, we were on a party boat and it stopped at a beach probably a little over 100m from shore. They didn't want us to swim, they wanted us to take turns hopping on little shuttle boats. But some people jumped off, and me and my sis decided it was a good idea too. Once I went a few paces beyond the boat, I realized I would be dead tired mighty quick but kept on kicking anyhow. Beautiful crystal clear water at least 50' deep at that point, that was the most exhilarating swim I've ever had in my life. I had to switch to a halfassed lounge-like paddle while on my back toward the shore. Oh, and the shoreline dropped off quick too in that little bay, so we felt so close yet still had to swim almost right up to the beach before sand was underfoot.

 

[The_Dude8]

I'd say the single most important thing to learn is how to float on your back. I learned how to do that before learning proper swimming, and it really helped me because whenever I would get tired I just had to turn over on my back and rest. Not knowing how to do that makes swimming a very tiring exercise.

how do you float on your back?

 

[Printer Bandit]

folks, learn the dead man's float:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html

 

[Paratus]

Round up all the water and put it in camps.

Ok. What now?

 

[jhansman]

If you've ever been caught in riptide while ocean swimming, you know how useless thrashing or trying to swim against it is. I nearly drown while body surfing at a SoCal beach, and it was only the words and actions of the lifeguard got to me that kept me from completely panic. Once I was able to get my wits back and follow his instructions, we got back to the beach OK. Scared the living daylights out of me, and I learned a lot about rips after that. Weird part is, I surfed for years prior to this event, and never once felt in danger or at any real risk. At one spot, we used the rip to get outside past the break.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Thanks OP, good post.

 

[DestinyKnight]

I nearly drowned when I was a kid at a public pool. Found myself in the deep end, panicked and stopped treading water. I tried crying out to nearby adults but couldn't get much sound out and was ignored. Fortunately I was close enough to the side that I eventually got over to it and out, coughing and choking.

 

[destrekor]

If you've ever been caught in riptide while ocean swimming, you know how useless thrashing or trying to swim against it is. I nearly drown while body surfing at a SoCal beach, and it was only the words and actions of the lifeguard got to me that kept me from completely panic. Once I was able to get my wits back and follow his instructions, we got back to the beach OK. Scared the living daylights out of me, and I learned a lot about rips after that. Weird part is, I surfed for years prior to this event, and never once felt in danger or at any real risk. At one spot, we used the rip to get outside past the break.

Swim perpendicular to the current's direction, right?
Generally that means swim parallel to the shoreline, and not try and fight the current (swim against the current and make no headway whatsoever).

That's what I've learned about rips, but I've also never been subjected to one. And of course, when you unexpectedly find yourself in a rip, panic might win out over knowledge and logic.

IIRC, a lot of rip currents tend to be no wider than 10-20m wide (whereas depending on shape of the underlying shore, they could extend for hundreds of meters). Again, depending on the local conditions, a rip could be far wider than that... but it's supposedly easy to get out of one if you can keep yourself calm and know to swim sideways. I can't say much in that matter though, as again, I've never been in one.

 

[spidey07]

folks, learn the dead man's float:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html

Yep. It's pretty critical. Folks panic and breathe fast and huge breaths, that makes them sink. Same with "how do I float on my back"? Easy - make sure your lungs are full of air...you take big breathes and you'll sink.

Your lungs are your life preserver. Learned a ton about controlling your buoancy in scuba. If you're tired, keep air in your lungs at max capacity and don't let your lungs get less than half full.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

reminds me of people choking. someone yelling "i can't breathe! i can't breathe!" is breathing.

 

[destrekor]

Yep. It's pretty critical. Folks panic and breathe fast and huge breaths, that makes them sink. Same with "how do I float on my back"? Easy - make sure your lungs are full of air...you take big breathes and you'll sink.

Your lungs are your life preserver. Learned a ton about controlling your buoancy in scuba. If you're tired, keep air in your lungs at max capacity and don't let your lungs get less than half full.

Unless you have little body fat... if you have unnaturally large bags o' air, it might still work... but most "dense bodies" do have difficulty floating on backs even with the best natural ballasting techniques.

You can be "sculpted" and still have more body fat than some of the lankier ones.

I've noticed when I'm in better shape than at other times, even treading water requires more effort.
I might have more luck in an ocean, but it's been awhile since I could test this. In pools, I can't remain still and float.


Thought I'd add:
I CAN do the dead man's float. Floating on my back, my body wants to sink and requires minimal effort but effort/energy nonetheless to stay floating. Hanging downward in the dead man's float, however, I can accomplish easily with full lungs.

If you have any kind of clothing, and in need of serious floating ability, cinching clothing items up at the openings and filling with air is also a handy flotation aid. Lightweight clothing probably sucks, but any kind of heavy duty clothing, especially pants, will be able to hold a good deal of air and help you remain afloat with basically zero exertion.

 

[spidey07]

reminds me of people choking. someone yelling "i can't breathe! i can't breathe!" is breathing.

I heimliched my ex-gf. I knew she was in bad trouble when she couldn't cough, just mouth moving and nothing. I let her try to get it out for a 5-10 seconds, nothing.

Looking calmly into her eyes as her panic started to really set in and her eyes said sheer panic...I said "I've got you, but it's going to suck, just relax"

Lifted her clear off the ground a good foot forcing my fist up and into her diaphram. On the 3rd yank she started coughing.

 

[Triumph]

thanks OP, i honestly did not know anything about this.

 

[MotionMan]

Back up to the top for the Friday morning crowd.

MotionMan

 

[surfsatwerk]

Ok. What now?

...

3. Profit!

 

[ViviTheMage]

I suck at swimming, LOL.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Swim perpendicular to the current's direction, right?
Generally that means swim parallel to the shoreline, and not try and fight the current (swim against the current and make no headway whatsoever).

That's what I've learned about rips, but I've also never been subjected to one. And of course, when you unexpectedly find yourself in a rip, panic might win out over knowledge and logic.

IIRC, a lot of rip currents tend to be no wider than 10-20m wide (whereas depending on shape of the underlying shore, they could extend for hundreds of meters). Again, depending on the local conditions, a rip could be far wider than that... but it's supposedly easy to get out of one if you can keep yourself calm and know to swim sideways. I can't say much in that matter though, as again, I've never been in one.

I got caught in a rip while snorkling in a bay a few years back. Its a little unnerving to be going backwards while swimming full force with fins on. I just changed directions and I was free of the current without that much trouble. I at least knew the bay, and knew that in the worst case scenario I would have to pass over the coral breakwater which is only about 2-4 feet deep before being pulled out to sea. At that point to the detriment of the coral (and probably get cut to shit in the process) I could stop myself from being pulled out to the open waters.

 

[skyking]

Thanks for the reminder. As one who has lost a family member to drowning, I cannot say too much or too often how important it is to educate yourself before going in the water.

 

[rh71]

When we were young, my cousin went to the diving board unaware of just how deep the bottom was. He wasn't able to swim but thought he could just bounce back up. I didn't go because I simply didn't know how to swim and was afraid to try diving. Well after he jumped, he came up once and went back down and that's all I saw from a distance. No arm waving or screaming... then the whistles came and they jumped in. Was kind of surreal... after he was rescued he just came back over to us and we laughed it off thinking it wasn't a big deal... because we were too young to realize how serious it all was.

I never learned to swim when I was younger but took a class in college... they taught the basics but I just can't get comfortable enough breathing the right way - turning the head sideways... I always swallow water up my nose. Right now I can do laps but with my head above water which is extremely tiring so I can only do a couple. I can also do the dead man's float... it's really not enough to save a life 25 meters into the ocean, but perhaps I can at least save my own now and help out in a pool if it's an emergency. Lifeguards don't put their heads under water after they've got the victim anyway right?

 

[MotionMan]

Back up again.

MotionMan