Spot the Drowning Child (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#421

Post by smileysteve » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #386

smileysteve wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> teaching 5 year olds the butterfly and other high energy/low safety strokes without teaching elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke. I am amazed at how few of my early millennial peers have never heard of the elementary backstroke.

I was never taught that and I am older than that and used to swim competitively. I never seen anyone swim that. Likely, it was never standard think to teach.

I learned it in a RedCross program; which makes me think it was standard.

I suspect that it was never taught for competition, partly because of its energy efficiency through low performance.

I also wonder if it's more common around lakes and oceans; as it's great for going over waves with minimum energy.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#422

Post by dotancohen » Sat, Mar 07, 2020, 8:50 PM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #278

dotancohen wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A family friend drowned to death at a public swimming pool with two lifeguards and his mother present. He was 11 years old at the time. Never take your eyes off your kids.

That is terrible. If it is OK to ask... was there anything special about those circumstances, like was there a specific reason like he passed out first or got hit by something? Or was still learning to swim? Before I read this comment, 11 to me seems like an age where you can start thinking about not watching them, and when I was 12 I used to go to the pool with just friends.

I asked the wife, and sure enough the child did dive into too-shallow water. He sustained a neck injury in the dive, which led to his drowning.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#423

Post by cafebabbe » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 9:54 AM UTC

panadan wrote: post #8

cafebabbe wrote: post #4

So many of them don't have arm bands? It's borderline criminal to allow untrained kids in a pool without wearing those.

Despite their popularity, swimming experts advise against using inflatable armbands. Although they can help a child to float, they can slip off and lead to drowning. Inflatable armbands do not prevent drowning, nor are they a life-saving device. Mistaking them for one can create a dangerous false sense of security. Additionally, inflatable armbands teach children to float in a vertical position, which is incorrect be…

I never said it was a perfect security measure - but it does help a lot.

Re: Spot the Drowning Child (2015)

#424

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 12:38 PM UTC

ben7799 wrote: post #314

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And at Scout Camp each year we always had some. It doesn't go away with training. Whether its body fat or lung capacity, whatever, they simply sink to the bottom no matter how big a breath they take or the 'head position' explanation. They can be 'swimmer' and still not be physically capable of floating on their back. The ocean is a different matter I'm sure.

There are always people who fail at swim lessons just like anything else, it's more that. It's a tough problem to solve. I have no more than 10% body fat, I have no issues. But I also taught adults who were similarly low body fat and some I succeeded in teaching and some I did not. Consciously controlling your breathing is a big deal in many aspects of swimming & diving. It has a major effect on buoyancy. You can't b…

Again, no. These kids don't fail at swimming. Unless somebody like you autocratically says "You can't float on your back! You fail!" They're mastering all the strokes, diving to the bottom and retrieving weights, training for the mile swim. They just don't float like you do.