Day 257/365: Friday's Unscientific Poll: Swimming Lessons

[nanila]

Poll #20449 Swimming lessons

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 82

I know how to swim.

Yes
78 (95.1%)

No.
4 (4.9%)

I had swimming lessons

As a child.
64 (78.0%)

As an adult.
4 (4.9%)

Never.
16 (19.5%)

[Optional] I never had swimming lessons because

Humuhumu has been having swimming lessons for about 14 months now. She started in the summer before she began school. She passed Stage 1 fairly quickly, but it has taken her a long time to get through Stage 2, which she officially passed today. This means she can move from the shallow learner's pool, which is only 80 cm deep into the "big" pool, which starts at 90 cm. She had to swim for five metres unaided on both her front and her back in order to move to Stage 3. She can actually swim 10 metres on her front, possibly more.

Keiki's going to start swimming lessons Sunday next, with the same awesome teacher that Humuhumu had. She's going to have a new teacher in Stage 3.

I never had swimming lessons because I grew up in Hawai'i. We always lived in places with swimming pools (apartment complexes and the like) or close enough to the beach for me to be able to go there every day. No indoor pools or heated water needed. I don't have any memories of not being able to swim, so I must have learnt quite early. Watching Humuhumu go through swimming lessons has therefore been a novelty for me. She's already a lot more comfortable being totally immersed than I was. It makes me think that it would have been good for me to have had lessons, as I'd probably be a much better swimmer now.

Comments

[davidgillon]

Like most British kids I had swimming lessons at school. I think starting in primary, but I'm not absolutely sure about that, that would have needed a bus to get us there as we were in an outlying village. The local pool was about half a mile down the road from my secondary school, but we then got a pool on the site and used that instead. (And that's why I have a cap on one of my front incisors - I dove in and leveled out just too late - my tooth was the only thing that hit the bottom)

I do recall we did basic lifesaving as well - how to tow someone, and how to turn your clothes into basic buoyancy aids.

Nowadays I've lost most of my ability to swim - not that I was ever a strong swimmer - my shoulders can't take front or back crawl, and breast-stroke legs feels like someone is trying to tear my leg off at the knee, but I can paddle along on my back with legs alone if need be.