Swimming Poll

[RoJoHen]

Can't swim at all, don't care to learn. I can't think of a skill I'd need less as I don't see myself ever being in a body of water or in a situation where I'd need to swim.

That makes me sad. Swimming is fun.


As a matter of fact, I just swam some laps at the end of my weightlifting workout. It's awesome for cardio!

 

[M'Sharak]

Swimmer here. Love being in the water. Crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, but I can't seem to be able to learn butterfly.

I am an excellent swimmer. After five years on swim team as child, I'd better be. I am not fast (I wasn't fast as a kid, either, which is why I was on the team only five years), but yes, I can swim really well, although like Iguana Tonante, my butterfly is extremely weak. I can manage a few strokes, but I just haven't got the upper body strength or whole-body coordination or whatever it is that you need to swim the butterfly.

I used to swim competitively in high school, and I think I had to work out in the pool for most of the first season before I could swim butterfly at all; you've got to be in great shape even to swim that stroke. If I were to attempt it now, I'd probably drown.

It's not strictly upper-body strength that's required, because I was skinny as a stick back then. It's definitely a whole-body stroke, with the dolphin kick being an integral part, but it's also important to work on the movement and timing, and to streamline it all, and that just plain takes time and a lot of miles in the pool to get right.

Edit:

I swam in high school and I swam in intramurals in college. The fastest time I swam the 50 free was 23.88 seconds.

That tops me -- I don't think I ever did better than 26 flat in the 50 free. Not my strongest event, though.

 

[Vanyel]

I used to be a very good swimmer. Loved to swim and you couldn't keep me out of the water. I used to love to just lay back and float in a pool. I can still swim now, or at least stay afloat. I can't do much else.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I can't swim a stroke. And my bony body has no buoyancy. Water is a death trap for me.

 

[kathryn i am]

I get by, but I wouldn't classify myself as a strong swimmer by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Jadzia]

That was the subject of one of the very first public information films I ever saw as a young child - the calm words of a young and topless Rolf Harris inspired me

I wonder how he managed with his extra leg when he went swimming?

 

[Trekker4747]

Can't swim at all, don't care to learn. I can't think of a skill I'd need less as I don't see myself ever being in a body of water or in a situation where I'd need to swim.

If I was in a "swim or die" situation, I'm sure I'd figure it out, I know the basic "idea of it" but being a land-lover I've never been in position to feel the need to learn.

I've seen Smallville. Kansas has massive harbors and ports and big lakes that just pop-up next to farms all of a sudden. You really should learn, just in case.

Eh, The Meteor and Freak Capital of the World is a good distance away, I'm covered.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I never quite know how to answer this question...it depends on how you define swimming. I don't know any of the official strokes and I go very slowly but I don't just sink to the bottom in a pool. I know how to stay afloat, doggie paddle, move my arms and legs about to propel myself in the water...if that is swimming, then yes, I can. I don't see how someone could not do that...if you are dropped in water I would think it's natural to start moving in a way to stay afloat and get to shore, doesn't mean you have to be a professional swimmer.

 

[Praxius]

I've been swimming probably since the age of 4.... I know before then I tended to walk off into the deep ends of pools and beaches and just keep on walking along the bottom until someone scooped me up for a breath.

Since then swimming is my favorite physical activity outside of "bedroom jousting."

I'm sorta a zero g swimmer, where I don't exactly sink, nor to I actually float and whichever direction I point my body to swim, I sorta just float in that direction (going up or down in depth.)

To say the least, while I wouldn't call myself some professional swimmer (since I don't enter contests or events) water is like a second natural environment for me. Considering I live on the East Coast of Canada and our community ties all seem to relate back to the Ocean, it's something that doesn't phase me much, even after almost drowning many moons ago.

 

[Kira Nerys]

I love swimming but since moving to IN there isn't much time to go swimming .

 

[zephramc]

I completed the Navy's 1st class swimmer test and surfed back in the day. While I'm not in the same shape I was back then, I'm still a pretty strong swimmer.

NAVY SWIM QUALIFICATIONS STANDARDS
Swim qualifications are as follow: These are per Navy standards.

Swim Skills Assessment:
-Shallow Water swim - 15 yds in water chest deep
-Deep Water swim - 15 yds in water over the head
-Tread water for 1 minute
-Prone Float for 1 minute

Third Class Swimmer:
-Successful completion of Swim Skills Assessment
-Deep Water jump - from a minimum height of 5 feet
-50-yard swim - demonstrating front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke,
elementary backstroke
-5-minute Prone Float
-Shirt and Trouser Inflation

Second Class Swimmer:
-Successful completion of Third Class Swimmer
-100-yard swim –
-25 yds front crawl
-25 yds breaststroke
-25 yds backstroke
-25 yds elementary backstroke
-5-minute Prone Float Back Float

First Class Swimmer:
-Successful completion of Third and Second Class Swimmer Certification
-100-yd swim - same as second class swimmer –
grading criteria stricter than second class swimmer
-5-minute Prone Float Back Float
-25-yd Underwater Swim - demonstrating Burning Oil Maneuver twice

 

[Zulu Romeo]

That was the subject of one of the very first public information films I ever saw as a young child - the calm words of a young and topless Rolf Harris inspired me

I wonder how he managed with his extra leg when he went swimming?

Amazing things, those Speedos.

 

[Velocity]

never learned to swim although my mother had me take lessons at the YMCA. I wore glasses and they made me take them off to get in the pool. I couldn't see anything and the echoes in the enclosed pool area were disorienting. The instructor had us float in her arms and then she yanked her arms away and we sank like stones. It was a very negative experience. I really dislike being under water to this day.

 

[Kirby]

I was on swim team for 4 years between 3rd - 6th grade. I even went to state in the 50 meter breaststroke and came in 4th in my age group. I was once Red Cross certified, and have been thinking of getting re-certified lately, mainly for CPR.
I still swim once in a while, and really enjoy it.

 

[Shaw]

Yes, I can swim.

I'm much better in the ocean than a swimming pool (body density issues), but I spent most of my life near the water (lived a couple blocks away from the beach while growing up). There were times when I'd swim out with friends and spend the better part of the day out beyond the waves (playing with the dolphins... though they generally wouldn't let us get closer than about 20 feet to them). I don't think any of us worried about drowning, the biggest issue was sun burn (mainly our shoulders).

I also spent a lot of time in (and around) the water with my first wife who was a lifeguard (worked at the beach and at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado). And I helped a little with some of her swim classes while we were dating.

I assumed I learned to swim early in life, but I don't really recall when.

 

[jamestyler]

I'm going to answer no...

...I can swim, I have gone swimming as a child but I haven't done so since high school. I'm pretty sure I can pick to up quickly if I give it a shot, but I can't be arsed.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I wore glasses and they made me take them off to get in the pool. I couldn't see anything and the echoes in the enclosed pool area were disorienting.

This was an issue for me, too. I couldn't see a thing without my glasses.