nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Can you swim?

[Deleted User]

Outside of Ireland people are always amazed* that I can't swim, they don't see how it's possible I never learned it. And I tell them well yeah but it's not uncommon in Ireland, no one in my family does and from my old friends there's only one who I know for sure who can and does and a few who said they can't either.

Am I just in a non-swimming bubble or is it really fairly normal in Ireland?

*They are further amazed when I tell them I love boats, rivers, fishing and that I spent most of my childhood playing in the shallow part of the river unable to swim. I think it's a cultural thing related to the climate and weather

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

griffin100

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

I honestly can't understand how people can't swim. Personally i find it to be one of the most straight forward things you can learn, actually i didn't even learn, i threw myself in to deep end when young and swam

What's your definition of swimming? Serious question. Do you mean being able thread water for a few minutes, being able to swim a length of the pool with your head out of the water or an actual stroke?

The reason I ask is that many people massively overestimate their swimming ability and that's what often gets them into trouble in the water. I spend a lot of time in the pool and open water and I often see people who say they can swim struggling to cover the length of a 50m pool without a break or trying to swim out of their depth in a river or lake and gasping for breath after a few minutes.

I used to think I could swim, I SCUBA dived, I could cover the length of the pool in a form of front crawl and I thought that was swimming...then I tried to actually to train for a triathlon and I realised I couldn't actually swim. That was eleven years ago and I now swim most days and have raced over 10km open water. My kids all swim competitively (but that's a whole different ball game) and my older kids do lifesaving training in the Summer.

Teaching kids to swim is a great life skill, but it has to be done by someone who knows what they're doing. It's dangerous, IMHO, to install an overconfidence in kids that they can swim when they are limited in their swim ability, as that can lead to tragic consequences.

On the floating / sinking thing - Float To Live is a great initiative - https://www.respectthewater.com/float-2019?utm_expid=.QDu738wVSRahBVEhhXEnYg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

Stevieluvsye

griffin100 wrote: »

What's your definition of swimming? Serious question. Do you mean being able thread water for a few minutes, being able to swim a length of the pool with your head out of the water or an actual stroke?

The reason I ask is that many people massively overestimate their swimming ability and that's what often gets them into trouble in the water. I spend a lot of time in the pool and open water and I often see people who say they can swim struggling to cover the length of a 50m pool without a break or trying to swim out of their depth in a river or lake and gasping for breath after a few minutes.

I used to think I could swim, I SCUBA dived, I could cover the length of the pool in a form of front crawl and I thought that was swimming...then I tried to actually to train for a triathlon and I realised I couldn't actually swim. That was eleven years ago and I now swim most days and have raced over 10km open water. My kids all swim competitively (but that's a whole different ball game) and my older kids do lifesaving training in the Summer.

Teaching kids to swim is a great life skill, but it has to be done by someone who knows what they're doing. It's dangerous, IMHO, to install an overconfidence in kids that they can swim when they are limited in their swim ability, as that can lead to tragic consequences.

On the floating / sinking thing - Float To Live is a great initiative - https://www.respectthewater.com/float-2019?utm_expid=.QDu738wVSRahBVEhhXEnYg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

My definition would be that you could complete length as in you can propel yourself in whatever direction.

If you can float and float only, you can't swim

jester77

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, bit of a sad lonely existence as a child. Nowhere to swim that would be considered any way safe and there were no pools anywhere close to learn.

Tried teaching myself later in life, can 'swim' over and back across the pool in the shallow end. I am ok once I don't stop as I can't float, as much as I've tried I just sink.

[Deleted User]

Yes, I can. Don’t ever remember not being able to swim. My parents taught myself and my siblings when we were babies. Never got a swimming lesson (apart from my parents teaching me!) in my life. I’m also a trained pool lifeguard and worked as one when I was a teenager.

Plan to take my 2 month old baby swimming in the next few weeks!

SusieBlue

jester77 wrote: »

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, bit of a sad lonely existence as a child. Nowhere to swim that would be considered any way safe and there were no pools anywhere close to learn.

Tried teaching myself later in life, can 'swim' over and back across the pool in the shallow end. I am ok once I don't stop as I can't float, as much as I've tried I just sink.

I went to school in the mid 90's and weekly lessons were part of the cirriculum, you couldn't get out of going unless you had a doctors note.
I did separate lessons outside school though, because the school ones only taught the bare basics.

theteal

Yes, learned in primary school - one of the teachers arranged evening classes a couple of time a week. Now in saying that, I wouldn't class myself as a strong swimmer (not going to win any races) but I do like the water and would be very comfortable in any kind of watery environment.

I take the little one to the local pool most Sunday mornings. She absolutely loves the pool and is a little too confident at times. We went to lessons from about 1 yr old for maybe 6 months, will look back into it again now she's becoming more advanced. She'll be 3 in October and can already swim on her back unaided - granted I'd be right beside her but it still counts!

theteal

jester77 wrote: »

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

Ours wasn't in the school as such, not swanky enough for that (Drimnagh Castle). It was an after school thing in a nearby pool (Pearse Park, Crumlin) set up by one of the teachers.

iamwhoiam

jester77 wrote: »

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, bit of a sad lonely existence as a child. Nowhere to swim that would be considered any way safe and there were no pools anywhere close to learn.

Tried teaching myself later in life, can 'swim' over and back across the pool in the shallow end. I am ok once I don't stop as I can't float, as much as I've tried I just sink.

All our kids had swimming lessons during the school day in the 80s and 90s ( south Dublin )!

[Deleted User]

I'm 29 and I took my very first swimming lesson last week. It's something I've wanted to do for a while but kept putting off because I've always been very self-conscious about my body. Even when I was 7 or 8 years old I hated anyone seeing me without wearing a t-shirt (and I wasn't a particularly heavy child), and I also refused to wear shorts for years. Gaining weight as I got older just made me even more reluctant but I'm finally at the age where I can stop giving a fúck.

Plus I need to incorporate some other form of exercise into my life other than running, so hopefully learning to swim now will help shift that extra weight.

Stevieluvsye

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm 29 and I took my very first swimming lesson last week. It's something I've wanted to do for a while but kept putting off because I've always been very self-conscious about my body. Even when I was 7 or 8 years old I hated anyone seeing me without wearing a t-shirt (and I wasn't a particularly heavy child), and I also refused to wear shorts for years. Gaining weight as I got older just made me even more reluctant but I'm finally at the age where I can stop giving a fúck.

Plus I need to incorporate some other form of exercise into my life other than running, so hopefully learning to swim now will help shift that extra weight.

Fair play

You'll wake up with pains in places you have never experienced before but swimming is great for weight loss, especially tone.

Earthhorse

Never learned myself. In fairness to my dad he did try but I was too afraid and refused to go. I also managed to get out of doing it in school.

My main problem wasn't with the water (though I was afraid of it) but the chaos of the other kids. It was all too busy and noisy. That would be my main qualm about it as an adult too. If I had a pool to myself I'd be willing to learn.

So if there are any millionaires with mansions who have a spare room I'm willing to move in with you in order to right this wrong.

cj maxx

I remember when I was 13 or so ,I think, at a local swimming lake I jumped off the diving board. After going under and flailing around I was in a panic and beginning to drown .a woman saw me and came out to help me. She put her hand on my shoulder and I instantly put my feet down and was able to stand up with my head well above the water. I was a bit embarrassed and just left with out even saying thank you to her but I haven't swam much since

greenspurs

I was going to lessons when about 12/13 ish…
They never taught me (us) how to thread water. So I am very very uncomfortable (scared) of going out of my depth !
I have kinda made up a hybrid stroke - a mix of butterfly hands, head up, and kick like billyo.
Its moves me forward, and I haven't drowned yet, so I guess that is swimming.

As a sidenote - We were on holidays in France last summer, we went to the local Aqua Park, headed into the Wave pool..
Whilst waiting for the waves, I was standing in the water , about mid chest height talking to my kids.
Felt a load of splashing at my back, was turning around to ask "What are you doing"?! , saw no one, looked down, and theres a little boy under the water, eyes bulging out!
I just grabbed him, and pulled him up.... brought him over to the "Lifeguard" … she held onto him for a few mins, and then went with him to try to find his mother!
The yung lad was about 1.5 foot tall, and got dragged deeper than he could deal with, and there was about 100 people in the pool, and he could have drowned!!

I wrote a letter to the Park manager afterwards, about their very lax control of people going into the pool.
He replied and said he will improve it.

Badly Drunk Boy

jester77 wrote: »

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, bit of a sad lonely existence as a child. Nowhere to swim that would be considered any way safe and there were no pools anywhere close to learn.

In my town when I was growing up, there was an outdoor swimming pool that I only ever visited a couple of times, but never got in. There was a public swimming pool in a different town that we visited once in primary school (through the school), and again, for whatever reason, I didn't join in. And not having done it at a young age definitely makes it harder to do as an adult, for me anyway, and for others too, by what some people are saying here.

While it would be nice to know how to swim, I've never needed to swim so it's not the essential life-skill that some people are saying. Don't get me wrong; I'm sure it's it's great fun and it's obviously a healthy pastime (so long as you don't drown) but it's not necessary to have the ability.

topper75

Let's clear something up on the thread: No human can just 'float'.

There is always some kind of movement needed to resist the sinking. Treading water can involve the gentlest of ankle flicks or slowest of hand sweeps but nobody can just bob like a cork without making any effort whatsoever.

topper75

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

...
While it would be nice to know how to swim, I've never needed to swim so it's not the essential life-skill that some people are saying. Don't get me wrong; I'm sure it's it's great fun and it's obviously a healthy pastime (so long as you don't drown) but it's not necessary to have the ability.

That is very tight interpretation of necessary.

So, maintaining your tight interpretation, what skill IS necessary in life?

Galadriel

I was brought for lessons when I was about 7 but I still can't swim. It's definitely all in my head, I've done countless lessons over the years but once I get to the part were you float unaided I just can't let go and do it. I can float as long as I know the wall is beside me.

I don't mind putting my head into the water either, I wish I could just bloody do it as I love the water and really want to swim. It's weird how the mind works, I know I am not going to drown in 4-5ft of water in the local swimming pool so why can't I just do it?

Stevieluvsye

Galadriel wrote: »

I was brought for lessons when I was about 7 but I still can't swim. It's definitely all in my head, I've done countless lessons over the years but once I get to the part were you float unaided I just can't let go and do it. I can float as long as I know the wall is beside me.

I don't mind putting my head into the water either, I wish I could just bloody do it as I love the water and really want to swim. It's weird how the mind works, I know I am not going to drown in 4-5ft of water in the local swimming pool so why can't I just do it?

Throw yourself in to the deepend and you'll soon figure it out. The fact you can float and don't have fear of water you'll be grand

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Dial Hard wrote: »

Call me naive but I remember being quite gobsmacked the first time I met an adult who couldn't swim. I just assumed everyone's parents sent them to lessons when they were kids. We were all sent weekly from the age of about 4 to 12 or so. I still kind of get surprised at how many people don't know how, tbh. I suspect there may be a bit of an urban/rural divide going on, obviously proximity to a pool is a huge help.

I used to work with a guy who fished commercially out of Kinsale for a few years and he was the only person on his trawler who knee how to swim. I just find that absolutely mind-boggling, tbh. Everyone should be taught how to swim at a young age, imo, it is 100% a life skill. And I know this is going to go down like a lead balloon but I genuinely believe that parents who don't make sure their kids learn are being remiss in their duties.

I’m always a bit surprised too. I was first brought to a swimming pool at six months old. Not sure about the urban/rural thing. I went to a bogstandard small, rural national school in an economically-depressed part of the country but the school arranged swimming lessons for a very small fee. All the national schools in the catchment area of the pool did. We went every Monday from February until June of the school year from first class onwards. I only found out when I was older that we were quite lucky to live only a short bus ride from a decent pool.

I agree that learning to swim is a crucial life skill but I also believe that instilling a respect for the water is also so important. I suspect many of the drownings we hear about are people who overestimate their swimming abilities. I only swim in bodies of water that I know are safe to swim in. I can’t believe some people jump into waters that they aren’t familiar with.

[Deleted User]

Regular swimmers gain a lot of upper body strength, as well as especially toned shoulders and arms. You can tell a dedicated swimmer by their body.

I'm surprised at the amount of fear of water, and I'm wondering where it comes from. It does seem strange for an island nation, or perhaps that's the reason, in some way.

retro:electro

I never learned how to swim properly because when I was in primary school, a girl in my class drowned when we had broken up for the summer. When school resumed in the autumn we were individually given the chance to keep up with the lessons or pull out. I pulled out as did most of the class and I never really went back, which in hindsight wasn’t a good idea, although understandable, but I wish I’d kept them up.
I’d be more of a “knee deep” swish around and then get back out kind of person on holidays and I’d be completely useless if I ever got into difficulty.

Stevieluvsye

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m always a bit surprised too. I was first brought to a swimming pool at six months old. Not sure about the urban/rural thing. I went to a bogstandard small, rural national school in an economically-depressed part of the country but the school arranged swimming lessons for a very small fee. All the national schools in the catchment area of the pool did. We went every Monday from February until June of the school year from first class onwards. I only found out when I was older that we were quite lucky to live only a short bus ride from a decent pool.

I agree that learning to swim is a crucial life skill but I also believe that instilling a respect for the water is also so important. I suspect many of the drownings we hear about are people who overestimate their swimming abilities. I only swim in bodies of water that I know are safe to swim in. I can’t believe some people jump into waters that they aren’t familiar with.

Good final point.

I was like that when it comes to the Blessington lakes. Just something would put me off from Swimming there. I know someone who drowned up there also

Boom_Bap

Candie wrote: »

Regular swimmers gain a lot of upper body strength, as well as especially toned shoulders and arms. You can tell a dedicated swimmer by their body.

I'm surprised at the amount of fear of water, and I'm wondering where it comes from. It does seem strange for an island nation, or perhaps that's the reason, in some way.

You should have seen the 2 absolute studs that emerged from the Atlantic yesterday.

I was not one of them.

iamwhoiam

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

Good final point.

I was like that when it comes to the Blessington lakes. Just something would put me off from Swimming there. I know someone who drowned up there also

We were thought a respect for cold lake water by my Dad .We had to wet ourselves first by splashing water on our bodies and heads to get used to it . Then in slowly and stay near the edge until we felt able to swim without gasping

[Deleted User]

Boom_Bap wrote: »

You should have seen the 2 absolute studs that emerged from the Atlantic yesterday.

...

I was not one of them.

You need to take up swimming, BB. Get yourself those shoulders - breaststroke is meant to be good for that.

No, not that kind!

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

jester77 wrote: »

Where did people go to school that got swimming lessons? Never heard of that in Ireland.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, bit of a sad lonely existence as a child. Nowhere to swim that would be considered any way safe and there were no pools anywhere close to learn.

Tried teaching myself later in life, can 'swim' over and back across the pool in the shallow end. I am ok once I don't stop as I can't float, as much as I've tried I just sink.

I grew up in a very rural area. Our national school was less than ten miles from a good pool. All the schools around arranged lessons for the students at that school for a very small fee including bussing us there and back. I also lived near some shallow lakes that warmed up nicely in a good summer.

Stevieluvsye

iamwhoiam wrote: »

We were thought a respect for cold lake water by my Dad .We had to wet ourselves first by splashing water on our bodies and heads to get used to it . Then in slowly and stay near the edge until we felt able to swim without gasping

And i think it was Cold water shock what did for the lad who drowned up there. The fact he jumped off a bridge also meant he was no where near the edge

[Deleted User]

Candie wrote: »

Regular swimmers gain a lot of upper body strength, as well as especially toned shoulders and arms. You can tell a dedicated swimmer by their body.

I'm surprised at the amount of fear of water, and I'm wondering where it comes from. It does seem strange for an island nation, or perhaps that's the reason, in some way.

You learned as a toddler though right? Imagine now you went sky diving with a parachute that only opens when you're totally relaxed

Aisling(",)

I was a confident swimmer as a youngster. I did lessons for about 6 years.

I'm currently very unfit and out of shape but last month had to do a swimming test as part of a scuba diving course I did and managed 200m in just 9 and a half minutes and treaded water/floated for another 10. So while I won't win any medals I'm comfortable going into the sea in area I know and abroad where there are lifeguards showing its safe.

Stevieluvsye

Aisling(",) wrote: »

I was a confident swimmer as a youngster. I did lessons for about 6 years.

I'm currently very unfit and out of shape but last month had to do a swimming test as part of a scuba diving course I did and managed 200m in just 9 and a half minutes and treaded water/floated for another 10. So while I won't win any medals I'm comfortable going into the sea in area I know and abroad where there are lifeguards showing its safe.

:eek: