How many people here can't swim?

Shenshen · 23-08-2011 10:33am #1

It came up in the "Who can't drive?" thread, and it got me thinking.

I'm from Germany originally, and back there I never knew anyone who couldn't swim.
Now I'm living in Ireland, and I've met at least 10 people so far who cannot swim. My husband is English, spent his childhood holidays by the sea, but can't swim.

It's rather puzzling, seeing as both the UK and Ireland are islands, whereas Germany is mostly landlocked...

So how many people here can't swim, and why?

ElleEm · 23-08-2011 10:37am

I can barely swim. I learnt in my early twenties. I used to go to the pool and beach as a child,but was too scared to learn. I love water but prefer to be able to feel the ground with my feet. On a side note- i only started driving at 25 too

blaze1 · 23-08-2011 10:37am

Cant understand people who are afraid of the water tbh...

Do they not wash?

Magic Beans · 23-08-2011 10:38am

If you don't go near water you can't drown. I know two people who drowned, they were both swimmers. Fear is your friend.

wild_cat · 23-08-2011 10:38am

You will also notice that lots of Irish people that say that they can swim..... actually can't

For what I see when I go to pools some Irish people think flapping about splashing everywhere creates a s "stroke".

I was sent to swimming lessons at 4 years of age. I swam a few times a week up until the age of 15. One of the best things my mother could have ever done.

wild_cat · 23-08-2011 10:39am

Magic Beans wrote: »

If you don't go near water you can't drown. I know two people who drowned, they were both swimmers. Fear is your friend.

Is it a myth that the old sailors never learned to swim as it would take them longer to drown if they got into trouble?

Shenshen · 23-08-2011 10:40am

Magic Beans wrote: »

If you don't go near water you can't drown. I know two people who drowned, they were both swimmers. Fear is your friend.

Never cross a bridge, then, just to be on the safe side

Ickle Magoo · 23-08-2011 10:40am

Yep - glad I can too or I wouldn't have been able to do sailing or windsurfing or surfing or kayaking...like not learning to drive, not being able to swim limits what you can do in life - and where's the fun in that?

Elbow · 23-08-2011 10:42am

blaze1 wrote: »

Cant understand people who are afraid of the water tbh...

Do they not wash?

It would be quite the achievement to drown in the shower

and before some smart arse says it, maybe if you passed out or something but not under normal showering conditions

Shenshen · 23-08-2011 10:42am

wild_cat wrote: »

You will also notice that lots of Irish people that say that they can swim..... actually can't

For what I see when I go to pools some Irish people think flapping about splashing everywhere creates a s "stroke".

I was sent to swimming lessons at 4 years of age. I swam a few times a week up until the age of 15. One of the best things my mother could have ever done.

I learned it when I was 5... my parents considered it absolutely vital.

I was wondering if the weather might be to blame... Germans tend to spend a lot of time in open-air public pools, or by river or lakes come summer. Just to be able to cool down occasionally. That's not really such a pressing need in Ireland, is it?

Magic Beans · 23-08-2011 10:43am

Shenshen wrote: »

Never cross a bridge, then, just to be on the safe side

But if you must, watch out for trolls. Can't be too careful.

flutterflye · 23-08-2011 10:43am

I can only do the breast stroke.
And I'm quite slow.
Pain in the a$$ when the pool only has lanes because I annoy everyone by taking up the lane with my arms.

Shenshen · 23-08-2011 10:44am

Elbow wrote: »

It would be quite the achievement to drown in the shower

and before some smart arse says it, maybe if you passed out or something but not under normal showering conditions

Damn it... where is that picture of Hermes Conrad when you need it?

FatherLen · 23-08-2011 10:44am

i swim with the power of poseidon and the agility of ariel

Kintarō Hattori · 23-08-2011 10:44am

I'm afraid I can't swim. I am the youngest in my family and I was molly coddled as a kid..... no lessons, no bicycle..... when the other boys in the family went for lessons and got bikes! As an adult I'll take up swimming lessons at some point, I just don't know when.

Alter-Ego · 23-08-2011 10:47am

I sink like a fcuking rock!

phasers · 23-08-2011 10:51am

Apparently I can't swim according to Wild Cat. I move my arms and legs and move whilst in water. It seems that that's not good enough.

My Mam can't swim, when she was young some guys held her under water and tried to drown her, she's been terrified ever since.

DanTheMan91 · 23-08-2011 10:53am

I can swim but my father won't go anywhere near the water. I see a lot of people in the swimming pool who can't swim, they just sort of walk up and down the pool.

deman · 23-08-2011 10:53am

There has to an option somewhere between the obnoxious "Of course I can" and the second. I would have voted for "just about".

stampydmonkey · 23-08-2011 10:54am

Ya can swim alright. Have vague memories of being f"cked into a pool by my mother when I was well young. Thank God to be honest, for now I can f"ck myself off blackrock, hours of endless (bar the odd bellyflop:eek:) fun!

wild_cat · 23-08-2011 10:54am

Shenshen wrote: »

I learned it when I was 5... my parents considered it absolutely vital.

My Parents were of the same train of thought. My Mam learned to swim in her twenties and my Dad never learned even after many lessons. He has an awful fear of water to this day. We grew up beside a dangerous river and my siblings went fishing in it a lot so I think the only way my Mam could keep piece of mind was for all of us to be very strong swimmers in the pool and out door.

Like Ickle Magoo's post highlights theres a lot of fun stuff you'll miss out on if you can't.

My best friend growing up had an Australian Mum who like the OP was a bit horrified when she seen our lack of swimming skills as a nation.

Do schools still do swimming lessons?

My name is URL · 23-08-2011 10:55am

No I can't swim.. even if my life depended on it I couldn't stay afloat in the water. I still go kayaking the odd time though.. the trick is to stay in the kayak.. and to wear a lifejacket :pac:

wild_cat · 23-08-2011 10:56am

phasers wrote: »

Apparently I can't swim according to Wild Cat. I move my arms and legs and move whilst in water. It seems that that's not good enough.

I'm an arsehole though so I wouldn't pay any attention.

23-08-2011 10:56am

Ickle Magoo wrote: »

Yep - glad I can too or I wouldn't have been able to do sailing or windsurfing or surfing or kayaking...like not learning to drive, not being able to swim limits what you can do in life - and where's the fun in that?

I imagine non swimmers can still go kayaking and sailing, windsurfing and surfing would be a non runner alright.

mackg · 23-08-2011 10:56am

nah can't swim, grew up 10 minutes from the beach near a town with two swimming pools. i have no fear of the water or anything like that. Just never goit lessons or made a real effort to learn. A few friends just got home from travelling where they went snortkling and stuff, made it sound unreal, hope to be able to do it by the time I finish up in college next May.

Novella · 23-08-2011 10:57am

I can't swim well.

Mindkiller · 23-08-2011 10:57am

I can swim but I can't ride a bicycle. What I don't get is why the latter is considered more unnacceptable than the former. Swimming saves lives after all.

Malari · 23-08-2011 10:58am

deman wrote: »

There has to an option somewhere between the obnoxious "Of course I can" and the second. I would have voted for "just about".

Yeah, that's what I was thinking!

I had lessons when I was a kid, so I can float and move around in the water, but I'm not a good swimmer.

SEPT 23 1989 · 23-08-2011 10:59am

Being able to swim is the same as being able to read in my book

stampydmonkey · 23-08-2011 11:00am

RoverJames wrote: »

I imagine non swimmers can still go kayaking and sailing, windsurfing and surfing would be a non runner alright.

Ya used to teach kayaking. People didnt have to be able to swim, just have to be "comfortable in the water", ie not panic and try drown everyone around them if they fell in. Quick capsize drill usually sorted out who was "comfortable" or not!:D

WindSock · 23-08-2011 11:03am

It's mad how many Irish people can't swim, is it down to schools? It's a skill everyone should know. Throw the kiddies in to the sea.

Vanbis · 23-08-2011 11:03am

Nope, can't swim. Never really had any interest in it either.

Magic Beans · 23-08-2011 11:04am

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Being able to swim is the same as being able to read in my book

I see what you did there.

23-08-2011 11:06am

Mindkiller wrote: »

I can swim but I can't ride a bicycle. What I don't get is why the latter is considered more unnacceptable than the former. Swimming saves lives after all.

I'm sure folks on bicycles have saved a few lives over the years, imagine if you were with a loved one and needed to get help quickly, car wouldn't start and the mobile was dead, no one for 10 miles but a nice racer in the shed, what good would being able to swim do

sausagehead · 23-08-2011 11:07am

lived all my life in a seaside town with a great big beach
couldn't swim to save my life, hate the sight and smell of swimming pools as well

I Heart Internet · 23-08-2011 11:09am

I can swim - just not very efficiently. I'm confident in any depth of water and can float/thread water for quite a while. So I'd say I'm pretty safe. But I've frequently thought of getting lessons to drastically improve my technique so i could swim for proper distances (say, more than 100 m).

It's a strange thing - I've run marathon's, so it's not a stamina thing - swimming (as badly as I do) knocks the wind out of me.

I went for lessons every week in primary school - that was great.

I get funny looks when i tell people I can't cycle (or at least not confident on the open road) but I do think being safe in water is far more important.

cosmicfart · 23-08-2011 11:10am

hate the water myself. tried learn how swim a few times and couldnt grasp it. I dont really see the point unless i feel off a boat and im drowning which wont happen I holiday at home in Ireland!

Ickle Magoo · 23-08-2011 11:12am

RoverJames wrote: »

I imagine non swimmers can still go kayaking and sailing....

Depends on the size of boat/facility and how reputable they are, I suppose - certainly for the sailing club I attended it was mandatory to prove you could swim before being allowed out into deep water on the toppers or wayfarers; or near rapids or strong currents in a kayak...for splashing about in a swimming pool or shallows, just being able not to drown themselves with panic was enough.

Malari · 23-08-2011 11:12am

WindSock wrote: »

It's mad how many Irish people can't swim, is it down to schools? It's a skill everyone should know. Throw the kiddies in to the sea.

I had lessons in school, but that was in the UK. I haven't been swimming in years though. It would have to be pretty tropical to get me into the sea!

theteal · 23-08-2011 11:13am

I learned mainly due to a teacher in primary school was shocked at the amount of kids who couldn't swim so took it upon himself to set it up externally - the school won quite a few medals as it turned out in the end

Being a (former but will be again some day)beach bum, i'm sure i would have picked it up along the way. One of the lads who's been out surfing with us can't swim - although in saying that i'm sure he's assimilated the basics from paddling on the board

Rothmans · 23-08-2011 11:16am

I consider myself reasonably competent at swimming. Perhaps only a doggy-paddly, but it keeps me from drowning.

FloatingVoter · 23-08-2011 11:18am

Can swim - even won a good few Community Games medals in my teens (then I started smoking and drinking). My dad took me for lessons when I was 4 or 5. Being ex-merchant navy he probably knew about the perils and fun of water.

It should be something that is encouraged for very young kids to learn safely*. That way most of the phobias about deep water would be avoided.

* throwing a child into the deep end and expecting something other than a drowning / lifelong phobia to develop is stupid.

Mickeroo · 23-08-2011 11:32am

I can swim now but I only learned in the last 3 years, I'm up to endurance 1 level but since I got that I've slackened off. Had considered going for life saving awards but I didn't in the end, pretty glad with the progress I made though, I was never scared of the water so that was a big help. Glad I learned cause now I get to surf, kayak and all that. Still wouldn't be the strongest swimmer but good enough to get out of trouble. Most the people I grew up with (I'm 28 now) can't swim either and we all live right near the sea, if I ever have kids they'll be in the water before they can walk.

I don't think it is a myth about the fishermen not learning to swim back in the day (could be wrong though), but most adults around here can't swim and a fair few of them are former fishermen. THere's this built in fear of the sea in seaside communities I find to an extent, it's always "stay away from the water its dangerous", plus there was no swimming pools around when i was a kid which are probably better to learn in. Different now, all the schools take the pupils swimming, it should be on the curriculum.

Tauriel · 23-08-2011 11:32am

Can't swim. Tried but failed. Funny thing is I have always wanted to join the Navy

Elessar · 23-08-2011 11:39am

Nope, had lessons but the water always won - i.e. I would always sink and semi-drown anywhere deep.

Couldn't be bothered anymore tbh. I'm never near open water anyway and if I am I'll be sure to have a lifejacket. That's all you need.

123balltv · 23-08-2011 11:40am

I cant swim tried to learn as a kid just never got into it

The way I see it I dont go near water so no worries here
I have a huge fear of water im positive in a past life I drowned or something water and me dont mix

FloatingVoter · 23-08-2011 11:46am

The "fishermen not learning to swim" was true. My mother grew up in west Sligo in the 30s/40s. Back then a boat/trawler going down meant almost certain death.
Nowadays with GPS, air-sea rescue etc. that extra hour or two that treading water will buy you could mean life. So it was true back then, not sure about now.

xxxkarenxxx · 23-08-2011 11:50am

I never learnt to swim unfortunately I really wish I had as a kid. I'm sort of self taught

though I would have a fear if mY feet cant touch the ground!

MagicMarker · 23-08-2011 11:52am

Yep, I'm piss poor at it but I can swim. My mother took me to lessons as a kid (still waiting on my 25mtr badge:mad:). We went on class trips to the swimming baths in Primary school and my Secondary school had a pool.