Among Friends

[JYWilliams]

I can't swim either. As a child the person that was gonna teach me to swim said they wouldn't let me go in the water til i felt comfortable. well they let me go and I went under. So after that I never learned how to swim cause that scared me to death.

[FastDogWalker2]

I feel fortunate to have grown up near water and being provided swim lessons from the time I was really young.  I have friends who are adults and never learned to swim.  Some have taken lessons and some haven't.  I think it would be very difficult to learn as an adult if you experienced a traumatic event with water as a child.

[ALRATIBA]

I never learned to swim either ... just not interested in beaches and water.

[dsw503]

I tried to learn many times as a kid. My dad took me several times to a pool and a couple of times I wouldn't even come out of the locker room in my swimsuit. As a young teen, I went for private lessons with a swim teacher and had the lessons in her pool. Finished that class and still couldn't swim. I decided long ago it wasn't for me. Usually I support always trying again and in your case, I'd say go to the first class. However, this may be the time that you decide you've used enough energy on thinking about swimming and just move on by not taking the class without regret. You know yourself better than anyone else!

[judy0330]

I would love to be able to swim.  I don't have any fear of the water.  I have taken swimming lessons several times and it seems that the second I set foot in the pool I lose any coordination I ever had!  I just haven't been able to synchronize my arms and legs.

[riley1]

@Shanus - Take the adult beginner swim class. We lived in a lake community and had a swimming pool in our yard. My kids started swim lessons when they were about 4 or 5 y/o. As they got older, they had to take the lessons - it was not an option for them. And, we traveled quite a bit to the Islands, so they needed to know how to swim.

As they got older, they took life saving classes and became life guards. My one daughter even taught private lessons on her college breaks.

Most everywhere you go, you will find water. Its good to know how to swim.

[Carolina925]

I've never learned to swim, can't stand to get water in my face. I was born and grew up on an island so I don't have an excuse other than I'm scared of the water. I'm embarrassed to tell people because I always get the look like I just sprouted an extra eye.

[Mombo1]

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@Shanus wrote:

When I was very young, my Dad had a large boat, not a yacht w/ rooms where you can sleep, but did have an area underneath where you lie down and/or take a break from the sun. It was docked at a lake nearby. We went almost every Sunday and stayed until sundown and then made the 1/2 hour trip home.

The first week we had that boat, my Dad was trying out our life jackets. Although my brother was 3 yrs. younger, he was bigger than me....even when we were 5 and 8. Well, Dad buckled me into my jacket and thought he pulled the straps tight enough.

When he told me to go down the ladder and float to try it out, I slipped out of the jacket (immediately) and started to sink into the deep water. Dad jumped in and found me within minutes, but it scared the cwap out of me and I have stayed away from the water except a dip in a pool to cool off where it was 3' deep. 

I was prepared to take the "Adult Chicken Swimming Class" at my gym before the pandemic and the gym closed. The pool is now open and they called to see if I was still interested in that swim class. I'm still not sure I can do it. ***I even face backwards in the shower so my face isn't under the water. LOL

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@Shanus    I understand your fear of water.  I had a bad experience as well.   About 40 years ago I got caught in a rip current at Daytona Beach.  It took 3 lifeguards with ropes to pull me back to shore.  I have never been back in the water since.  
   My family has also encouraged me to take swimming classes ....but I just have no interest.   

[itsmagic]

I think taking the swim class is a good idea especially having grandchildren and going to the beach or pool with them.   I know how to swim but when we go to a lake (no oceans nearby and I don’t have to worry about currents or rip tides) I enjoy floating around with a swim noodle or other floaty while the grandkids swim.  I wouldn’t be able to do that if I didn’t know how to swim. 

[patbz]

Reading this thread I'm really surprised at the number of responders who don't know how to swim, at least to some degree. I have only known one adult who didn't know how to swim ( he passed while still in his 50s).  I consider the ability to swim an essential life skill.  To me, it goes far beyond a physical activity or a social skill.  There are so many life situations where its essential and you can't always predict them.  My Mother would drive me and my brother to the community pool in early 1950s, even when Polio was still a threat, to take lessons. Later DH and I put our son in Mommy and Me swim classes and kept him in subsequent lessons until he was a good swimmer.  Every Summer since my Grands were 2 and 4 we've put them in lessons and also put up a good sized above ground pool ( constantly supervised); at 8 and 10 they are fish.  Benefits of swimming are so all encompassing and unpredictable ; DH swam competitively through college ( even came in 3rd to Mark Spitz in a college competition ).  DH had a major heart attack at 36; the collateral blood vessel system he'd built from all that heavy swimming probably saved his life, according to his Cardiologist.  Please take the chance, take the adult class and do what you can to at least learn to save yourself if the occasion arises!