I'm 27 years old,... and I can't swim.

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: soxfan
<--------------- Former OBX beach lifeguard. So . . . . yes.

OBX?

i <3 the OBX!

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
25 and I can't swim or float. Jumping off the bottom of the pool to get air has worked for me so far when almost drowning...

kekeek I giggled

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: NeoAaronXWell,.. what should I do? I think I'm too old to learn now,... all the swimming classes are taught by teenage girls,.. I'm not sure how I'll feel with them teaching me to swim,... lol,.. you know?

just wear 3 pieces of underwear under some board-shorts. in case the
flag starts flying at half mast.

 

[mooncancook]

Take a swimming class. I learned basic swimming at a young age, then I took a couple classes at a JC and my skill improved a lot, especially with the old lady instructor who trained us like we were going to a competition or something. I saw guys who can't swim at all entering the course learned to swim a good distance by the end of the course. Quite amazing.

 

[MotionMan]

Learn how to swim - Do not end up like Joe Delaney. He died during one of the summers that I taught swimming at the local pool.

MotionMan

And it comes full-circle:

Chiefs TE Leonard Pope saves boy's life

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Leonard Pope saves boy's life
ESPN.com news services

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Leonard Pope, whose nickname is "Champ," lived up to the moniker last weekend when he saved a 6-year-old boy from drowning in a swimming pool.

“
I wasn't waiting on anyone else ... to try to pull him out. I just felt because I have kids of my own I would want someone to do that for my kids, also.

” -- Leonard Pope

The Chiefs' backup tight end on Saturday saved the son of a longtime friend from drowning in his hometown of Americus, Ga.

"My heart dropped. It could have been any child ... I just knew I had to do something," Pope said in an interview with "ESPN First Take" on Tuesday. "I wasn't waiting on anyone else ... to try to pull him out. I just felt because I have kids of my own I would want someone to do that for my kids, also."
According to his bio on the Chiefs' website, Pope has two young daughters.

The boy's mother, Anne Moore, told the Americus Times Recorder that Pope was the only person at the party who knew how to swim. Pope said he learned how to swim when he was 9 or 10 years old.

"He saved my son's life, and I am so thankful that he was there for me and my child," she told the newspaper.

Pope jumped into the pool -- wearing all of his clothes, "cell phone, wallet and everything" -- and pulled her son, Bryson, from the water.

"I was coming out of the house, I heard Anne cry. She was like 'get, get him, he's drowning!' I couldn't see Bryson. All I could see was his fingertips at the top of the water and I couldn't see his head," Pope said.

The NFL's lockout turned out to be good fortune for Moore and her son.
"The fact that he is normally at camp and could have been in Kansas City just proved to me that he was placed here to save my son from drowning, and I thank God that he was here," she told the newspaper. "He truly lived up to his nickname 'Champ' because he was truly a champion for me and my son this past weekend."

The Chiefs are an organization that has dealt with a similar tragedy. It was 28 years ago this month that star running back Joe Delaney drowned while trying to save three children from drowning in a Louisiana pond. Two of the children died.

It's summer time for most kids, learn how to swim and send your kids to lessons.

MotionMan

 

[NoCreativity]

So glad my parents got me started early. Also had to take swimming in middle and high school.

 

[Svnla]

To the people that don't know how to swim, have you guys/gals ever try a swiming class such as one at the YMCA? They are not expensive.

I learn how to swim on my own when I was little. This is how I did it. <do this at the shallow and NOT deep end of the pool>.

I put both hands on the wall, then lay flat on the water, then face down while holding my breath, then raise my head, then head down, repeat, then continue the same thing while paddle my legs up and down.

Then let go one of the arms and swing the free arm with a breaststroke motion then let go the other arm and breakstroke motion on both arms. Repeat a few times and voila...swimming like a frog (yes, you would swallow some water at the beginning but not too bad).

If you have someone with you, you could try the same method but instead of the wall, use the friend arms.

<<----love to swim and love the water.

 

[amish]

And it comes full-circle:

Chiefs TE Leonard Pope saves boy's life



It's summer time for most kids, learn how to swim and send your kids to lessons.

MotionMan

holy Necro-post, Bat..er..MotionMan

 

[BurnItDwn]

by the time I was 4 I was swimming unsupervised in Lake Michigan.

 

[MotionMan]

holy Necro-post, Bat..er..MotionMan

Yeah. It is a subject that is very important to me, so the necro was a must.

MotionMan

 

[busydude]

Yeah.. 25 and cannot swim.

 

[moshquerade]

Yeah.. 25 and cannot swim.

Ugh.

take lessons.

 

[busydude]

Ugh. take lessons.

Damn.. I never thought of that, :hmm:

Seriously though, every semester my univ offers swimming classes for cheap(~$50). I signed up once.. but could not finish it.. as there was some scheduling conflicts. I think I'll sign up in Fall.. and complete it this time.

 

[Kirby]

I can't remember not being able to swim.

 

[MotionMan]

Damn.. I never thought of that, :hmm:

Seriously though, every semester my univ offers swimming classes for cheap(~$50). I signed up once.. but could not finish it.. as there was some scheduling conflicts. I think I'll sign up in Fall.. and complete it this time.

You do not have to become Mark Spitz. Even if you just learn to swim as well as a 5 year old, you should be fine (my kids were very safe swimmers by the time they were 5. The biggest limitation was their height, which should not be an issue for a 25 year old).

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

by the time I was 4 I was swimming unsupervised in Lake Michigan.

And your parents were heard saying,

"But he keeps coming back!"



MotionMan

 

[mb]

It boggles my mind that people can't swim. Get in the water, move your arms and legs and bam, you're swimming! To me it's like saying you don't know how to breathe.

 

[Paul98]

I could swim before I could walk, or do much of anything else. I love the water, I think everyone should not only learn to swim but learn all the different strokes. Also just learn in general how to move in the water so that you won't be scared of it.

I love the water, it's a freeing feeling being in the water. Plus there are so many fun things you can do in water.

 

[IcePickFreak]

I can't remember not being able to swim.

That's what I was going to say. There's obligatory childhood pics of me swimming when I was only a few years old. Although I do remember I was deathly afraid of swimming once I seen Jaws. :awe:

Seriously, I loved American Werewolf in London when I was a kid but Jaws scared me away from swimming for a summer or two and I was >1000 miles from any ocean. If my parents would of let me watch it sooner I'd probably be in the same boat as the OP.

 

[moshquerade]

Damn.. I never thought of that, :hmm:

Seriously though, every semester my univ offers swimming classes for cheap(~$50). I signed up once.. but could not finish it.. as there was some scheduling conflicts. I think I'll sign up in Fall.. and complete it this time.

well good.

at my college we HAD to pass a swimming test upon admission or else we HAD to take swimming first semester and pass.

i also had to take swimming in middle school.

 

[Svnla]

well good.

at my college we HAD to pass a swimming test upon admission or else we HAD to take swimming first semester and pass.

i also had to take swimming in middle school.

Huh? You had to pass a swimming class in college? I never heard such a strange requirement before unless you were in the Navy or Coast Guard.

 

[MotionMan]

Huh? You had to pass a swimming class in college? I never heard such a strange requirement before unless you were in the Navy or Coast Guard.

University of Atlantis.

MotionMan

EDIT: LOL. There is one: http://www.atlantisuniversity.org/

 

[BlueAcolyte]

17, was on HS swim team for past two years. My dad pretty much threw me in the YMCA pool when I was 5. It's an important life skill! Some of the colleges I'm looking at require swimming 200m (4 olympic lengths) to graduate.

 

[wirednuts]

how do you not swim? i thought that was a basic instinct. all you do is kick your feet anyway... its not space science...

 

[MotionMan]

how do you not swim? i thought that was a basic instinct. all you do is kick your feet anyway... its not space science...

One does have to actually learn how to swim. It seems to come naturally to some, but for most people, it is learned.

MotionMan