Question about swimming ability

[bradshsi]

Because they understand that if you can float you won't drown?

I grew up around boats and kayaks without being a strong swimmer and, really, life preservers fix the whole drowning issue... Similarly a wetsuit or drysuit, particularly with a functioning BCD/Wing does the same...

I'm with Lamont on this one.

I grew up sailing from a very early age, but I am by no means a strong swimmer (actually it's the floating part that always gave me trouble, I'm too dense, but that's another story...).

Traditionally sailors and fishermen in the UK (where I grew up) were often non swimmers. This is supposed to give them an added incentive to stay on the boat (and not fall in the water)

 

[rhadamantus]

this is taking it too far dreadnaught.

there is obviously a fine line between reasonable comfort and stupidity. what you have wrote below is purely stupid.

you are comparing apples to oranges. oh no, you are comparing apples to goats.

Ok, now I understand! As long as you feel comfortable you can't really get into too much trouble!! This opens up a whole new world to me:

1. I know nothing about electricity but I suddenly feel comfortable enough to go downstairs & start rearranging some wires in my electrical box. (the damn things have all different numbers....10/2, 12/2, 14/3....) I'm gonna make things better by changing them all to....Oh., let's see...14/2 sounds good!
2. Next, I think I'll goto my local airport & (even though I have never flown a plane) I feel comfortable enough to borrow someone's light plane & do a little site seeing! (What's the worst that could happen? ...I can always parachute to safety, right?)
3. After supper, I think I feel comfortable enough to perform a little open heart surgery on Uncle Lou!

Why would anyone be crazy enough to believe that you really should know how to swim before you venture way out into the rough, cold ocean???

 

[Dreadnaught]

this is taking it too far dreadnaught.

there is obviously a fine line between reasonable comfort and stupidity. what you have wrote below is purely stupid.

you are comparing apples to oranges. oh no, you are comparing apples to goats.

I hate to admit it Maggie but you are right. My comparisons might have been a bit overdrawn but none-the-less my point remains valid. Since this forum is meant to advise new divers or those considering taking up the sport, I believe that advising them that it is perfectly safe to be out in the middle of the ocean & not be a good swimmer is very poor/dangerous advise indeed!

 

[Devil505]

For all weak/non swimmers considering taking up scuba diving, I again urge you to read Drewski's reply ( http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=162361&highlight=drewski ) that I copied & pasted here on page 13. This thread seems to have degenerated into a symantecs argument over what is swimming vs floating vs comfort vs........whatever.
My point is that finding yourself in a tough situation, in deep, cold, rough water is not something that one can always foresee or avoid and, if you do enough diving, it is something that is bound to happen. Swimming is not merely another cardiovascular exercise like running on a treadmill at your local gym or taking a brisk walk through a sunlit meadow where, if you get tired you can simply sit down & catch your breath. It is an inherently dangerous & often arduous task that the human body has not been well adapted to for many millions of years. (for those who will now say that floating isn't arduous I point out that it can be im possible to do effectively in choppy water & that it also doesn't get you anywhere!<G>)
You don't panic if you get tired on a treadmill do you? Like it or not, your brain knows when a situation is dangerous & it knows that swimming is dangerous.....Do your brain a favor & convince it that you really do know how to swim yourself out of a bad situation!

 

[Jeddbird]

I know nothin about flying dreadnaught, but I'd still like to give skydiving a try. I must be crazy huh?

I've never once had to swim while scuba diving.

Sounds like a good opening line for the Darwin Awards TV show to me<G>

 

[rhadamantus]

i get this point of yours, dread. and i do agree.

everybody got to do their homework. you cannot master a task just with the flick of your fingers. those who got the most out of scuba diving, whether you have 1000+ or 20+ dives credited to your name, would agree that at some point we all did our homework.

there are some divers who posted in this thread though that are giving me the impression that they automatically ruled out the possibility of a non swimmer to ever be able to engage in scuba diving and enjoys it, much survives it. we all know the learnings dont stop the moment you receive your c-card. scuba diving, as with most sports or cause (id like to think of this as a cause), is a continuous educational process. and for a non-swimmer, mastering the art of swimming would be one of these learnings. i always learned to do new things on every dive; i bet if i live long to do a thousand or more plus dives, i would still be learning.

it is very obvious that nobody wants to engage into this sport so they can kill themselves. it is a very expensive way to die, id say. and swimmers and non-swimmers alike knew this for a fact.

an initially nonswimmercan learn and in fact enjoy scuba diving ( i did and do) .but she's gotta continuously do her homework, though. and swimming, though an ardous task in the long run ( i do agree with devil here) is not rocket science.

I hate to admit it Maggie but you are right. My comparisons might have been a bit overdrawn but none-the-less my point remains valid. Since this forum is meant to advise new divers or those considering taking up the sport, I believe that advising them that it is perfectly safe to be out in the middle of the ocean & not be a good swimmer is very poor/dangerous advise indeed!

 

[lamont]

I'm with Lamont on this one.

I grew up sailing from a very early age, but I am by no means a strong swimmer (actually it's the floating part that always gave me trouble, I'm too dense, but that's another story...).

i tend to be a sinker, i have short arms and legs and a wide body. i'm never going to be an olympic swimmer...

i think there's probably a dramatic difference between the conditions where the swim nazis dive and the people with a more relaxed attitude towards swimming dive. in the puget sound everyone wears thick and buoyant exposure suits, the weather rarely sees sees above 2-3 feet, and the sound rapidly gets too deep for recreational diving in most areas so you're never more than a few hundred yards from land. i had an amusing experience once in uncle pug's whaler when it started taking on about 8" of water and we really tested the 'unsinkability' of the boston whaler's out -- but i was in my drysuit and worst case i was looking at grabbing my fins as the boat went down and kicking a hundred yards into shore... big deal... its not like swimming back in when your dive boat sinks on top of the andrea doria in a gale...

 

[Puffer Fish]

its not like swimming back in when your dive boat sinks on top of the andrea doria in a gale...

Ah, now that would be a swimmers story to tell. I think you need to be able to swim and be comfortable in the water. And you most likely cannot be too good of a swimmer. And I would still hope that the skill is never needed.

 

[Devil505]

Its really laughable when your argument reduces to wanting to know how much of an authority the person giving the information is.

It's also.... "really laughable when your argument reduces to"... childish name calling when you repeatedly refer to those who disagree with you as "Swim Nazis!"
Please educate us as to exactly who is a "Swim Nazi" & why you feel that particularly ugly & mean spirited term fits?

 

[rhadamantus]

yes, quite a story to tell... if one outlives that incident. :blinking:

Ah, now that would be a swimmers story to tell. I think you need to be able to swim and be comfortable in the water. And you most likely cannot be too good of a swimmer. And I would still hope that the skill is never needed.