When I was a kid in NJ, I got to spend the summers down the shore at my aunt & uncles they sent me to swimming lessons asap and so I grew up loving the water and feeling very comfortable in it. I am very grateful for that because my mother can't swim neither could her parents. You just never know when you might find yourself in a otherwise dangerous situation if you don't know what to do in the water.
Swimming Lessons Are Definitely On My To-Do List
by snowbird 123 Replies latest social physical
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garyneal
I learned to swim last summer, my wife learned about a year or so before that. We're teaching our daughter now.
I wish I had had swimming lessons at a much earlier age.
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snowbird
Thanks, Nancy and Gary.
Syl
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blondie
I grew up in an area where swimming lessons in school were required, you could not graduate without basic swimming abilities. In some areas there is no place to learn and no one in the family to teach them. I figure if you are going to get in the water or on a boat, canoe, kayak, you should know how to keep afloat and everyone should have a life preserver. But I have seen people who can swim, drown walking out into unknown water where there is a drop off, or who don't know anything about tides.
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JWoods
I never learned to swim because, even though we lived nearly on the banks of a creek, fear of water was instilled in me from infancy.
That was also true of actress Natalie Wood. It is ironic that she ended up being drowned.
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snowbird
But I have seen people who can swim, drown walking out into unknown water where there is a drop off, or who don't know anything about tides.
Same here.
Syl
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FlyingHighNow
I always made my kids wear life jackets when swimming in lakes or rivers. They got mad at me, but I'd have rather been mad than go to my knees in grief over a drowning. One problem with swimming lessons though is that they don't always teach kids what do in such situations. Adults who are strong swimmers can drown in this kind of situation or things like riptides.
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Scott77
Wow, six teenagers drown in a sinkhole while attempting to save each other. This is a tragedy. I think, swimming lessons should be mandatory for all high grads for the purpose of saving life. Thank you Slyvia for bringing attention to this very important issue of life and death.
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yknot
I grew around water......learning to swim wasn't an option so much as a normal rite of passage beginning with doggy-paddling basic around 18mos.
Our swim coach and of course all the kids have been very moved by this horrible- preventable tradegy. For the rest of the week they will be practicing how to rescue each other in drowning situations
For anyone that doesn't swim or finds themselves unable to take lessons because life gets in the way......please, please wear a lifejacket/watervest and make a point to bring along an extra too! These are inexpensive, many designs are less cumbersome than the old orange ones too!
Of course always wear one when boating and skiing........
I lost a good friend, a skilled swimmer when he hit his head and lost consciouness after wiping-out while waterskiing. It took 4 days of dragging the lake to find his body.
and don't forget
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snowbird
Our swim coach and of course all the kids have been very moved by this horrible- preventable tradegy. For the rest of the week they will be practicing how to rescue each other in drowning situations
This is very good, YKnot.
Syl
