37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool • Hacker News Board

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#31

Post by Intermernet » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:18 PM UTC

ptr wrote: post #28

Intermernet wrote: post #20

In Australia (80+% of population living on the coastline) it's common to see schools providing the "Bronze Medallion" ( http://www.royallifesaving.com.au/training/bronze-medallion ) as a recommended course for students. I'm not sure how applicable this would be to the USA, but I can't see that it would hurt (it also provides basic first-aid training and CPR practice which have saved some lives as an incidental side e…

Same in Sweden, but it's for pupils in secondary school and it also covers stuff like getting yourself out of ice holes and swimming in cold water with lots of clothing.

That would have been very useful the time I almost died falling into a frozen creek skiing in the Australian Back-Country. For a country that only has a few square kilometres of skiable terrain in winter, it's got some really nasty terrain!

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#32

Post by aspidistra » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:19 PM UTC

kaitai wrote: post #23

aspidistra wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the UK, learning to swim is part of the national curriculum, unlike the US. More details on exactly what kids in the UK are taught: Swimming and water safety: All schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: - swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres - use a range of strokes effectively [for…

In the US even when there are swimming lessons in schools, they're often dramatically understaffed (from my point of view) -- one teacher, no lifeguard, for 30 students. There are several recent incidents in the US of immigrant kids drowning in school lessons. How was the staffing done at your school or elsewhere in the UK?

The class was usually split up in to groups of about 10, depending on age / proficiency. There'd be a teacher leading each group.

There would also be the lifeguards from the pool. If I remember rightly, this was at least two, if not more -- there always seemed to be one sitting up in the high chair, and there always seemed to be one patrolling the pool edge.

It was a 25m pool, and while the school was there it was closed to the wider public.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#33

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:20 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #8

Just knowing how to float would already prevent many cases or drowning; never mind being able to move around in the water, being able to not sink into it is in many cases more than enough. As someone who does know how to swim, once you figure out the floating part, movement then becomes pretty easy.

[deleted]

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#34

Post by jameshart » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:21 PM UTC

aspidistra wrote: post #4

mkempe wrote: post #2

With regard to swimming, there are huge differences between ethnic groups in the US: about 70 percent of African-American children, 60 percent of Latino children and 40 percent of white children are non-swimmers . [1] [2] A few years ago, my wife worked on an ethnographic research project about the lack of swimming skills in the African-American population. One thing that was striking was the difference with other mu…

> In the UK, learning to swim is part of the national curriculum, unlike the US. More details on exactly what kids in the UK are taught: Swimming and water safety: All schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: - swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres - use a range of strokes effectively [for…

And one key phrase in there that emphasizes a difference between the UK and US is "council pool". My experience in the US - even in Massachusetts where they actually have functioning local government and aren't too afraid of providing public services - is that providing a swimming pool is a pretty low priority for town government. Often a pool will be provided by the local school system, but access will still be based on a membership fee, which excludes a lot of people from access.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#35

Post by gk1 » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:25 PM UTC

aspidistra wrote: post #16

gk1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I consider it a basic life skill, as important as knowing how to cross a road. Why? As a horrible swimmer myself, I've gotten by just fine. Even went through a merchant mariner college (which is kind of like a watered-down Naval Academy) and earned a seaman license.

>> Why? I suppose there's the argument that most of the earth's surface is covered in water; it would be useful to not be afraid of it, to know how to move in it, and to be confident doing so. But then, I grew up on an island where you're never more than 75 miles from the sea; undoubtedly that's affected my worldview.

> I suppose there's the argument that most of the earth's surface is covered in water; it would be useful to not be afraid of it, to know how to move in it, and to be confident doing so.

Yet we spend our entire lives--with the exception of a few excursions--on land. I agree that it's a useful skill, I just don't agree that it's as basic as walking or driving or cooking.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#36

Post by Jtsummers » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:28 PM UTC

daliusd wrote: post #19

mongol wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To improve your chances of survival if you fall into the water? Pretty important skill to have I think.

How many times have you felt into the water involuntary in your life? I can't count single time.

Boy Scout summer camps, canoeing. The other guy didn't understand that you could, in fact, flip a canoe. Later, crossing an ice-slicked, narrow bridge in winter I fell into a creek (not very deep, not quite waste deep on me once I stood up, but certainly could've been more terrifying if I hadn't been comfortable in and around water and given it was about 20F outside and I fell through a thin layer of ice).

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#37

Post by revelation » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:37 PM UTC

gk1 wrote: post #7

mkempe wrote: post #2

With regard to swimming, there are huge differences between ethnic groups in the US: about 70 percent of African-American children, 60 percent of Latino children and 40 percent of white children are non-swimmers . [1] [2] A few years ago, my wife worked on an ethnographic research project about the lack of swimming skills in the African-American population. One thing that was striking was the difference with other mu…

> I consider it a basic life skill, as important as knowing how to cross a road. Why? As a horrible swimmer myself, I've gotten by just fine. Even went through a merchant mariner college (which is kind of like a watered-down Naval Academy) and earned a seaman license.

As the article points out, plenty of adults drown every year. Presumably these people thought the same way.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#38

Post by ibisum » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:37 PM UTC

etfb wrote: post #26

Dateline: nineteen seventy-mumble. School swimming lesson, small town rural Australia. Me, aged seven, evidently having a mild but irritating panic attack about having to go into the water. Swimming instructor gets sick of my shit and throws me in. Oddly, this does not reduce my panic attack! He pulls me back out again and yells at me for disrupting the class. ... And learns an important lesson: if you're going to lo…

What a pity. The ocean is a wonderful place, being able to swim in it is one of the very best aspects of my life, also having learned to swim while growing up in rural Australia.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#39

Post by mathieuh » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:37 PM UTC

etfb wrote: post #26

Dateline: nineteen seventy-mumble. School swimming lesson, small town rural Australia. Me, aged seven, evidently having a mild but irritating panic attack about having to go into the water. Swimming instructor gets sick of my shit and throws me in. Oddly, this does not reduce my panic attack! He pulls me back out again and yells at me for disrupting the class. ... And learns an important lesson: if you're going to lo…

It's good that you got someone fired because of who your parents are, top job.

Re: 37 percent of adults cannot swim the length of a 25-yard pool

#40

Post by jamessb » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:39 PM UTC

daliusd wrote: post #19

mongol wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To improve your chances of survival if you fall into the water? Pretty important skill to have I think.

How many times have you felt into the water involuntary in your life? I can't count single time.

There's a risk of 'falling into the water involuntarily' in most activities involving small boats: canoeing, kayaking, sailing dinghies, sculling or rowing in a shell.

Not being able to swim precludes you from safely attempting any of these.