my most dramatic near-drowning was when i was in high school and my girlfriends and i decided to go for a spontaneous swim. they stripped down to panties & bras but i wasn't wearing any panties and decided that i could go swimming in my jeans. not smart. it was like swimming with a lead blanket wrapped around me.
Yes it does. My throat felt as if it had been burned. Not fun at all :(
I'm kidn of glad you've shared your experience with me, because I've been thinking that I'd never gone sweimming in my clothes and whether it would be fun to try it when I'm next at the seaside, but now I'm starting to think twice.
My drowning experiencemindslantDecember 29 2004, 20:00:33 UTC
I was four in Long Beach, California swimming by myself because it was winter and much too cold to really be swimming at all. My lips were purple and my parents were aftraid Child Protective Services might be called on them for letting me freeze my way to hypothermia. I swam out too far and tried to bodysurf a wave which I did successfully for a great few moments. When the wave crashed so did I. I was rolled under and couldn't begin to guess where 'up' was. The only clear sane thing I can remember is that I'd rather be burned alive than to drown again. I still love to swim, I'm like an otter with a distaste for clams.
My drowning experiencemindslantDecember 29 2004, 20:00:43 UTC
I was four in Long Beach, California swimming by myself because it was winter and much too cold to really be swimming at all. My lips were purple and my parents were afraid Child Protective Services might be called on them for letting me freeze my way to hypothermia. I swam out too far and tried to bodysurf a wave which I did successfully for a great few moments. When the wave crashed so did I. I was rolled under and couldn't begin to guess where 'up' was. The only clear sane thing I can remember is that I'd rather be burned alive than to drown again. I still love to swim, I'm like an otter with a distaste for clams.
Re: My drowning experiencerainsingerDecember 29 2004, 21:44:53 UTC
Although I'm not keen on doing either, I think if I absolutely had to choose I'd still pick drowning over fire because I think drowning would be quicker.
was rolled under and couldn't begin to guess where 'up' was.
Yeah. *shudder* That loss of a sense of direction is terrifying.
You always write well, but I like this a lot. Which is not to say "Oh I'm so glad you've had harrowing experiences so you can make nice sentences about them!" You know what I mean. ;-)
Ottawa's westernmost bridge across the Ottawa/Outaouais River has a lot of rapids.
When I was a young (and utterly stupid) teenager we were playing in the smaller rapids. I was wading through waist deep running water when I slipped on the slime-covered rocks. My two female friends thought that I was a goner. I got pulled under by the current for at least 10 metres. Luckily I did not hit my head on one of the countless boulders, managed to keep my cool, grab a boulder, right myself and wade back out to where my friends were waiting.
If I hadn't managed to grab onto a rock and get out, I would have shot some fairly serious rapids (the kind that one usually uses a kayak or canoe to shoot), likely gotten dashed against some rocks and subsequently drowned since I've never been a particularily strong swimmer.
Mind you if I'd failed to grab onto something and right myself, I have likely panicked. It seems to me that panic starts to rise up when you realize that things aren't going your way in a potentially lethal way...
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coughing up salt water hurts, doesn't it? ugh.
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Yes it does. My throat felt as if it had been burned.
Not fun at all :(
I'm kidn of glad you've shared your experience with me, because I've been thinking that I'd never gone sweimming in my clothes and whether it would be fun to try it when I'm next at the seaside, but now I'm starting to think twice.
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i think i thought that swimming in my jeans would be romantic - and i'm quite a good swimmer - but it was shockingly impossible.
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was rolled under and couldn't begin to guess where 'up' was.
Yeah. *shudder* That loss of a sense of direction is terrifying.
Who got you out of the water?
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When I was a young (and utterly stupid) teenager we were playing in the smaller rapids. I was wading through waist deep running water when I slipped on the slime-covered rocks. My two female friends thought that I was a goner. I got pulled under by the current for at least 10 metres. Luckily I did not hit my head on one of the countless boulders, managed to keep my cool, grab a boulder, right myself and wade back out to where my friends were waiting.
If I hadn't managed to grab onto a rock and get out, I would have shot some fairly serious rapids (the kind that one usually uses a kayak or canoe to shoot), likely gotten dashed against some rocks and subsequently drowned since I've never been a particularily strong swimmer.
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I'd had no idea so many people had so many harrowing water escapes.
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Mind you if I'd failed to grab onto something and right myself, I have likely panicked. It seems to me that panic starts to rise up when you realize that things aren't going your way in a potentially lethal way...
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