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Can you swim?

Yeah, I can swim.

  • I'm just like you, Medi. I can't swim but I wanna learn.

    Votes: 94 10.0%

  • I can't swim and I don't wanna learn how to swim. You can't make me!

    Votes: 56 6.0%

  • Yup!

    Votes: 805 85.6%
  • Total voters
    940
Mediking

Mediking

Final Fantasy Best Boy (Grip)
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,910
St. Louis City, Missouri aka Persona 3's Dorm
One of my New Years resolutions is to learn how to swim. Yeah, I'm one of those people that's actually trying to stick to their new years resolutions. I got a list of things I wanna accomplish and learn this year and one of them is to learn how to swim.



I have one really bad experience with swimming and it happened when I was a kid. A long time ago, I got invited to a friend's house for a party and he had a huge swimming pool in his backyard. I didn't know how to swim but I jumped in anyway because I saw the fun everyone was having. What happened? I sank to the bottom of the pool and couldn't even get to the surface. I had no control of my body and I was failing my arms around like crazy. I was drowning! My friend's mom jumped in and had to pull me out. It was pretty embarrassing, and everybody was laughing. I remember coughing up water and my friend's mom totally freaking out. Ever since then, I never ever tried to swim. When I go to a water park or something, I always make sure if I'm gonna get on any rides… that it doesn't require swimming. Now that I'm 25, I realize how ridiculous it is to avoid a freaking water ride that has swimming.



I'm gonna learn how to swim. It can't be that hard, right? Swimming can give somebody a really great physique too, right? I've always noticed that the swimmers in the Olympics always have super toned bodies. Maybe swimming is the missing key ingredient to help your boy turn into a bonafide sex symbol.



Can you swim, Era? Got any good swimming stories?



Oh and I can already tell the jokes are gonna be coming so lemme say this now… I'm not afraid of a freaking shower or a bath tub!
 
Kewlmyc

Kewlmyc

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
26,683
Enough not to horribly drown, but not enough for it to be fun.

I wouldn't mind officially learning though.
 
Camwi

Camwi

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,375
Nope. Never was taught as a child. Tried to learn as a teen and adult, and could never get the hang of it.

Made the smart decision to start our kids early, though.
 
NaturalHigh

NaturalHigh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,346
What kind of poll is that, OP? lol

I can barely swim. Enough to keep from drowning in some situations.
 
TheCthultist

TheCthultist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,442
New York
I can and love to swim. Great exercise and just generally fun... that said I absolutely hate getting water in my ears which kind of complicates things.

As a kid we used to spend every summer at my grandparents house out on a lake and I'd spend a ridiculous amount of time in the water. Now I don't get out there nearly as much as back then, but it's still fun when I can go and spend some time in the dark, murky, fishy water...
 
Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,716
Swimming is, like, the *only* physical activity I think I'm half-way decent at.

I can tread water for ~an hour. I can tread without using my arms for 30m+. I can do laps at an amateur pace with average form. I can surf small waves. I can do a simple dive with very poor form.

nothing great but I at least don't feel like an idiot at the pool or a beach.
 

Deleted member 37928

Banned
Jan 10, 2018
6,927
Yup, learned how to swim during elementary school. I even got some swimming badges for going a long distance and what not. I absolutely love the feel of being in water, especially during warm summer days. You will not regret it, OP!
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Yep, learned when I was really little and even took lessons to improve. Ended up liking it so much that it was my main form of cardio for a while and I was a swim teacher briefly in high school.

Don't worry about it being too late, a ton of adults take swim lessons and it's a nice skill to have.
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
And yes swimmer's body's are great lol
 

Deleted member 18360

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,844
Yeah in fact I used to be in lifesaving courses and stuff.

Swimming is fun just for the different buoyancy and mobility effects, so it doesn't even have to be about rides, it could already be fun just becoming comfortable in the water at a pace that's leisurely for you.
 
Nocturnowl

Nocturnowl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,079
I was a weak swimmer as a kid, but I enjoyed it, no deep end though, as I said I was a weak swimmer
Then I got put off swimming after my brother almost drowned in front of me (he's one of those can't swim at all people).

Back in 2015 (where I was coincidentally 25 myself) I decided to take adult swimming lessons.
And I'm so glad I did, I was reminded how enjoyable swimming is, it improved my confidence around bodies of water and gave me a leisure hobby.
No longer do I fear the deep end, but no sex symbol bod OP, sorry, that'll take more than swimming lessons.

Anyway take those lessons, there are plenty of people from all walks of life and age groups that learn to swim as an adult.
 
Pirate Bae

Pirate Bae

Edelgard Feet Appreciator
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,792
??
It's important that you start with the basics and just don't go diving straight into the deep end. Learn how to get comfortable, how to stay afloat, learn how to control your breathing and how to do proper strokes. I would start, especially, with learning how to tread water. It will make you less afraid of water if you know how to keep yourself alive.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
I enjoy it enough to pay for a membership to LA Fitness. I learned from being tossed in the pool by my parents at the age of 3 or 4. The family had a membership to some fancy fitness club back then. I don't think clubs were as mainstream back then as they are now. It tapered off a bit as I got older, but I did have a YMCA membership in high school, so I started swimming a little more again for a while. My university had pretty decent fitness facilities, including pools, so I got some in there too. Then I stopped for about 16 years. I picked swimming back up a couple years ago since LA Fitness was literally right next to where I worked. I'm not great at it, and I literally can't do any other stroke than the front crawl, but it's a fun and relatively effective workout. From the time I joined the gym until about 8 months later, I had lost about 20 pounds, although I bottomed out there and haven't been able to lose any more.
 
OP
OP
Mediking

Mediking

Final Fantasy Best Boy (Grip)
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,910
St. Louis City, Missouri aka Persona 3's Dorm
Pirate Bae said:
It's important that you start with the basics and just don't go diving straight into the deep end. Learn how to get comfortable, how to stay afloat, learn how to control your breathing and how to do proper strokes. I would start, especially, with learning how to tread water. It will make you less afraid of water if you know how to keep yourself alive.
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Hmmm wow. Should I get a coach or something? Like no joke. Maybe I should take a class.
 

Empress of ice cream

Member
Dec 2, 2017
1,544
I love just about everything you can do above or underwater. I used to swim competitively in school. Took diving classes and surfing classes learned to sail. Nothing beats swimming in the ocean. It is such a peaceful feeling.
 
Reym

Reym

Member
Jul 15, 2019
2,649
I hope you stick with it, OP. Swimming is the best! Just so relaxing and soothing and fun! I wish I had more opportunities to do it these days.
 
Masagiwa

Masagiwa

Member
Jan 27, 2018
9,899
Yup, told my dad I wanted to swim when I was like 6. He took me to a swimming pool threw me in and said go (of course he was watching the whole time and ready to save).
 
trappedinsap

trappedinsap

Member
Jul 26, 2019
472
No joke- I learned to swim by being thrown into a lake from a boat by my mom's boyfriend.

Surprisingly, I still enjoy swimming.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
Mediking said:
Hmmm wow. Should I get a coach or something? Like no joke. Maybe I should take a class.
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I'm not sure how hard it is to learn as an adult given that I've pretty much known how to swim for most of my life, but if you have an LA Fitness near you, their pools (somewhat to my annoyance) are all pretty uniform in their shallowness. All the ones I've been to are no deeper than 4'6" in the middle, and 3'6" at each end, so unless you're extremely height challenged, all you have to do is stand up and your head is above water. I suppose that would create problems if your goal is to learn to tread water though.

As far as swimmers' physiques, it can help, but competitive swimmers have very strictly controlled diets and usually swim for several hours a day, along with a complete regimen of other strength training.
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,962
Acinixys said:
Ocean is only for those who like a challenge
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The first few days of Summer I can barely do 200m. Things get better quickly and if I persevered I'm sure I could even do 1km by the end of the Summer, but when I see those people swimming 4km for their Ironman training... man, that's crazy.
 
thefro

thefro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,996
I'm meh at freestyle (never got the breathing pattern really down), but pretty decent at breaststroke.
 
SweetVermouth

SweetVermouth

Banned
Mar 5, 2018
4,272
Mediking said:
Whoa, you can do those cool dives???
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lmao no... I fixed it^^
I meant freediving, so just holding your breath and staying under water for a period of time. Unfortunately one day I dived to deep and up to quick and I got so sick from it I collapsed twice within 30 minutes after that. My head has always been bad with pressure changes and since that one incident I haven't been able to go as deep anymore and I get dizzy quickly too when riding roller coasters and stuff.
 
Ravelle

Ravelle

Member
Oct 31, 2017
17,763
Yes, I had swimming lessons when I was young, our schools used to have it as a mandatory thing.

Good thing too, I love swimming in oceans and lakes when on vacations., would be a super bummer if I had to stay on shore all the time.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
thefro said:
I'm meh at freestyle (never got the breathing pattern really down), but pretty decent at breaststroke.
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I have no idea why, but my breathing for front crawl/freestyle can only be done to my right. If I try to turn left for a breath, I can never quite get my face sufficiently turned and I end up with a mouth full of water. Thus, since every two strokes seems too frequent and every three strokes is impossible for me, I end up breathing every four, which sometimes seems a bit too far apart.
 
RedMercury

RedMercury

Blue Venus
Member
Dec 24, 2017
17,648
I can swim but I can't tread water, so I have to just keep swimming so I don't sink :/
 
stn

stn

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,593
I'm not good at it, have been meaning to take refresher lessons myself.
 
Quade

Quade

Member
Mar 8, 2019
1,195
Swimming is one if life's greatest activities. Imagine coming across an open lake on a hot summers night with your girl. Imagine diving for oysters off the Croatian coast. Imagine skinny dipping with a group of strangers under the moonlight. The list goes on.
 

Deleted member 4434

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
668
Yup. Got all certificates for various swimming disciplines including rescue.
Love it, whenever the water temperature is right I go open water swimming!

Hope you'll learn (it's easy!!) and get to enjoy it as much as I do! ( ღ'ᴗ'ღ )
 
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