Can you swim?

[kittylover4ever]

I am reading our newspaper and a little boy drowned in Lake Erie here day before yesterday. Very tragic story.

I was just wondering how many of you can swim? I can, but my mom can't swim a lick. They made us all take swimming lessons at the Y when we were growing up. Now if I just had the courage to put on a cossey! *Susan taught me that word........it's a bathing suit*

 

[rosiemac]

I can swim. We were taught at school

Get your cossie on, who cares what people think!.

 

[charcoal]

I can swim. My mom can't.

 

[fwan]

i was taught to swim at school too, im not an excellent swimmer but i can float for agezzzzzzz!!

 

[AbbysMom]

I can't swim. My mother didn't like water so we never went to the beach or to a pool. If I ever have children, they will learn how to swim!

 

[fat clumsy cat]

I taught myself to swim but I am still not very good at it.

 

[gemlady]

We've had two toddlers drown in the last week in our area. One in a pool and the other in a little fish pond. Both occurred in seconds.

I've never had lessons but can swim sorta.

 

[ugaimes]

How tragic about that little boy

I can definitely swim. We had a pool at our hours in FL and I was on the swim team for a while here in Savannah. Plus, you can't be a whitewater rafter if you can't swim!

 

[darkeyedgirl]

I'm a mermaid. So is my daughter. I introduced her to water at age 4 months, and we used to live right across from a pool; so every day, she swam. She taught herself. I have no worries, she inherited my mermaid traits. She still gets supervised of course, but can be in the deep end alone.

 

[gilly]

I was able to swim without armbands at the age of 3. They ended up putting me in a swimming class for 8 year olds. I could also swim underwater at an early age

Luckily, my dad was a lifeguard then progressed to a swimming pool manager. I learnt a lot of swimming and lifesaving skills from him and am now quite a strong, confident swimmer.

I think that people should be taught to swim at an early age. It is a good exercise and one of the least strenuous activity on your bones there is

 

[shem]

I could swim before I could walk. I love it. I was in swimming groups etc, never good enough to compete mind but I did it for the fun. It was only cos I got be boobs and the bullying got unbearable that I stopped. I don't seem to have the time to go anymore...

 

[julianne]

I am an excellent swimmer.
Everyone in my family can swim - at school we were required to have lessons from Form 1 and I was also fortunate to have a swimming pool growing up.

.

 

[katspixiedust]

My mom used to take me to the Y with her a few days a week when I was only a few weeks old. She used to swim laps there all the time, so I started learning then and then took some lessons at the Y later. I've always loved swimming and I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't know how! I love bathing suits and of course I love the beach, and you definitely shouldn't get too deep in there if you can't swim! I think if you're from Florida it would be a tragedy to not know how to swim, water sports are the best!

Brendan's older brother Evan was on the swim team in high school and college and actually swam for the national team. Another kid from Spruce Creek (another local high school) was just in the Olympics last year. His name is Ryan Lochte. Swim team is a very big thing where I grew up. I just can't imagine not knowing how to swim.

 

[annabelle33]

my parents don't swim so I was never exposed to it, plus I had like 4 ear surgerys when I was a kid and was not allowed to get water in my ears so the pool was a no-no. The one time I did sneak into a pool and try to swim I had a great time just playing in the water but got water in my ears and the pain was unbelievable and I had to get rushed to the dr who did this awful procedure on me to fix it and ever since I've been terrified of getting water in my ears. Ear plugs you'd think would fix it but it's just the motion of having water cover my ears that sets me into a true panic. Lately though I've been realizing that water in my ears is not painful anymore since growing up and I'm more open to being in a pool.. But even in the shower I have to be careful the way I hold me head because if water gets near my ears I freak even though it's no longer an issue. Maybe this summer I will overcome it all.

 

[peachytoday]

My dad had all his kids take swimming lessons as soon as we were old enough. He did it for safety reasons but more for the excercise as he felt it was the best activity for his kids. So I swam from an early age and on summer and school swim teams.

 

[kellyyfaber]

I'm right at home in the water!! I can swim like a fish

 

[leli]

I can swim and actually taught swimming for seven years. My brother and sister and I all learned very early. We were all able and allowed to jump off the diving board into the deep end with no floatation devices or parents to catch us at 14 months (mum was on the side, though, if there had been a problem she was within reach). One of my earliest memories is getting too tired to dog paddle to the side and my mom insisting I roll on my back, float until I was rested, and kick to the side instead of her pulling me there because she said I couldn't count on someone always being there to do the swimming for me when I got tired. My mom's younger sister drowned when they were in their teens and so she feels it's very important that children a) know how to swim without aids (so they don't depend on them) and b) know their own limits.

My brother used to LOVE to jump off the diving board, dog paddle to the ladder, climb out, walk to the diving board, jump off, dog paddle to the ladder, climb out, and repeat over and over for as long as he could when he was a toddler. My grandma and her sisters used to think it was hilarious to watch him "run the circuit".

On at least two separate occasions, some uninformed but well-intentioned person jumped in, fully clothed, to "save" him because they assumed he couldn't swim

- he was always small for his age and this was all before he was two, so we couldn't blame them.

 

[coolcat]

Poor boy...

Well Susie, I´m not to Ian Thorpe but

I can defend my self!

,

I consider me a good Swimmer!

 

[sharky]

I went for drown proof lessons at 18 months ... that taught me to get in and swim to the side and get out.. good teaching and I thank my parents for it

 

[ugaimes]

This is just IMO, but any family that has a pool should teach their children to swim ASAP. You hear too many tragic stories of toddlers walking off and then drowning in the backyard pool