Swimming. Did they make it harder to do recently?

[pointblank4445]

I scanned the bait feed yesterday after posting this and found 2 stories where people drowned. Every summer here someone at the lake decides to take a short swim and then just goes under. I get alcohol being a factor, but good God. Even if you get a cramp or something... just float on your back until you recover.

Google: "Drowning doesn't look like drowning".

Panic is also a weird thing. We were taught to never approach an active (conscious) drowning victim from the front and are taught escapes and kick-offs in the event the victim turns. Victims taking rescuers down with them is also a thing. There's a scene in The Guardian akin to this concept.

Weird things also just happen, case in point the a swimmer in the world championships just went down and was saved by her coach. She was obviously no novice.


I think we can safely say chalk this up to similar concepts of personal defense. Sometimes the untrained/unprepared get lucky. Sometimes the trained expert is unlucky. Best you can do is train up, be ready and be smart.

[markm]

Panic is also a weird thing. We were taught to never approach an active (conscious) drowning victim from the front and are taught escapes and kick-offs in the event the victim turns. Victims taking rescuers down with them is also a thing.

Definitely have heard of both points.

Weird things also just happen, case in point the a swimmer in the world championships just went down and was saved by her coach. She was obviously no novice.

That whole event stinks to high hell. Since it's the 2nd time it has happened to the same swimmer, either she (the swimmer) is surrounded by imbeciles or this was a stunt. Her coach appears to be in love with her. Maybe I'm jaded, but that seems staged as hell.

[pointblank4445]

That whole event stinks to high hell. Since it's the 2nd time it has happened to the same swimmer, either she (the swimmer) is surrounded by imbeciles or this was a stunt. Her coach appears to be in love with her. Maybe I'm jaded, but that seems staged as hell.

Perhaps...can't say I know (or really care).

I'll also give you a middle-aged man and daily lap swimmer up and have a grand mal seizure in the middle of his swim. I can speak on that one.

[markm]

Perhaps...can't say I know (or really care).

Same here. But the media went hysterical for it.

[titsonritz]

Getting into a rip and going into panic, I can kind of see.

On the flip side, there was a click bait (I didn't read) about a boat Capt. who fell overboard and swam 14 miles to safety. I'd love to safely test how far/long I could swim.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...f41a7c91ed68dc

I have no doubt I could for miles if I had to, between back float and survival float and alternating easy stokes like the breast and side, one could go for days. If you go in clothed, lose the boots/shoes, take your pants off, knot at the end of the pant legs, open waist and swoop overhead to fill with air and straddle the crotch with your chest and allow the legs under your arms, repeat filling as needed...instant improvised life preserver. Would not waste energy treading water unless trying to make contact. Gee whiz, sure glad mom dragged my ass to those swimming lessons when I was a kid.

[markm]

I have no doubt I could for miles if I had to, between back float and survival float and alternating easy stokes like the breast and side, one could go for days.

That's my thought. Maybe not "days", but damn... even as I'm getting older, I still feel like I could save myself and cover a good distance to get to safety. When I was younger and would go to the ocean, I'd already figgered out that if I got pulled away from shore, I'd lateral down until I could make my way back to land.

[sinister]

In the summers we often supported the Boy Scout Summer Camp Mile Swim with oversight swimmers / lifeguards in canoes and Zodiac boats. I'm not sure if it was for a separate merit badge or an Eagle Scout prerequisite, but we did some off-shore and in lakes.

[markm]

In the summers we often supported the Boy Scout Summer Camp Mile Swim with oversight swimmers / lifeguards in canoes and Zodiac boats. I'm not sure if it was for a separate merit badge or an Eagle Scout prerequisite, but we did some off-shore and in lakes.

We were camping up at a small lake here in AZ and my kid and a bunch of kids wanted to swim across the lake (maybe 200 yards). I paddled a kayak next to them in case any kid struggled. None of them had a problem across or back.

[WillBrink]

You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to actually swim. Add the urgency of an actual problem, you ride to the level of your training.

Is the % of people who can't swim also increasing? I bet it is, so that and the fact people are getting dumber, may explain it.

[markm]

Is the % of people who can't swim also increasing? I bet it is, so that and the fact people are getting dumber, may explain it.

Kinda to my point. Another symptom of de-evolution. People can no longer drive stick, parallel park, remember that their kid is in the hot car, etc.