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

#41

Post by aspidistra » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:44 PM UTC

jameshart wrote: post #34

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…

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 base…

With the austerity measures in place in the UK in recent years there have been a few cases of despair at councils closing their swimming pools and leisure centres to try to cut costs. This is often despite fewer and fewer people attending them over the years.

Public swimming pools are a rich seam for nostalgia in Britain. Many public swimming pools were originally built in Victorian times and so fall into the "Always There" backdrop of a city, things you never really enthuse about but would miss if they were gone.

http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/category/swimming-po...

Lidos, public outdoor pools, make up the other half of Swimming Pool Nostalgia. Most were built in the 1930s. They had already fallen out of fashion, really, when I was a kid -- since holidays abroad had become cheap -- but there was one quite near us, about 30 mins drive away, and going there was a bit of a treat.

There have been a few campaigns in recent years -- some successful -- to restore lidos or at least preserve them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lidos_in_the_United_...

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

#42

Post by chimeracoder » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:44 PM UTC

mathieuh wrote: post #39

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.

Throwing a seven-year-old kid into the water because they're having a panic attack is absolutely grounds for firing. It's putting their life in danger. That instructor had no business teaching children how to swim if he doesn't understand basic water safety.

It's unfortunate that not everyone may have been able to rectify the situation the way that etfb could, but it's not like (s)he was abusing that power.

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

#43

Post by jiggy2011 » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:45 PM UTC

jameshart wrote: post #34

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…

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 base…

Council pools will still charge membership fees or one off fees for use by non-members. Though these fees are probably somewhat cheaper than they would be if privately provided.

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

#44

Post by jrockway » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:46 PM UTC

I guess I don't think this is very important. The key is to exercise your heart, and there are plenty of easier ways to do that.

I think people focus too much on running and swimming. Both are difficult; running puts a lot of strain on your body as it counters forces several times its own weight 180 times a second. Good for your bones, if you can handle it. Swimming is less strain, but the equipment is very, very expensive. If you can only do it once a week, you're never going to get good enough to enjoy it.

For that reason, I recommend cycling. It's lower impact than running, and less expensive than swimming. What I like is that you can choose the exact level at which you want to exert yourself. Want to train at 75% max heart rate? Type in the number and pedal less hard if you're over, and pedal harder if you're under. Easy. (Modulo traffic and pedestrians.)

I like running and everything, but I weigh about 15 pounds too much to not hurt myself every time I go out. So cycling it is.

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

#45

Post by hrktb » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:47 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.

Perhaps also voluntary crossing of small rivers, small lakes, flooded areas. If you're lost in a mountain and your choice is to cross a river or do a 20km walkaround, being able to swim makes a big difference (chances are you'd avoid going in the mountains altogether, but that missing a lot of fun)

Also adults know how to avoid falling into water, small kids are not so good at this game yet.

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

#46

Post by jtreanor » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:50 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…

I had the exact same experience while taking swimming lessons as a young child in the west of Ireland. The instructor just chucked me in. She still works there.

I didn't swim for years afterwards but eventually went back to lessons when I was around 12. Strangely enough, I now love the sea. I am an avid surfer and scuba diver.

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

#47

Post by adamkittelson » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:50 PM UTC

NDizzle wrote: post #10

A lot has to do with the location. They claim a lot of statistics from Minnesota but maybe they forget that the water is COLDER THAN A WITCH'S TIT when it's not frozen. It's not exactly the best place to learn to swim. Also, judging by how my kids handle the water at Santa Cruz, young people are invulnerable to cold water. That explains why fewer young people drown - invulnerability.

I lived in Minnesota until age 30 and your assertion about water temperature is flat out wrong. Summers in Minnesota are much hotter than in say, San Francisco, and the water in the lakes is very comfortable for swimming.

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

#48

Post by jiggy2011 » Sat, May 03, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #44

I guess I don't think this is very important. The key is to exercise your heart, and there are plenty of easier ways to do that. I think people focus too much on running and swimming. Both are difficult; running puts a lot of strain on your body as it counters forces several times its own weight 180 times a second. Good for your bones, if you can handle it. Swimming is less strain, but the equipment is very, very exp…

The downside to cycling is definitely safety unless you're using a stationary bicycle which is boring as hell. It can also get relatively expensive.

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

#49

Post by bprieto » Sat, May 03, 2014, 3:04 PM UTC

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…

My first son learnt to swim before he learnt to walk. A cousin fell into a swimming pool when he was two, almost died and has severe brain damage, so we wanted to be sure it couldn't happen to a child of us.

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

#50

Post by mrgriscom » Sat, May 03, 2014, 3:37 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.

Good, because if you can't swim, it only takes one time!