Poll of the Day > Can you swim?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Bonus question: Can you see underwater without any type of googles? And by you, I mean you personally...
---

Decent swimmer

I can see underwater but its not exactly comfortable, especially at the ocean so goggles are better.

I pretty much refuse to swim in lakes anymore after finding out about brain eating amoeba

---

I sink like a stone and I'm capable of swimming excellently. I just can't stop swimming and float without it being a workout.
---

I can theoretically swim, if I'm wearing some sort of life-vest or inner tube that keeps me above water without effort. But I have trouble coordinating my arm paddling with leg kicking, which means I sink pretty much immediately under normal circumstances. And I pretty much have an instant panic attack the moment my face goes under water, at which point I just start flailing uncontrollably.

So no, I can't really swim.
---

i'm an ok swimmer
---

Mead posted...

Decent swimmer

I can see underwater but its not exactly comfortable, especially at the ocean so goggles are better.

I pretty much refuse to swim in lakes anymore after finding out about brain eating amoeba

Yeah. Goggles would be more comfortable. But the brain eating amoeba does sounds scary...

SunWuKung420 posted...

I sink like a stone and I'm capable of swimming excellently. I just can't stop swimming and float without it being a workout.

So, not like a comfortable swim, but you can swim well?

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I can theoretically swim, if I'm wearing some sort of life-vest or inner tube that keeps me above water without effort. But I have trouble coordinating my arm paddling with leg kicking, which means I sink pretty much immediately under normal circumstances. And I pretty much have an instant panic attack the moment my face goes under water, at which point I just start flailing uncontrollably.

So no, I can't really swim.

I am ok with floatation devices. I was even in the ocean with a life vest once, and a wetsuit another time...

I am also bad at the arm and leg coordination. Once during a trip to Florida, I was able to swim, but I was barely moving forward... And it looked a little like I was flailing (unless I did the dead mans float). I am better with my face going under. I use to freak out, but Ive gotten more comfortable... to a degree...

DevilSummoner1 posted...

i'm an ok swimmer

Did you learn young? Or were you older?
---

can't swim at all. well, I can make it across the pool by swimming underwater, but I don't count that.

i've tried to learn a few times, too.
---

green dragon posted...

can't swim at all. well, I can make it across the pool by swimming underwater, but I don't count that.

i've tried to learn a few times, too.

Ive tried to learn a few times, as well. Maybe now that Im an adult, it may be easier to understand the instructions without being scared. Though, maybe being an adult makes it tougher... Like how learning a second language is harder when you get older...

Zangulus posted...

Ive been swimming my entire life. Im not professional or anything but Im no slouch.

Did you go swimming a lot as a child, or just learned young?
---

LinkPizza posted...

So, not like a comfortable swim, but you can swim well?

No, just if I stop trying for 1 second, I'll already be 5ft underwater.
---

i could swim to save my life but it doesnt come naturally to me
---

LinkPizza posted...

Ive tried to learn a few times, as well. Maybe now that Im an adult, it may be easier to understand the instructions without being scared. Though, maybe being an adult makes it tougher... Like how learning a second language is harder when you get older..

I would've figured be able to swim is a criterion for being in the military.
---

I can flail like crazy and not drown

TheWitchMorgana posted...

i could swim to save my life but it doesnt come naturally to me

I assume this is the case for me as I have managed like 5 feet just cause I didnt wanna get my hat wet.
---

I grew up by a lake so I swam a LOT growing up. You would pretty much have been an outcast in my neighborhood if you didnt. So yeah I'm pretty good at it

I can swim really well in the sense that I know how to do all the olympic strokes and aren't at all afraid to be in the water.

But I'm not Bear Grylls that can swim from 1 island to a nearby island through ocean current.
---

I swam maybe 30 meters in a row once and it felt like it took me half an hour to catch my breath. I can't tread water or float on my back so I forced myself to go the distance in one shot. I'm a decent runner but swimming takes a lot out of me.
---

SunWuKung420 posted...

LinkPizza posted...

So, not like a comfortable swim, but you can swim well?

No, just if I stop trying for 1 second, I'll already be 5ft underwater.

I see. Well, thats still good...

TheWitchMorgana posted...

i could swim to save my life but it doesnt come naturally to me

Ah. At least you have that, though...

green dragon posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Ive tried to learn a few times, as well. Maybe now that Im an adult, it may be easier to understand the instructions without being scared. Though, maybe being an adult makes it tougher... Like how learning a second language is harder when you get older..

I would've figured be able to swim is a criterion for being in the military.

Navy and marines, I think. Not Air Force...

mooreandrew58 posted...

TheWitchMorgana posted...

i could swim to save my life but it doesnt come naturally to me

I assume this is the case for me as I have managed like 5 feet just cause I didnt wanna get my hat wet.

But normally, you sink?
---

MrMelodramatic posted...

I can flail like crazy and not drown

But at least youre not drowning, right?

OhhhJa posted...

I grew up by a lake so I swam a LOT growing up. You would pretty much have been an outcast in my neighborhood if you didnt. So yeah I'm pretty good at it

Yeah. Thats makes sense. I might have learned if I lived somewhere like that growing up...

TigerTycoon posted...

I can swim really well in the sense that I know how to do all the olympic strokes and aren't at all afraid to be in the water.

But I'm not Bear Grylls that can swim from 1 island to a nearby island through ocean current.

I mean, Im not sure many people could do that, though...

SilentSeph posted...

I swam maybe 30 meters in a row once and it felt like it took me half an hour to catch my breath. I can't tread water or float on my back so I forced myself to go the distance in one shot. I'm a decent runner but swimming takes a lot out of me.

So, kind of like Sunny, then? You cant stop... I think Id be terrified. Haha.
---

I'm not really a good swimmer. I grew up in florida, so I've spent plenty of time in pools and in the ocean when I was younger. I can tread water and swim on the surface just fine, but I have a strong aversion to being submerged, so I never really learnt how to swim underwater.
---

LinkPizza posted...

I am also bad at the arm and leg coordination. Once during a trip to Florida, I was able to swim, but I was barely moving forward... And it looked a little like I was flailing (unless I did the dead mans float).

For me, it's mostly that my brain doesn't seem to be able to process both at the same time. Either I have a rhythmic arm stroke but my legs pretty much stop moving entirely (at which point I sink like a stone), or I can kind of kick with my legs but then my arms go spastic and become kind of useless (at which point I sink like a stone).

I feel like I could probably coordinate them if I practiced a lot (wearing some kind of flotation, in exactly the same way children learn), but when I was a kid I never really had access to a pool where I could learn, and by the time I was old enough to get regular access to a pool I'd already long since gotten used to the idea of not swimming (and had to deal with the psychological blocks), so I never had any real motivation to try.

My philosophy basically became "As long as I don't go in any boats I should be perfectly fine, because it's not like the ocean is going to walk up and try to mug me in an alley or anything." And to be fair, I've made it to 42 and never once needed to swim, so my philosophy is doing pretty well so far.



LinkPizza posted...

I am better with my face going under. I use to freak out, but Ive gotten more comfortable... to a degree...

If I wear goggles with the nose covered I can tolerate it a lot better, but if my nose is exposed and my eyes aren't covered, I reflexively slam my eyes shut, panic, and lose all sense of up and down in an instant. I could probably drown in three feet of water if I fell over and couldn't get my legs under me again.

Again, it's something I could probably adjust to and overcome through a lot of exposure, but at this point in my life I see zero reason to try and put myself through that over and over and over again to try to work through it.
---

PMarth2002 posted...

I'm not really a good swimmer. I grew up in florida, so I've spent plenty of time in pools and in the ocean when I was younger. I can tread water and swim on the surface just fine, but I have a strong aversion to being submerged, so I never really learnt how to swim underwater.

Is it because of something that happened? Or you just dont like it?

ParanoidObsessive posted...

For me, it's mostly that my brain doesn't seem to be able to process both at the same time. Either I have a rhythmic arm stroke but my legs pretty much stop moving entirely (at which point I sink like a stone), or I can kind of kick with my legs but then my arms go spastic and become kind of useless (at which point I sink like a stone).

Ive done that trying to learn, as well... I would so heavily concentrate on one of the other. So, the one I wasnt concentrating on would either stop, or not move correctly...
---

Yes I can. I've been a lifeguard and have taught lessons. I can also do flips and dives off the diving board. I do open my eyes underwater and don't really like goggles. I don't like swimming in lakes, rivers and the ocean.
---

dihydrogen monoxide is very dangerous over 300,000 people die from it each year!
---

I can dog paddle. That's about it.

Don't ever want to get my eyes, ears, or nose underwater. Mouth is ok for a little bit if I keep it shut.

I'm not a great swimmer. I taught myself to swim one year when we had a house with a pool.


---

myghostisdead posted...

Yes I can. I've been a lifeguard and have taught lessons. I can also do flips and dives off the diving board. I do open my eyes underwater and don't really like goggles. I don't like swimming in lakes, rivers and the ocean.

So just pools?

Ogurisama posted...

dihydrogen monoxide is very dangerous over 300,000 people die from it each year!

But do you know how to swim in it?

streamofthesky posted...

I can dog paddle. That's about it.

Don't ever want to get my eyes, ears, or nose underwater. Mouth is ok for a little bit if I keep it shut.

Do you wear the goggles? Those help with the eyes, and sometimes nose...
---

Bugmeat posted...

I'm not a great swimmer. I taught myself to swim one year when we had a house with a pool.

I think that may have motivated me. But I wasnt that lucky. I did have a friend with a party house. But that was in high school...
---

LinkPizza posted...

streamofthesky posted...

I can dog paddle. That's about it.

Don't ever want to get my eyes, ears, or nose underwater. Mouth is ok for a little bit if I keep it shut.

Do you wear the goggles? Those help with the eyes, and sometimes nose...

No, don't swim enough to bother with the accessories. If I had goggles, nose plug, and ear plugs, I'd be fine going underwater (did that a few times as a kid). But I would probably feel awkward wearing all that as an adult.

I'm probably way out of practice now, but I used to go swimming all the time and even took lessons.
---

LinkPizza posted...

So, kind of like Sunny, then? You cant stop... I think Id be terrified. Haha.

Which is why I never swim in water deeper than I can sink, hit the bottom, push off and reach the surface without a life vest. I'm usually good up to 10 ft.
---

streamofthesky posted...

LinkPizza posted...

streamofthesky posted...

I can dog paddle. That's about it.

Don't ever want to get my eyes, ears, or nose underwater. Mouth is ok for a little bit if I keep it shut.

Do you wear the goggles? Those help with the eyes, and sometimes nose...

No, don't swim enough to bother with the accessories. If I had goggles, nose plug, and ear plugs, I'd be fine going underwater (did that a few times as a kid). But I would probably feel awkward wearing all that as an adult.

You can get the goggles with the nose thing. And then earplugs. Its wouldnt be that strange. Many people wear earplugs because they dont like the feeling. I think Insee more adults with earplugs than kids. The goggles should also be fine. Many people dont like water in their eyes or nose. Haha...

Kungfu Kenobi posted...

I'm probably way out of practice now, but I used to go swimming all the time and even took lessons.

When was the last time you went swimming?
---

SunWuKung420 posted...

LinkPizza posted...

So, kind of like Sunny, then? You cant stop... I think Id be terrified. Haha.

Which is why I never swim in water deeper than I can sink, hit the bottom, push off and reach the surface without a life vest. I'm usually good up to 10 ft.

Im not sure how high I can jump up. I can go a good amount, though...
---

LinkPizza posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

LinkPizza posted...

So, kind of like Sunny, then? You cant stop... I think Id be terrified. Haha.

Which is why I never swim in water deeper than I can sink, hit the bottom, push off and reach the surface without a life vest. I'm usually good up to 10 ft.

Im not sure how high I can jump up. I can go a good amount, though...

I'm much better jumping underwater than in the air.
---

I float like a cork and I'm a fair swimmer. Underwater, I prefer goggles in the off chance I do go underwater (haven't done so as often after a couple of go-rounds with swimmer's ear - hurts like crazy at times)
---

Alex1976 posted...

I float like a cork and I'm a fair swimmer. Underwater, I prefer goggles in the off chance I do go underwater (haven't done so as often after a couple of go-rounds with swimmer's ear - hurts like crazy at times)

I dont think I know much about swimmers ear. Doesnt sound fun, though...
---

LinkPizza posted...

But normally, you sink?

Last i checked its been over a decade for me. I think if manage in a sink or swim scenario though. It was more than keeping my hat dry that day (Though it factored in. Was brand new) was at a lake and they had this barrier thingy to seperate swimmers and people om boats/jetskis. Well i was hanging onto it amd it over time floated out to where my feet could no longer touch the bottom without my head going under. So there was a tiny bit of fear keeping me from wanting to go under also
---

I'm an average(?) swimmer.
I can do quite a few strokes, but I can't see underwater...
---

Zangulus posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Did you go swimming a lot as a child, or just learned young?

Both.

I went to a community pool for a quarter. The high dive was great.
---

Had to teach myself. It's really not fun getting tossed into 9ft at age 6

---

I don't even remember not knowing how to swim. But I grew up around pools and swimming in the Pacific.
---

I'm a swimmer, literally. Well, not anymore, I guess
I still am though because I still can
---

I can swim my way out of a riptide.
---

Thought I could, but then I went slightly too far at the beach where my feet couldn't touch the sand and started freaking out. I had to panic swim like 5 ft back.
---

Between "Pretty Good" and "Good Enough". I know a few strokes but my stamina is almost nonexistent when swimming. I'll be exhausted in less than one lap.
---

I swam competitively in high school and once scored 4 touchdowns in a single game.

LinkPizza posted...

When was the last time you went swimming?

Several years at least.
---

I can swim yes. It's been a while since I have though. Still it's not something I'll forget.
---