Help!

@p1kef1sh (45681)
January 27, 2010 3:02pm CST
Can you swim? I am surprised by the number of adults that cannot. If you can swim, do you?
11 people like this
35 responses
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
27 Jan 10
Yep I can and I do. My mom took me for lessons when I was 5...
3 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
27 Jan 10
I can imagine that you are a very good swimmer Dawn.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
27 Jan 10
I can even breath on either side. Are you impressed?
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Jan 10
I haven't been swimming for years but I love it. I've been swimming since I was in kindergarten, my dad taught me and the family always had so much fun at the public swimming pool! It was a milestone in my young life when I proved I could swim twice across the deep end and was then allowed in there. I taught my boys to swim when they were 3 and 4.
3 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
I am amazed by the number of people that I meet that can't swim. I learned young and enjoy nothing more than a dip. Unfortunately I am allergic to the additives that they put in some pools so have to be careful.
@dorypanda (1601)
27 Jan 10
Of course I can swim, I'm a fish.;) (In my human form I can swim reasonably well, but I don't like going out of my depth, I've had problems when I've done that before)
2 people like this
@dorypanda (1601)
28 Jan 10
I am indeed. :)
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
A shallow water fish only - a minnow type of fishy?
1 person likes this
@nannacroc (4049)
27 Jan 10
I can sort of swim but hate doing it so don't bother.
2 people like this
@nannacroc (4049)
28 Jan 10
Baths are better.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
It's one way to keep clean Nanna!
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Jan 10
Hi Pikey, I can and do, but I'm lazy at it. I prefer to float or float round on a float, or float around held up by the Greek. Can you believe there was someone swimming up in town yesterday, ok the sun was out but it's January and not exactly hot to be running round in a pair of trunks.
2 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
27 Jan 10
I can believe it Thea. I used to visit Gibraltar a lot and the locals stopped going to the beach between September and May. If I ventured down there I received some very odd looks. So I tended to stick to the hotel pool if it was open.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
27 Jan 10
hi pikey and thea that sounds interesting, "or float around'held up by the Greek." aha. oh on a similar note,you both heard I am sure of the wild and wet weather we had last week here in Southern Ca.well during that time the surf was so high it was dangerous and they kept warnings on the tv to not surf, well two young people went out anyway, and the life guards tried to find them, then the Coast Guard, but they are still missing. sad but so stupid. they were warned over and over.
• United States
27 Jan 10
I can swim and if the weather was nice enough and the pool was a large pool I would swim in it all day and night!!!
3 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
27 Jan 10
If I did that I'd turn all wrinkly. But I do enjoy a swim on a hot day.
2 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
28 Jan 10
Yes, II can swim.. I love swimming every chance I can get but last few years I haven't gotten to swim hardly at all.. I miss it alot. I had to of been a fish in my previous life since I love swimming so much..there are alot of places to swim..but not alot of people swim in them much due to snakes and such..maybe one of these days I will have a pool big enough to swim in besides the vinyl kiddie pool I get for my little sister every year.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
5 Aug 10
Yes, we do have public pools they cost $3 for kids $5 for adults. I actually was able to go swimming this summer about five times and it was just awesome. We just went a few days ago to have a last swim before school started which it did on the August 4th. And it was at a lake but there luckily were no snakes..a lot of fish though. I taught my little sister to swim. She is a fast learner but she still needs a lot of practice being she isn't a strong swimmer yet. It was so fun. Only time it wasn't was when I stupidly forgot to reapply the sunblock and ended up roasted badly..
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
Don't you have municipal pools Becky? Ones that are snake free! I confess that I'd freak if I saw a snake swimming along with me - especially a poisonous one!
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
11 Feb 10
Define 'swim'. Hi Pikey. I can do freestyle but I lack proper co-ordination and stroke and kick power. I've never been a good swimmer and definitely not a strong swimmer. However I can tread water, and do side stroke and I can float so I reckon if I needed to save myself or someone else I probably could do so if help were to come along fairly quickly. In the case of a rip or shark, I'd be a goner. I don't swim often as the opportunity rarely comes along. The sea scares me and due to my lack of mobility, I have trouble getting in and out of pools, which basically leaves me high and dry. It's sad really because I love playing in water.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Feb 10
Yeah, it is.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
11 Feb 10
My definition is simple. If you fall in the water do you drown or can you stay on the surface and make an attempt for the shore? You can float and maneuver yourself so you fall comfortably within my definition! I'm sorry that you can't enjoy taking a dip often. That must be very frustrating.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47308)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
27 Jan 10
When I was younger, I used to dogpaddle around a bit in the ponds but flapping around in a chlorine pool doesn't appeal much to me.
1 person likes this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
Nor me, but that's because I am allergic!
1 person likes this
@liquorice (3887)
27 Jan 10
I can swim. I'm not the strongest swimmer, but I really enjoy it when I do it. It's great exercise and it's also a really relaxing thing to do. Yes, I was surprised when somebody I used to know told me that she'd never learnt to swim. She was in her mid-twenties. It's never too late to learn and there are adults classes pretty much everywhere now I think, but it's surprising how many adults seem to have fallen through the 'learning to swim' net, especially when swimming's been taught in primary schools for at least 30 years (?) now.
1 person likes this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
I find it incredible how many non-swimmers there are.
• Philippines
1 Feb 10
i am trying to swim. but my position is not good. i am a trying hard swimmer. hahhaa.. my problem is keeping my breath long. i am also scared to get drown. but hopefully, with more practice, i can swim like a professional. hahha
@p1kef1sh (45681)
1 Feb 10
Practice will make perfect. Just keep at it and you will be swimming like a fish in no time.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
2 Feb 10
well, i prefer to swim like a mermaid...hahaha
@jb78000 (15139)
27 Jan 10
you are a pike pikefish. why do you need help? fish don't drown. anyway yes i can swim and yes i do although i much prefer the sea to swimming pools. it is too cold here now to even consider this at the moment though.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Jan 10
Swimming pools are an hideous eyesore and should be concreted over and filled with pretty flowers, instead of that much needed little thing we so frequently miss, water. You know what I went through yesterday and just nearby there's some filthy swimming pool full of water.
@jb78000 (15139)
27 Jan 10
well i was talking about public swimming pools - not the monstrosities your self indulgent expats put up. public pools are pretty dreadful too though - full of widdling brats and grannies speeding past you.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
27 Jan 10
The public pools here are full of nasty chemicals that sting your eyes too. I do not like them at all. My kids wanted to go to the local pool the other day, but I took them to the beach instead!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
27 Jan 10
Oh yeah, I love to swim! Being close to some awesome beaches and living in a climate that has year round swimming (if you are brave enough), we are often at the beach swimming. Just two days ago I was at my favourite beach that has surf as well as calm water in the river mouth. My kids and I went and got a pounding in the waves and then went into the river for a more relaxing swim. My 10 year old daughter is a very strong swimmer, but my 8 year old son is not very confident in the water and never really has taken to it like his sister. It is a shame as I see kids his age and younger surfing and playing in the water and having a ball on their own, but he will not venture far from us and always keeps wanting to be held in the water.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
You have the beaches there. Here it's either too cold or packed! That said I never fail to be amazed how few people are prepared to walk a few hundred yards up the beach to find somewhere quieter. The main thing is that your children can swim and would know what to do if they fell into the water.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
31 Jan 10
I never gave mine a swimming lesson, he just taught himself in the sea. He kept refusing until one day he announced if I bought him armbands he would swim that day and he did. He's much better than me as I always prefer to know that the bottom is under my feet somewhere near.
1 person likes this
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
28 Jan 10
Because swimming is a big part of our culture and lifestyle here, we put our kids into swimming lessons when they were very young. They did these every week for a few years until my daughter was very competent and would only have needed too keep going if she wanted to compete at swimming as a sport. We pulled my son out at around the same time as he just would not try to get better. We knew he could do the basics and figured we would let him gain the extra skills over time at his own pace.
@lilyrayne (107)
• United States
27 Jan 10
I can swim but find that i rarely do, I am not a very strong swimmer.. so I guess I like to play around in the water awhile but as far as actually spending time just swimming in it ..i don't.
2 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
Practice makes perfect they say.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
28 Jan 10
I can only swim with safety jacket. I can not swim. Somehow I am the only one in the family who can not swim.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
29 Jan 10
yes, I can, when I am not working, vacations are too short, local lessons are only during my working hours and are too expensive...
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
Can you get lessons?
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
28 Jan 10
I learned to swim as a child, I swim pretty well, but I haven't been swimming the last few years because I don't have a pool to go to - and its not much fun to go alone
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
28 Jan 10
There are privete pools, but not public...
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
I'd have thought that in your part of the world there'd be a pool on every block! Doesn't it get very hot there in summer?
1 person likes this
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
1 Feb 10
I learned to swim by the age of ten years old. It was challenging for me to gain enough confidence when I was a young child. I had swimming lessons at school but those didn't help me all that much. I was on a family vacation in Devon when it the sea I just started swimming. I swam slowly and not very strongly. I like to swim in warm swimming pools, in natural waterfall pools and in the tropical sea. Swimming is essential for the snorkeling I sometimes get the chancde to do. Many adults can't swim and that is due to a lack of confidence I think. Some of them think it might be too late to learn. I think they could learn to swim after feeling more relaxed in the water of a warm swimming pool.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
1 Feb 10
I learned in the Mediterranean where the sea is warmer and saltier and somehow it just happened. I agree so much about adults. It is never too late to learn I think.
@CanadaGal (4304)
• Canada
28 Jan 10
It's also surprising as to how many adults don't know how to ice skate. Of course, I'm talking about adult Canadians. Scary really. Considering "hockey" and "Canada" are synonymous. lol. I can swim and I do swim. Nothing fancy, but I stay afloat. I never took any lessons, but taught myself how to swim when I was 5 or 6 years old. My 3 sons are teaching themselves how to swim as well. One of the twins hasn't gotten the hang of it yet, but by the end of summer 2010 I'm sure he will. The boys and I have committed to going swimming a lot every summer, and I've gotten a family swim pass for our local outdoor pool to prove it. However, weather has not cooperated with us in the last 2 years, so we have only been a handful of times. Granted, with the b/f having a mini van, we can venture out to some indoor pools now, all year long. Maybe as early as this Sunday? I'm not sure what our plans are yet. We are doing "pool" on Friday night.... but it's also known as billiards. lol.
@CanadaGal (4304)
• Canada
28 Jan 10
I'm sorry for your confusion... but that "adventure trail" sounds so lovely!!!
@p1kef1sh (45681)
28 Jan 10
True ice skating story. When I lived in Germany I went skating. I was (an am) no expert. The rink in question had an "adventure trail" for the more experienced skater that went out of the rink and then through some woods for about 3/4s of a kilometer. Somehow I found myself on this path with people whizzing past me. It was one way so I had to carry on to the end. Let's just say that it was in at the deep end!
• Bangladesh
30 Jan 10
Yes, my friend. Fortunately I can. Now I advise you to get admitted in your local swimming club as soon as possible. Good luck!
@p1kef1sh (45681)
30 Jan 10
I CAN swim!! Thank you though.
• Indonesia
29 Jan 10
Yes, I can. Most of people in my city can swim. It's easy, friend. So, can you swim?
@p1kef1sh (45681)
29 Jan 10
Yes I can swim. I'm pleased to hear that so many where you are do too.