Poll: Reality and Movies - How Many People Can Swim?

[Kae]

Of course I can, I've lived in 9 different coastal cities/towns, so of course I bothered to learn how, no classes or instructing needed just the good old jump into the deep water and see if you can figure it out without drowning, figured how to float fairly quickly, couldn't really tell how much time but it must have been somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes because otherwise I think I would have drowned, took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to move in a relatively efficient way so that was that.

 

[WolfThomas]

I don't know I heard that for a long time in the Navy it was considered bad luck to know how to swim, because if you fell overboard you were pretty much dead anyway, but swimming would prolong it. So something like that might have become common. Or it could be because she only lived in the artificial atoll and the water could be dangerous, both from contaminated waste and sharks attracted to dumped stuff.

The stupidest thing about that movie is there's not enough ice in the world to completely cover all the land mass like it did in that movie, certainly islands, places like Holland and coastal areas would be would be wiped out, but there'd still be continents.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Hmm, I could swim (not fast or for too long) if my life depended on it, but I am quite incompetent at it. However, it isn't too much of a worry for me as I don't go swimming in rivers or deep pools and the ocean screams "Fucking don't come in here, idiot" which anyone with common sense takes to heart. So yeah, not much water for me xD

 

[3 legged goat]

I can swim rather well. My parents have a pool so I got lots of practice. By the way, what counts as swimming? Like actually trained swimming or just being able to dog paddle and stay above the water line? I would consider both swimming seeing as how you aren't drowning.

 

[teqrevisited]

I remember being "taught" to swim on holiday in Majorca. My dad said "What's that?" pointed at the beach front and threw me into the pool when I wasn't looking.

I can do a couple of lengths. Nothing amazing but it counts. I can dive too but I've never managed to stop water going up my nose, so I plug it. You'd be surprised how much small change you can recover from the bottom of a swimming pool.

 

[uneek]

Everyone should know how to swim.....

I really cant fathom why you would not know....

(Other then being Hydrophobic)

It's a cultural thing. There's an interesting article on the BBC about why lots of Black Americans can't swim:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11172054

I know it's a racist trope that black people can't swim (at all, because of genetics), but it's also a true observation that lots of black people can't swim because they've never learned how to, for a multitude of reasons.

I don't understand that stereotype. Doesn't it contradict the other black stereotype that we're all athletic?

 

[Soviet Steve]

It's mandatory to learn it in school here.

 

[Freechoice]

Everyone should know how to swim.....

I really cant fathom why you would not know....

(Other then being Hydrophobic)

I lol'd. Good pun.

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

Yea, it's just kind of natural instinct.

I'm skinny as can be and sink like a rock, need to know how to keep afloat.

 

[Jamash]

Everyone should know how to swim.....

I really cant fathom why you would not know....

(Other then being Hydrophobic)

It's a cultural thing. There's an interesting article on the BBC about why lots of Black Americans can't swim:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11172054

I know it's a racist trope that black people can't swim (at all, because of genetics), but it's also a true observation that lots of black people can't swim because they've never learned how to, for a multitude of reasons.

I don't understand that stereotype. Doesn't it contradict the other black stereotype that we're all athletic?

I don't really understand the stereotype either.

I became aware of the stereotype some years ago (I think through the punchline of jokes and comments), but I don't really understand where it came from, apart from observations being touted as evidence of racial differences and superiority/inferiority.

There's some kind of genetics based pseudo-science that says black people's bones and musculature is more dense, so they sink, but that's mainly spouted by closet racists trying to justify their prejudices with science.

While it may be true that black people don't swim as much or as well as other races, that's because of sociological, cultural and geographical/environmental reasons, not race based genetics.

It's quite a hard stereotype to investigate independently without encountering closet or overt racial superiority theories, although that BBC article did address it in a good way without directly identifying the stereotype.

Unfortunately the 2000 Sydney Olympics didn't do anything to dispel this stereotype that has slowly crept into the public consciousness, but in fairness Eric Moussambani only learnt to swim 8 months before the Olympics and did beat his country's record.

Spoiler

Plus I think he embodied the Olympic Spirit and did a lot better than his opponents who had been training in full-sized pools for years but couldn't even manage to start properly.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Been swimming since I was in diapers. Took a few lessons around 5-6. I'm quite a strong swimmer and I'm not terribly athletic. Just gota go and do it, or if you've a real problem, take a course at your local pool!

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

I am able to stay afloat and move at the same time. I don't know if what I do would qualify as "swimming," per say. It's kinda pathetic.

 

[Irridium]

If you can call what I do "swimming", then sure I guess.

I flail around and somehow manage to move around and not sink. So... yes?

 

[manic_depressive13]

Arguably. I can float and doggy paddle. I know how to freestyle but not very well and I hate doing it. If I fell fully clothed into water I'd probably drown.

As to why? I just hate it. Large bodies of water tend to fucking stink, to begin with. The beach has a disgusting smell which can only really be described as "beach smell", and pools reek of chlorine. Swimming often requires being less clothed than I usually feel comfortable being, insecure as I am. I'm also spectacularly unlikely to ever find myself in a situation where I would need to swim. If I was going to devote my time to learning something crappy and pointless at this stage in life I'd learn how to cook, and hope I never find myself in a wet apocalypse scenario.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

That movie was a plane crashing onto a train wreck and the part that sticks out the most for you is that this little girl didn't know how to swim??? Never mind the fact that the tattoo on her back that was supposed to lead to "dry land" looked like a children's drawing and gave no reference points by which one could navigate. The "map" was just a bunch of triangles that I guess were supposed to represent mountains with a big arrow pointed to 'em.

...anyway, in answer to your question, yes I can swim. I haven't actually been swimming for quite some time, but I do know how and to a reasonably competent level.

 

[chadachada123]

High school state swimmer and ex-lifeguard. Yeah, I can swim pretty well.

The one thing besides intelligence that I can really brag about, fuck yeah.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Not very well...Granted I can swim well enough to not die without making myself look like a drowning moose. I wouldn't test my skill against a river or anything like that though. As a general rule I avoid wild water in general to be honest.

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

I can swim pretty well. I go to the pool and the beach in summer. And I don't know about anywhere else, but here in Australia, swimming lessons are pretty much compulsory all through primary school and the first three years of high school. So I don't know anyone who can't swim.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I can swim like a fishy! [small]that means real good.[/small]

 

[wintercoat]

Nope. Never learned, don't care to. Though I can kinda float.