People who drown because they couldn't swim...wtf?

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Mayne

Mayne

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Apr 13, 2014
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it's not that hard. I dived into the deep end when i was 4 and just dog paddled my first time. dog paddle and kick your feet. how hard is that?
 
spacejamz

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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a high number of drowning occur in 3 ft of water or less from a report I read awhile back...
 
VashHT

VashHT

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Feb 1, 2007
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I used to be a lifeguard and had to help a lot of people who overestimate their swimming ability. Doggy paddling can be OK if you're just playing around and not going far, but we had a raft out in deeper water and people would get tired trying to doggy paddle out there because it's a terrible way to swim. Also, underestimating conditions, people underestimate current in rivers and such and can't fight against it if they aren't really strong swimmers.
 
Mai72

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
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I'll admit. I live near the shore (NJ) and I can't swim. I just wasn't an outdoor person. I worked 2 jobs in the summer, or I worked 12 hour days working for my parents.

I'll learn though. That's my goal this year.
 
balloonshark

balloonshark

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Jun 5, 2008
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Everyone should be taught to roll over on the back, relax and float. The hardest part is learning to relaxi when you're afraid of drowning. Relax don't drown.
 
Mayne

Mayne

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Apr 13, 2014
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my big brother's dad died when he was a little kid. Never go canoeing with someone has some drowning history.
 
Mayne

Mayne

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Apr 13, 2014
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at one point during our 2 hour canoe trip to our fishing spot/camp. It's now 4 hours into this hard ass canoe trip..I ask a couple that were canoeing by us..."hey guys, are driving this canoe backwards?" ...after a few seconds the6y say"yeah your canoe is bacwards"
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
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balloonshark said:
Everyone should be taught to roll over on the back, relax and float. The hardest part is learning to relaxi when you're afraid of drowning. Relax don't drown.
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Not everyone can do that though. I can't float on my back at all and it was actually what made the 10 minute tread the toughest part of my entire open water certification. I am just a sinker.

On the positive side though, because of that, I really don't need much weight at all, even with a wetsuit on. With my new setup, I actually don't need any weight at all, which is really nice.

I am also not the greatest swimmer by any means but I know how to swim. But, I will snorkel for hours and hours on end, and I was in a pool yesterday underwater for about 90 minutes straight doing SCUBA stuff.
 
D

dingster1

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Mar 25, 2004
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A lot of communities don’t have access to proper swimming teaching. Its more than jump in hold your breath and dog paddle
 
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Mayne

Mayne

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long story short. Don't ask your older brother to relax while he is canoeing. Apparantely don't ask how he is doing when his father died due to drowning while in a raft off the coast of newoundland....and he knows you are brother's because we share the same mother and our mother married my brothers dad's cousin 3 years later
 
destrekor

destrekor

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Nov 18, 2005
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dingster1 said:
A lot of communities don’t have access to proper swimming teaching. Its more than jump in hold your breath and dog paddle
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. I was never given proper lessons and I absolutely love the water. Now I've never really had the knack for "proper" swim styles like true freestyle (which isn't actually "free" it's a strict style lol), never got into competitive swimming, but I can hang, and can use multiple methods to keep afloat. When it comes to swimming, good form is a bonus -- having the basics enough that you can splash around, have fun, and not drown... that's what matters most. This is knowledge that nobody should go without - drowning is too damn easy to avoid and while most won't find themselves in a live or die situation having fallen into water somehow, you sure want to know how to at least tread water if that happens.

I learned because my parents taught me the basics. They put floaties on me and taught me basics from very early in life (toddler?).

I understand inner-city kids not learning because access to pools isn't a given, lessons can be expensive, and if they aren't by a large body of water then it's just a rarity to have the opportunity.

We camped a lot and I ended up learning at a campground's pond, I think. Also site of a near drowning on my part after thinking I could reach the buoys without floaties. That.. didn't work out so well. Puked out some water once I got back to shore lol (did more swallowing water than taking water into lungs though because while the water was over my head, once I sank enough I could kick off the bottom and resurface. But I just sank like a rock back then.


Mai72 said:
I'll admit. I live near the shore (NJ) and I can't swim. I just wasn't an outdoor person. I worked 2 jobs in the summer, or I worked 12 hour days working for my parents.

I'll learn though. That's my goal this year.
Click to expand...

Did your parents not know how to swim?
Living near a shore, a very swimmable body of water, I just can't see a situation where adults that knew how to swim didn't impart that knowledge on kids. It's one thing if there are no swimmable bodies of water nearby, but it doesn't take much to give a kid enough experience to at least tread water. Now if parents don't know how to swim either, that's different, but frankly I consider that something that should have been corrected as early as possible.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
67,338
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www.anyf.ca
Yeah I don't really get it. I'm not a GOOD swimmer, but I can still swim. If I fell out of a boat or otherwise ended up in water where I can't touch the bottom I can at least swim back to the boat or shore or whatever. I can't swim for long and I'm no olympic swimmer, so if you dropped me in the middle of a lake I may possibly not be able to make it back, but most drowning situations there is usually a boat or shore nearby.

I really don't like the feeling of being under water and can't hold my breath worth crap though and I can't "not breathe" so if I don't block my nose water WILL go in. So unfortunately if I did see someone drowning I don't think I'd be able to save them.
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
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purbeast0 said:
Not everyone can do that though. I can't float on my back at all and it was actually what made the 10 minute tread the toughest part of my entire open water certification. I am just a sinker.

On the positive side though, because of that, I really don't need much weight at all, even with a wetsuit on. With my new setup, I actually don't need any weight at all, which is really nice.

I am also not the greatest swimmer by any means but I know how to swim. But, I will snorkel for hours and hours on end, and I was in a pool yesterday underwater for about 90 minutes straight doing SCUBA stuff.
Click to expand...

When you say you can't float on your back are you thinking of a strict motionless style of floating, or more leaning back but still kicking and moving arms to keep head above the surface? (aka actually treading water and not strictly floating)

I can't float for shit, but I find leaning back and just lazily kicking and moving arms with wide open palms to be incredibly easy. In fact once on a cruise when I was growing up, on a shore excursion we had a party boat that dropped anchor far out in a bay and they were taking shuttle boats to shore. Well... cocky me (and sis) and a few other folk said screw it, we jumped overboard and made for shore. That.. was a lot further than I had judged. A few hopped onto the shuttles halfway there. I was beat at the end lol. But after my sloppy freestyle stroke stopped working so well, I just flipped over to a supine position and got real lazy with a treading water type movement (but pushing toward shore).
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,854
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destrekor said:
When you say you can't float on your back are you thinking of a strict motionless style of floating, or more leaning back but still kicking and moving arms to keep head above the surface? (aka actually treading water and not strictly floating)

I can't float for shit, but I find leaning back and just lazily kicking and moving arms with wide open palms to be incredibly easy. In fact once on a cruise when I was growing up, on a shore excursion we had a party boat that dropped anchor far out in a bay and they were taking shuttle boats to shore. Well... cocky me (and sis) and a few other folk said screw it, we jumped overboard and made for shore. That.. was a lot further than I had judged. A few hopped onto the shuttles halfway there. I was beat at the end lol. But after my sloppy freestyle stroke stopped working so well, I just flipped over to a supine position and got real lazy with a treading water type movement (but pushing toward shore).
Click to expand...
I'm talking about floating without moving on your back.

I'll also sink just below surface if I try to do it while kicking slightly.
 
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