Not Knowing How To Swim
I'm a strong swimmer. In my teens I wakeboarded and was one course away from lifeguard certification before I got fat and lazy.
We were talking about fishing and crawdads at work the other day (we work around food so it's hard not to talk about food) and a couple of my coworkers admitted they cannot swim. On a whim I looked up the statistics of non-swimming Americans.
I was surprised at what I found.
Sure, I can understand how it is more difficult to learn in a large city. I didn't expect the black population to be that bad at swimming though. (historically they were very strong swimmers) Looking further into the matter I find that to be due to the ghost of segregation. Parents grew up not knowing and either purposefully or unconsciously passed the fear of water on to their children.
Around here there's really no excuse for anybody not to know, especially well off white people. There are 3 public pools within 10 miles, and public lakes, ponds, creeks, and streams are all easily accessible.
Not being able to afford private lessons is not an excuse. Public group lessons are offered either free or cheap in many places. I've taught the basics to friends at the local swimming hole a few times myself.
All mammals have some basic, instinctive swimming ability. Probably an evolutionary holdover in many cases.
People just freak out and ignore what their brain is telling them to do.
Not really that hard. Don't panic. Don't flail. Let buoyancy help.
Simple stuff that could save your life someday.
We were talking about fishing and crawdads at work the other day (we work around food so it's hard not to talk about food) and a couple of my coworkers admitted they cannot swim. On a whim I looked up the statistics of non-swimming Americans.
I was surprised at what I found.
Sure, I can understand how it is more difficult to learn in a large city. I didn't expect the black population to be that bad at swimming though. (historically they were very strong swimmers) Looking further into the matter I find that to be due to the ghost of segregation. Parents grew up not knowing and either purposefully or unconsciously passed the fear of water on to their children.
Around here there's really no excuse for anybody not to know, especially well off white people. There are 3 public pools within 10 miles, and public lakes, ponds, creeks, and streams are all easily accessible.
Not being able to afford private lessons is not an excuse. Public group lessons are offered either free or cheap in many places. I've taught the basics to friends at the local swimming hole a few times myself.
All mammals have some basic, instinctive swimming ability. Probably an evolutionary holdover in many cases.
People just freak out and ignore what their brain is telling them to do.
Not really that hard. Don't panic. Don't flail. Let buoyancy help.
Simple stuff that could save your life someday.