I took lessons through Parks & Rec every summer from 1st through 3rd grade, 5 days a week for 6-8 weeks.
I lived in SF so no one we knew had a backyard pool, but my mom wanted us to learn anyways because she had never learned. She didn't want us to be scared of water like she was. Turned out to be useful, because a swim test was (is?) required for high school graduation from the SF public schools.
I don't like jumping in, deep water, or swimming in rivers, lakes, or oceans. I know I could manage if I found myself in trouble, but I wouldn't describe myself as a strong technical swimmer.
Post by klingklang77 on Jun 8, 2019 7:57:42 GMT -5
I had swimming lessons when I was a child, but I always gravitated to underwater swimming. I can do regular swimming, but I pretty much suck. I have a really difficult time treading water. That being said, I went away on vacation to Greece and did a boat ride. The only way to get to the nice beach was to swim. It was not that close, but enough in my mind to cause anxiety. I asked for a life jacket, which they didn’t have, but that’s another topic.
I did it and it was really difficult. I had someone with me to help me.
Is your DH super skinny? I've heard lots of random stories about people with low BMIs not being able to float.
He used to be!
I’ve heard that as well about low BMIs, but I really don’t think he’s in this group of people.
What I have observed is that he can’t keep his legs up, so when they drift back down then they pull the rest of him with them.
When my kids were younger and learning to swim, I remember the program director saying that before age 5 the body’s dimensions are ideal for floating, but after that it’s much harder to learn.
My mom and I discussed this. Apparently I taught myself around 2-3. I was apparently quite fearless in the water and just sort of figured it out. I consider myself proficient. I know a few different strokes and have done a short triathlon.
My sister took lessons several times and was around 8 when it finally stuck. I can’t really recall how good of a swimmer she is, but she’s obviously capable enough.
I think both my boys are going to require extensive lessons. We’ll start DS1 when he’s out of daycare. We don’t have the money to spend on extensive swim lessons while we have two in daycare. It’s not really a priority anyway. We don’t swim much and don’t have a lot of bodies of water around us.
Post by pinkalicious on Jun 8, 2019 14:12:57 GMT -5
My grandparents had an in ground pool when I was a kid. I was jumping off the diving board into the deep end (10ft deep) when I was 18 months old (wearing water wings). I’ve always been a water worshiper- I would spend all day everyday at the pool and working on my tan if I could. That being said, I took lessons as a kid, was on swim team in high school, and was a lifeguard/swim lesson instructor in college. Yes, I can swim, and rather well. But I’m now fat and lazy, so I prefer to lay on a raft and get a tan.
My DH can't float. So much so that when we took our first deep-water aerobics class on Tuesday, he couldn't stay up even with the float belt on - he had to have a noodle under his arms in addition to the belt around his waist/chest.
I've known of others who can't float but they can swim. Anyone here like this? If so, how do you swim? I'm a good swimmer but also have zero trouble floating, and when my DH asks me for how-to-swim help, I don't know how to help if he can't float! (He took an adult swim class 3 years ago, but I don't consider him to be "able to swim.")
Is your DH super skinny? I've heard lots of random stories about people with low BMIs not being able to float.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
When I was 4, removed to Fort Lauderdale where there was a spring fed quarry in the back yard. It has a little section (size of a baby pool) that was ankle deep, then it dropped 25 feet, 50 feet, then to at least 120. My mom's requirement to move there was that my older sister and I had to take swimming lessons. Went through the American Red Cross. Was on the junior Olympic path before we moved to my current state that didn't have a swim team. I can't do the butterfly but am very proficient in the rest of the strokes.
Yes, I'm a strong swimmer. I was in intermediate level swim kinesiology classes in college (basically perfecting strokes, but not masters level). My classmates were mostly former competitive swimmers. I wanted to swim competitively but there were no teams in my area when I was growing up. And I was a lifeguard for 2 years.
I was always around water. My mom had me in lessons every summer from before I can remember, until the summer after 5th grade. The last 3 or 4 years were when I was taught all the strokes. Same for my sisters (who are both strong swimmers as well). My mom is not a good swimmer at all, so she wanted us to be comfortable in the water.
Post by UMaineTeach on Jun 8, 2019 22:24:54 GMT -5
In the lake at family camp. By the time I started lessons I was bored by having to stay in the shallow end.
I did take rec lessons every year I was able to. It was something to do all summer besides watching tv. There were fewer kids each year and maybe 4-5 of us in the last level. The thing about being in the older groups is lessons were earlier each year older. You end up doing 8 am lessons when it’s still cold out.
They were all outdoor lessons that were through the public recreation program that were held at a couple private home pools around town.
My sister and I were about ten and did a competition that included a swim component. We doggy paddled the whole way and everyone clapped long and hard when we were finally done. So my mom put us in the aqua club, where we learned form, technique, and endurance from an amazing coach. (I wrote his family a letter about how influential he was when he died.) Then we swam on the high school team. I am strong at all of the strokes, though I don’t love butterfly. My swimming has not always been consistent in the years since high school, but I’ll do laps if I get the chance. It’s been surprisingly easy to pick back up, and I love that. The summer masters team just started again last week, and I was able to very easily crank out the practice, despite not swimming since Labor Day last year. I love everything about it - how strong I feel, that it’s a lifelong activity, letting my mind solve problems while I swim, even the monotony of counting laps.
Post by mustardseed2007 on Jun 9, 2019 6:18:59 GMT -5
Can you swim? Yes
How did you learn to swim? Swim lessons when I was younger at a pool my mom joined for the purpose of us doing swim team and taking lessons. I did swim team for a couple years (it was my sister's sport).
I actually got back into swimming when I started doing triathlons. I joined a masters swim group as an adult. That's a swim group that does laps (I haven't read all the responses to see if this has already been mentioned). Some of those people swam in high school and college and are amazing. Some are older people who want a workout that's easy on the joints.
When I joined masters I realized my stroke was very poor. They worked with me and for a while I swam 3 times per week just improving my stroke.
Do you consider yourself a proficient swimmer? Kind of yes.
At my peak I swam 3000 yards each work out. Right now I swim 2,000-2500 yards per work out. I've very slow, but I can swim distance and I swim in open water (lakes and oceans) to train for races.
My DH can't float. So much so that when we took our first deep-water aerobics class on Tuesday, he couldn't stay up even with the float belt on - he had to have a noodle under his arms in addition to the belt around his waist/chest.
I've known of others who can't float but they can swim. Anyone here like this? If so, how do you swim? I'm a good swimmer but also have zero trouble floating, and when my DH asks me for how-to-swim help, I don't know how to help if he can't float! (He took an adult swim class 3 years ago, but I don't consider him to be "able to swim.")
Floating is just about finding your buoyancy tipping point. Have him lay on his back in the water and help support him. If his feet start to sink (likely for most men), tell him to bend his knees (so his feet will hang towards the bottom of the pool). If he is still sinking, have him raise his arms up to his sides or over his head. This helps adjust his buoyancy point. It’s a similar concept to men and women having different centers of gravity.
ETA. Yes, he can still swim. He may need to practice the arm motions with a buoy between his legs, but the key is to lean forward much more than you think you should . Really focus on the crown of your head pointing towards the pool wall, not above the water line. It will take more power from his shoulders to swim freestyle that way, but it will also be a more efficient stroke.
I learned how to stay above water from my parents teaching me at the lake when I was pretty young. Then I took a couple levels of swimming lessons when I was 8-10 ish. So basically tread water, float, swim under water. After that I just swam so much that I became a strong swimmer, though without technique. I did some more advanced swimming lessons around 15 or 16 one summer and learned various strokes. I used to swim a ton, lane swimming for a couple hours was my main exercise in university and I swam across a 1.5 km lake in my twenties once just for the hell of it. It's been awhile since I've done any amount of swimming though because I find it less enjoyable now that I'm so nearsighted. I just don't feel very safe swimming half blind. I'm maybe getting lasik in the next few months and water sports are among the chief reasons why.
I can swim, but I am not strong at it. I took swim lessons from when I was a baby through maybe 1st grade. My mother can't swim and she wanted to make sure I had that life skill.
Due to unfortunate circumstances my parents put in an above ground pool when I was in 7th grade to keep me in my own yard. The neighbor had a beautiful inground I used to swim in all the time, but he wasn't a nice person. The pool got taken down at my parents house years ago.
I also grew up on a lake so I was in the water every weekend in the summer, as well as splashing around in my own pool during week days.
My DH can't float. So much so that when we took our first deep-water aerobics class on Tuesday, he couldn't stay up even with the float belt on - he had to have a noodle under his arms in addition to the belt around his waist/chest.
I've known of others who can't float but they can swim. Anyone here like this? If so, how do you swim? I'm a good swimmer but also have zero trouble floating, and when my DH asks me for how-to-swim help, I don't know how to help if he can't float! (He took an adult swim class 3 years ago, but I don't consider him to be "able to swim.")
Dh is like this. It's such a combination of ridiculous, hilarious and scary. He can swim but sinks like a rock as soon as he stops kicking. He can't just lay on his back and have his face stay above water. He has a pretty dense body so I assume that's why. My physique is a little more padded and buoyant, haha. Anyway, dh basically swims by paddling and kicking like mad at top speed, so he runs out of steam pretty fast and can't go far or tread water for long. I do think if he learned to do proper breast stroke (or any proper stroke) he'd have an easier time of it.
Group swim lessons when I was in Kindergarten at a rec center. They taught me enough to be able to survive.
Yes and no - I can swim well enough to be able to rescue someone thanks to training when I was in high school. And I can swim enough to pass SCUBA lessons. But actual strokes are pretty ugly and I would not be winning any races.
Post by starburst604 on Jun 9, 2019 20:23:10 GMT -5
We had a pool my entire childhood and I don’t remember learning to swim, though I think I took water babies type classes as a baby. I just spent all summer in the pool and I can remember striving to figure out how to float, breathe under water, dive, do handstands etc. My mom would always help talk me through it. We played a ton of games like diving for treasures and volleyball in the deep end and I feel like that’s how I learned. I consider myself a strong swimmer and am completely comfortable in the water.
I can swim now, but couldn't really as a kid. I had swim lessons and I hated them. I still remember how awful the people we're forcing me to jump into deep water while everyone stared.
I learned to swim in a pool a few years ago, and completed my first triathlon 5 months later. I'm not a strong swimmer but I am proficient and I know the proper form. My endurance isn't great though.
Started with my dad teaching me and then lessons. Swam in high school and spent my summers swimming in the ocean, so I would say i am a strong swimmer.
lust2hart, My DH can't float on his back. He swam through high school on the swim team. I will say he muscles his way through the backstroke. He is skinny, low BMI, and very stubborn and has I can do it even though it looks like crap.
I had lessons around 10 for a year or so. I learned easily and was able to go in the deep end if I wanted. My friend talked me into swim team as a freshmen and it clicked and I went onto club swimming, teaching lessons, lifeguarding, and coaching swim team. It really became my passion. It no longer is and I'll go to the pool but it isn't something I love but I can still swim all 4 competitive strokes. I really need to teach DD to swim this summer.
Once we moved to Jamaica when I was 3, we spent a lot of time at the pool so I learnt to swim there, but mainly doggy paddle. When I was 6, my parents sent us to swim lessons at the YMCA in the summer holidays. It really only took a few weeks so us to get proficient at swimming properly and by the end of the summer, we were on a swim team and trained 3 times a week for the next 4 years.
Yes, I'd consider myself a strong swimmer. I'm very comfortable in the water, but not fast!
Yes, my Dad taught me when I was a little and I went to swim camp for a few summers as a pre-teen. I do not necessarily feel like a proficient swimmer - I don't think I could save anyone's life, but I do think I could save my own. Hopefully.
Can you swim? Yes How did you learn to swim? Summer camp for many years as a kid. Do you consider yourself a proficient swimmer? I can do a pretty decent freestyle and breast stokes. I can survive in the water, but I'm not winning any races.
Post by mariafromnj on Jun 10, 2019 16:26:22 GMT -5
My parents pretty much threw me in the ocean when I was a baby LOL. I never had any formal lessons and I was competing in the pool from a young age. My mom, dad and sister are all great swimmers.