If not, why haven’t you learned how?
Its harder to remember not swimming to be honest. School swimming lessons, beach holidays, leisure centres, holidays abroad etc. I actually used to swim competetively (for my age bracket in my teenage years) for a local team. Went on to do lots of scuba diving and was a pool lifeguard for a bit
I think not swimming here is pretty rare, I want to say that maybe 10 or 15% of my year were classed as “non-swimmers” and had lessons separately to the rest.
Yep, did survival skills when I was a kid. Treading on water with neck high for 15 minutes, diving in with PJs and plimsoles, and controlling our breath at the bottom of the pool, taking off our shoes and tying knots in our pyjamas to use as floatation devices. It was pretty intense for a bunch of 10 year olds to do, but yep we did it.
For ~25 years I was too lean to float, so it’s a good thing I could swim.
yes but barely. I basically do backstroke and sidestroke. never could get the hang of putting my face in and out of the water. There are a few others I can do where you keep your head out but they are relatively useless so don’t really do them.
Yes, of course, it’s a basic life skill.
No, it’s not common for schools to have pools in my city, never travel to a beach, no paying for a club(I don’t think that’s the right english word for it but I can’t think of another one) to go to a pool. The only few times I got to a pool in friends/parent houses was not enough to learn how to swim.
Yes, I went and learned as an adult, even. I figured the world is 70% water and I really needed to have a chance in case of a surprise encounter with it.
I had the usual lessons at primary school, but at the end of those myself and one other in the class still couldn’t swim. In the half century since then I have never found the need or the desire to try again.
Yes, and I learned to float to swim further
Here in Germany we learn that in school in 3rd or 4th grade (ca 9-10 years of age).
… unless there are not enough teachers, or not enough public pools, or…
The indoor pool I learned swimming closed a decade ago and since then there is no public indoor pool in the city anymore.
For some reason I don’t remember ever doing such a course. I never got a “Seepferdchen”. I learned to swim on my own at some point or with help from my parents.
Yes
No, almost drown when I was a kid and have massive panic attacks getting into the water. In the last few years I’ve been able to get chest deep without hyperventilating but can’t really seem to float out anything like that without letting go of the side.
You got that shit if you made it chest high. Keep going!
Trusting the float on the back makes sense to be a hard one. It’s counterintuitive, the water comes over your face when you start, and you can’t hold on to anything. Might be worth getting a personal coach for a session just for that if you haven’t already. Someone supporting you might help with the anxiety as long as they’re encouraging and not pushy.
Despite living in a country surrounded by water, no, I can’t swim. I don’t go in water I can’t stand in
Yes I learned at a very young age.
i learned to swim by puking so hard that the puke leaving my mouth propelled me through the water