s/o swimming - could you pass?

[Farrar]

So this just shocked me. Only about half of Americans can competently swim.

 

http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Launches-Campaign-to-Cut-Drowning-in-Half-in-50-Cities

 

According to this measure, in order to competently swim you need to be able to:

 

 

...step or jump into the water over your head; return to the surface and float or tread water for one minute; turn around in a full circle and find an exit; swim 25 yards to the exit; and exit from the water. If in a pool, you must be able to exit without using the ladder.

 

Can you do those things? Can your kids?

 

(poll coming...)

[Tanaqui]

Older kiddo can definitely do those things, younger kiddo either can or is working on it - I'll have to check out her swim report card at the end of the month!

[Melissa B]

Yes and yes. We required all of our children to take swim lessons until they were good enough to join the swim team. Whether or they chose to join was up to them.

[HSMWB]

Yes and yes. We make out kids take lessons until they can pass the life guard test (which was what I had to do.

[Farrar]

When I saw there were specifics, I was like, hm, I'm not a lifeguard level swimmer, I wonder if I could do it, but I know I can do that. It's such easy stuff. But then again, I grew up on a lake.

[Mergath]

I could do it easily. Dh and dd don't like swimming and could probably drown in a puddle. *sigh* We're working on it.

[Guest]

I can do those things. I could swim from growing up around pools but had poor technique so I actually paid to take swim lessons as an adult three years ago. That and a little self teaching goes a long way.

 

My oldest kids are working on those things in swim class - they've had lessons for two and a half years but they're little. The younger kids haven't learned yet. They should be able to do all those things easily by the end of the intermediate class, which they all hit around third grade if you begin them in kindergarten or first (it's four levels up but our municipality has very gradual, casual lessons that are a lot of fun, and not so rigorous).

[Farrar]

I could do it easily. Dh and dd don't like swimming and could probably drown in a puddle. *sigh* We're working on it.

 

With your dh too?

 

My dh can't swim underwater. He can do strokes and get himself from one side of the pool to the other, but he can't seem to make himself swim to the bottom. It's so weird. I told him clearly he couldn't drown - he's a witch - he floats.

[lovinmyboys]

Yes, I can do that and my 3 oldest kids can too. That is the test to get a green band at our pool. Now I know where they came up with the particular test. They do make you climb out without a ladder, which I think is weird since there are plenty of ladders at that pool.

[Daria]

I voted yes, but am not totally sure. It depends what they mean by exit the water. My upper body strength isn't what it used to be so if they mean lift yourself onto the edge of a pool, I might have trouble. Or I might not, I haven't tried in years,preferring stairs or ladder.

 

ETA I read the article and it specifies no ladder. So I may have misvoted. I also think that this statistic is a little misleading when you consider that many elderly (and in my case middle aged) people will lose the,ability to lift their body weight on their arms alone. To me that's a different situation from not being able to swim or to save yourself. The chances that I will find myself drowning in a pool with no ladder, and no shallow end seem slight.

 

DS has no difficulty with any of them.

[SKL]

I voted yes, but I might get panicky if I had to do all of it at the same time, especially if it requires the "freestyle" stroke.

 

I'm fine if I can use back stroke or swim underwater.  It shouldn't matter, right?  As long as you get out alive?

 

My kids would definitely pass the test.

[rebbyribs]

I grew up around water.  My parents' houses are on a creek, they have docks, boats, and unfenced swimming pools.  My brothers and I learned to swim as toddlers, and I don't remember ever NOT being able to swim.  That said, I'm lousy at swimming actual strokes - I don't know how to do a proper turn at the end of the pool, I've never learned butterfly or breaststroke, I veer to the side swimming backstroke, and I don't have the right breathing technique for freestyle.

 

I live in a city now where land is scarce enough that nobody has their own swimming pool.  My kids have all taken swim lessons. For the younger two, the point was getting used to being in the water, rather than learning to swim.  They cannot swim at all, but they enjoy hanging out in the shallow end with me when we go to the pool.  My 8yo might or might not be able to pass the test.  She can swim a little in deep water, but she mostly sticks to shallow areas or stays within arm's reach of the wall.  My twins swim a little but would not pass the test.

[JaniceO]

Yes, all 4 kids, DH, and I can all do that. We have been taking the kids into water since they were little babies. The oldest three, DH, and myself are all SCUBA certified even (we had to swim 200 meters and tread for 10 minutes). My daughter will be SCUBA certified later this year, after she turns 10. 

 

Being able to swim has always been super important to me. I grew up in Texas and Florida and have always loved the water. It was important that my kids did too. My husband is in the Navy, so we have always lived close to water.

[Sara in AZ]

We can all do that, except the 4 year old might not quite be able to swim 25 yards. We live in the land of the swimming pool, though.

[Reefgazer]

Both my kids can easily do those skills.  The friends my kids hang around with are all excellent swimmers, mainly swim team and/or dive team members, so I have a really warped idea of how many people can capably swim.  When DS went to cub scout camp this summer, there were 12 kids in his den and only 3 could pass the boy scout test for swimming, which is really minimal water skills, but still harder than the cub scout test.  I was really surprised at how unaware I was of people's swimming skills.  I just assumed most people could swim because I am old and fat and can easily pass those skills so I figured anyone could.  But it really does have everything to do with access to money.  To have a pool or access to a pool takes money and there are so many that don't have that, not at school, not in their community, not on teams, not in their backyard. 

[Tammi K]

I can't exit without a ladder. I would swim to the shallow end and exit there. if there is no shallow end, I would be out of luck. It's a good thing I can tread water and float forever.

 

 

edit- spelling

[abba12]

The ladder is a problem, and rather silly in my opinion anyway. Lakes and dams usually have a shallow end, pools have shallow ends or ladders. 

 

Other than that, definitely can. Eldest is working on it and she will be at that standard before I let her swim more than an arms reach from me

[PinkTulip]

Growing up, I swam on a swim team from age 5-17. I still swim several times a month for exercise, so I would feel very comfortable passing the test.

 

My kids also started swim team at age 5, so they would be fine, too. DH knows how to swim and could pass the test, but he is not a super strong swimmer.

[meena]

I can't swim. My mom couldn't afford/didn't think it was important for me to learn as a child. I did take swimming lessons once as an adult but even being semi-private lessons it was embarrassing, and the only thing that really stuck with me was how to float on my back. I'd love to eventually get over my water fears and learn, but for the amount of lessons I'd need it's way out of our budget.

 

All three of my children can swim well. They all took lessons at the YMCA when they were younger and have been exposed to water frequently.

[horsellian]

I can do it, as can DD. DS can't quite, as he can't do the treading water yet, but he is not quite 4, and he can do the rest.

[Laura Corin]

We can all do that.  I sought out swimming lessons in Hong Kong (easy), China (much harder) and then Scotland (easy) for the boys.  They then had swimming at school (it was a compulsory class for everyone).  They weren't stars but they reached a level of competence.

 

L

[Guest baltieniterte]

I'll have to check out her swim report card at the end of the month!

[Jean in Newcastle]

The only thing I cannot do is exit the pool without a ladder.  Though possibly in an emergency I would find the adrenaline to be able to do it.  Plus in an emergency I would not worry about flopping ungracefully like a beached whale while I tried to pull the rest of myself out.  

[Tsuga]

So this just shocked me. Only about half of Americans can competently swim.

 

http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Launches-Campaign-to-Cut-Drowning-in-Half-in-50-Cities

 

According to this measure, in order to competently swim you need to be able to:

 

Can you do those things? Can your kids?

 

(poll coming...)

 

Yes, certainly. However, we were very fortunate to have had the money and wherewithal to get swim lessons from the YMCA (may all higher powers that exist bless them for the services they provide to our communities), not to mention the time and gas money to get them to and from class at an early age.

 

I believe my sister's son is not nearly as good as a swimmer. They live much further away from a pool and he is VERY tentative about pretty much everything. He's more or less a barnacle in the water, or was. She really had to put in a ton of effort to get him basically competent, so that they felt they could put a life vest on him and put him in a kayak or rowboat with a parent. She did the work as she's a nurse, so has a flexible schedule that allows her to take him to private lessons at the Y. In addition they have the money. The schedule is really the clincher.

 

My neighbor's daughter is very athletic. They haven't forced her to learn to swim, though, so although the family is middle-class and we live near water, she couldn't have passed that test until this year when they enrolled her in private (personal) lessons through the local club.

 

I believe the statistic. My boss can't swim, which amazed me. But they weren't rich or sporty growing up and then I guess she just never wanted to take a lesson. Maybe she has a phobia by now. I didn't press it. I wanted to mention that I took a class as an adult (to improve my stroke and perhaps learn the butterfly, as we only did survival swim as children because we were poor, again, thank heaven for the YMCA scholarships), but I didn't want her to feel pressured.

[Jean in Newcastle]

PS - I've never had a formal swimming lesson.  I learned to swim by being pushed off the raft in the ocean.  I am not very elegant but I can do all the swimming requirements listed above.  I did observe my kid's lessons at the Y and then tried to do them myself.  

[flyingaway]

Used to be a lifeguard and swim instructor and my kids are on swim team. We love us some nice chlorine scent.

[DawnM]

Yes, we can all do those things.  My boys have to pass the swim test for boy scouts every summer and they are required to do what is listed and more.

[scoutingmom]

I can pass it all except the leave the pool with no ladder bit. I actually have to say that it is hard for me to leave the pool with the ladder now.

 

I wonder if it is to sort-of test if you could get back in a boat... which is similar but a bit harder. I lost the ability to do that years ago..... when we did sailing with the scouts, my friend, the sailing instructor, used a method to right my boat after capsizing it with me sort-of in it.... I can't remember how that worked exactly.

 

Btw, not only did we practice capsizing and righting the sailboats.... once people had the hang of it, we would play Pirates... where the object was to capsize others' boats while keeping yours upright....

 

Back to the swimming test... my 11yo and 9yo would pass. The 7yo might... I'd have to check her report card... she would be fairly close. The 5yo is a not yet.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[bettyandbob]

I can do all those things. all my dc can. Swimming is not optional in my house. My dd could do all those things at 3. My younger ds has Down syndrome and I know he could do all those things at 8, maybe younger.

[Mama Geek]

Dd can do all of it.  I am not sure if I can get out of the pool or not in the deep end.  I probably could but don't know for sure.

[Grover]

yes I could pass it, although these days the getting out without a ladder would not be pretty at all. 

 

Both children (6&8) can pass (I watched them doing these things today).  Miss 6 would find the 25 yards challenging, but if she has to, yes she can. 

[Tap]

Yes, all 5 of us can do all of those things. 

[Pawz4me]

I can't swim.   Even as a child I never saw the allure of water other than for a bath/shower.  It's just never been my thing, and thus I never learned.  I guess we were around pools enough, because my brother learned to swim competently.

 

Both of the boys could easily pass the test.  Although they never had formal lessons, they've been around pools since they were very young and picked up swimming easily and quickly.  And I'm pretty sure DH could pass.  Getting out w/o a ladder might not be exactly easy for him, but I'm pretty sure he could do it.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I could do all of that very easily and was on Swim Team from age 6... California kid.  :-)

 

My poor children, however, cannot.  The two oldest did two weeks of lessons this summer, and will begin weekly lessons in September.  I want them to progress until team-worthy, then they can choose.  Teams here don't start until age 9 or 10.  

[gardenmom5]

 

 

If in a pool, you must be able to exit without using the ladder.

 

maybe it's just my sil's pool - but I don't think may could climb out the side of hers.  the water is too far below the top. 

 

commercial pools where the water is flush with the inner ledge, sure.  home pools where the water is often several inches below the edge - I don't know.

 

[JustEm]

Dh and I could pass easily. None of my kids can but they are all young and until this year had very little time in the water. My 6 and 5 year old are just now learning to swim. I need to get them swim lessons but haven't had luck finding a suitable place for them.

[PrincessMommy]

Yes, I can o those things and so can the kids.  We used to have a pool and 3 of the kids were on swim team to boot.  It would probably take me a while to go that 25yds because I'm terribly out of shape, but I can do it.

[Daria]

OK, I thought about it some more, and I feel as though this is an example of someone making up criteria to get the stats to achieve their goal, which in this case is to sell more swimming lessons.

 

To be clear, I do think that being able to get out of the pool quickly, to get to the phone to call 911 for example if another swimmer is in distress for example, is a very great thing.  It makes total sense to me that it would be a skill taught to kids, or that lifeguards need. My kid could have passed this test by 3.

 

But, when I think of failure of the American swimming lesson system, I don't think of my elderly mother, who grew up on Cape Cod, swimming and sailing every minute she could, and taught her 3 kids to swim quite young, and still swims laps in the summer in her apartment's pool.   She absolutely could not pass the test because of that particular skill, but I don't think of her an example of "Oh my goodness, American's can't swim!" I think of her as an example of "arthritis sucks".  I also don't think that she'd be lying if she answered "yes I can swim", even though the article implies some kind of dishonesty in people who "claim they can swim but couldn't pass the test". 

 

My guess is that if we complied this statistic in Australia or Canada, that the original 80% who say they can swim would be higher, but that there would also be a significant number of people who due to age or disability couldn't do that last step.

 

And yes, as someone who has taught in urban environments, I think there is a huge need for improvements in access to swimming instruction, and cultural understanding about how important they are.

[kewb]

Yes and yes. I grew up on boats. Learning to swim was necessary.

Both my kids swim competitively and lifeguard . Even before we went that route I made sure they knew how to swim because where we live it is a life skill.

 

But, as I said in the other thread I have known plenty of adults who don't know how or only very rudimentary skills. In some places it is not as necessary for survival.

[Gentlemommy]

Yes for me, and yes for my kids, by about age 3. They would have kept flipping onto their backs to float (they were taught not to tread for longer than a few seconds to get their bearings. Treading water is very tiring, so they were told to tread and get themselves oriented, then swim/float toward an exit) if in the middle of a pool/lake, but they could have done that for a while.

[xixstar]

Well at 8 months pregnan, I may struggle to get out without a ladder, otherwise would have no issue I think. But I have always been a fairly competent swimmer.

[FaithManor]

Dh and I can both do it. Dh was on the swim team in high school so he is the most talented amongst us, but I can tread water for long periods. I love to tread water, find it very relaxing actually, and have been known to get into a pool or lake and tread for up to two hours.

 

Eldest child, dd, can do all of the things on the list, and eldest son can as well though actually right now due to rebuilding the muscle loss from his leg injuries, the 25 yards would be really tough and so would getting out without the ladder. But, I think that even in his current state he could just manage it.

 

Middle boy is working on his swim skills because he wants to join Coast Guard Auxiliary. Exiting the pool without a ladder is a no brainer and he is fine with treading water but his swimming endurance and quality of his stroke still needs serious work.

 

Youngest could probably do it. He's a shy kid and doesn't like to demonstrate much for others. However, he's had the training though like his middle brother he still needs work on his stroke.

 

Everyone knows what to do in order to surface, orient, and either tread or make a swim exit strategy.

 

Of course none of it does a person any good if they've hit their head and been knocked out. In our area when there is a drowning of a teen or adult who is known to have decent water safety skills, it is nearly always from hitting their heads.

[Orthodox6]

Why the requirement to exit without using the ladder?  I have a bad arm, and arthritis in both hands.  Exiting the pool at the wall (without the ladder) places too much stress on those parts of my body.

[EmilyGF]

Older two (10, 8) can do it all, 6-year-old can do all but one, 3 year old is on his way.

 

My mom didn't learn to swim until she was in her late teens. She was very concerned that we learn at a young age.

Emily

[zoobie]

I could, though likely it wouldn't be pretty to flonk myself out without a ladder. DH and the older 2 could pass also. My newly 3 and 1 year olds aren't there yet. We have a pool, and they love to swim, so I would assume they will be able to at some point.

[AmandaVT]

I can, without a problem. DH is not a strong swimmer but I bet he could in an emergency situation. DS is learning still. He's an anxious kid and swimming has been slow to come for him. He just barely got to red cross level 2 after a full year of weekly lessons plus at least 2 fun trips to the pool with me a week. Hopefully by the end of this year, he'll make more progress. Interestingly, his favorite thing to do is dive under and collect pool toys and rings when they're thrown in for him. It's floating that's hard for him.

[Mimm]

I could, but not gracefully. I'm not a very strong swimmer. My kids are pretty good swimmers and could do that easily.

[Kathryn]

I voted yes and other. My 9yo can do it, I don't know if my 5yo could yet, and my 1yo can't.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

My DH and I could both do that pretty easily and I'm fairly certain my older 2 Dc could too. My younger two could do some but not all. We have them in swimming lessons this summer and swim often at my in-law's pool. It's above ground though. Our swim lessons are free and in an outdoor pool. I'd love to continue when summer is over but so far I haven't found anywhere that's affordable for us.

[bettyandbob]

So, one of my jobs is teaching swimming. I'm now training instructors. As part of training instructors I have to review much of the techniques lifeguards use (even though I think "if you have to use a backboard during a swim lesson, you've done something terribly wrong..."). Well, I haven't been a lifeguard in over 30 years. So, I am taking lifeguard again--will finish the course this weekend. 

 

I've always thought people way overestimated their own ability to swim and their children's abilities as well. This is something I observed among other parents before I started teaching again. Now, I emphasize to other instructors at my facility the importance of being very clear with parents about a child's progress. Demonstrating a skill one time on the last day of class is not passing. I need to see the child is solid and can repeat skills. I tell the other instructors (the oldest of whom is half my age), parents are taking these kids to places without lifeguards, to beaches, rafting and lakes. We have a lot of parents who try to push younger instructors into saying their child passed. I really don't understand this, but I just tell them I'm going to be honest about what the child can do and no one should over estimate the abilities. 

 

Lifeguarding a pretty high paying part time job. It is the highest paying job a teen can get around here. Our center has a couple of twenty somethings living on what they earn (with roommates) as lifeguards. Consequently, a lot of people want to get the certification. When we advertise a class, we print out the swimming requirements. I am amazed that people come to class not having tried the requirements. It happens every single time we have the class (about 5 times a year). In the small class I am currently in a young man was sent home after not being able to complete the swim (300 yds) the treading (1 minute, no hands) or the surface dive brick removal. I'm very good at surface dives, but if you've never done one, it can be hard to master. Anyway, the young man tried all the skills and couldn't do any them. Access should not be an issue in our community today (I realize past access has led to a cultural divide on learning) because our community center has a very low entrance fee and generous fee waivers (it was opened almost 40 years ago). So, one should be able to go in and practice before they come and take a swim test, but they don't. The other thing I don't understand is why I was the fastest swimmer in my class--I am 49 and overweight. Even though I teach swimming, I don't get to swim for fitness that often. I do strength training and running, but the hours I can workout and the hours the pool is available don't coincide. I feel like young fit teens should be able to swim 300 yds faster than me, but in the time they swam 300 I swam 500 (I miscounted because I am old and the instructor just let me go without stopping me). I wonder why there are not more kids fitter than me doing lifeguarding and I wonder why anyone would sign up for a course that had a skills prerequisite without being able to do the skills.