Can't swim :/

[DreamSeeker]

I feel a Little embarred that at 14 and a half I still can't swim. I seriously have tried, I had lessons all the way from Year 3 to 6 and never made any progress. I had external lessons and with my family too but can't grasp it. Everyone makes it seem so easy, yet I can't even float in the water without floats... Yet alone try and swim.

I just feel embarrased as when all my exams are up everyone get's trips and that, and if we go to a Water Park I just have to not go as I seriously can't even move in the water. If I get into any bit of water I can't stand up into I'd drown without having something to hold on to.

What can I do? Swimming lessons would just further embarass me as they would be just younger kids and I would hate going with my parents and getting saw by the kids at school who hate me.. That'd be my worst nightmare. I just can't grasp it, if I go with friends I never move up far. Yet they can swim all the way to the very deep end :/

[tpzy94]

its ok im 16 and cant swim...last time i tried i drowned my sister but she came back to life thank God and till this day im still a lil queasy about getting into water

[sterrso16]

Don't feel bad! You see, my school has its own pool, and we have to swim in it as a part of P.E. class. Many high school aged students haven't learned to swim yet. You're not alone. I promise. :)

[Drake14]

I can't either. Sometimes I feel like I should try to, but mostly I'm like whatever. When am I gonna be in a situation I need to swim.

[Death]

I can't either. Sometimes I feel like I should try to, but mostly I'm like whatever. When am I gonna be in a situation I need to swim.

When you fall into water?

[Joshh97]

I get mocked at school because of it, but oh well, last time I tried to swim was in around 2008, and I was on my lilo and all and my cuz pushed it in the deep end, what a nob is all I can say, I nearly drowned I tried to call over my mum and she said your fine.
I felt like a right noob, all my family can swim excluding my dad who passed away :'(.
So yeah, oh well, my dream job isn't to become a life guard your not alone :) Drop me a VM if you ever wanna chat ^_^

[moraees]

you had some "trauma" as a child?

[Drew7]

i can swim, but can understand why people don't i live in the south, so it's warm a lot, pools are open from may thru september, sometimes even april. so, we're just around it a lot. you may not be around it much. if i lived in the north, im not sure i'd swim at all or very little. it's great when its warm and sunny, but even 75 degrees outside is pushing it for us cus we know it will be warm for many months. my cousin in NY swims in july and august and we other things we want to do, so pool is just something to do.

i just thought about it and we have some kids that can barely swim and the rest of us don't care at all. I mean we'd care if they asked us to learn, buy they don't wanna so it's no big deal. if ya don't wanna, do something you like doing. we get enough things we "hafta" do from school and parents.

[HandheldOutlaw]

It's alright, I'm sixteen and can't swim. I'm dead terrified of water, and I will freak out as if I am drowning in three feet of it. -.-
Glad you've tried to swim though, I haven't been around water (besides the obvious shower and bath) in years.
Best of luck!

[LifeisLife]

i cant believe so many people cant swim? :/ no offence or anything but as far back as i remember i've known how to swim.... i guess thats because in holland you learn how to swim since you're like 1 or 2 and i've done competitive swimming a lot since about 2 years now...... maybe you should just start getting swimming lessons? ;) private ones though, to avoid some bullying about it, or with another friend who doesnt know how to swim maybe? the weird thing is, i know how to swim and do competitive swimming and i get bullied because i do?

[kookoo_dude32]

i almost drowned as a child...but i learned to swim...and i was 14 when i learned,so its ok....i leaned at band camp...so do what i do...learn with close fiends....

[Magenta]

My dad made sure I knew how to swim. I've been around water and boats all my life and I'm going to be getting my boating license soon so I definitely need to know.

All I can say is that the human body naturally floats. If you're scared or trying to force yourself to float, you'll sink. I just remember learning this when I was really young. My dad brought me into a pool as a toddler and taught me how to swim by pushing me away from him. I wanted to cling to him SO badly that I was forced to swim after him to get back on his shoulders. Apparently I was screaming that I couldn't swim and he was being mean WHILE I was swimming towards him and the life guards were killing themselves laughing.

But don't worry if you can't swim. :) I was in PE and there were loads of girls in my class who had never even been in a pool before. It's totally okay.

[Crocbait230]

my brother couldn't swim until last year
i had to teach him what i did was pencil dive into the deep end scrunch up your legs hit the bottom
and propel back to the surface repeat and gradually move your arms as they naturally will propel you to the surface
its a breeze from there
only hard part is not panicking

[jason_smitty]

if your dad (or mom) knows how to swim ask him to teach you at least some basics, if you ever fell in the water you could at least handle yourself so you didnt drown, if not like someone else said ask for some private lessons, it really is a good thing to know.

[Spreadingwings]

When I couldn't swim, I had to learn how to let go of my fear of drowning. Being trustfull to the water will ease your fears of it, I would try taking a shower and slowly tipping your head back while facing away from the shower head, doing this slowly and repetatively will eventualy get you to overcome your fear of water being over your head. I sometimes watched how other people and animals swam on youtube, I observed their form. Next, try to get into water that just comes up to about your chest so that you can stand up. Imitate what you have seen and learned from those videos, keep your movements in balance with eachother, (By that I mean, don't kick with one foot at a slow pace and the other at a super fast twitchy pace, just keep your feet at the same speed and your hands at the same speed). Concentrate on keeping yourself above water. Don't panic your breathing, breath at a nice even pace, make sure you have at least 10-20 seconds of airbefore going under water. Once your air supply is runing low, (NOT EMPTY YET), swim and or bob to the surface to breath out the used air and breath in the new supply of air. As you are swimming up to refill on air you can also start slowly breathing out so that when you reach the surface, all you have to do is breahth in.

pm me if you have anymore questions, glad to help.

Please do not double post---Iceman

[aquagear]

The fear of drowning makes me to hate swim. Still, to learn good swimming and to overcome fear learn from a good swimmer.

[Username not found..]

Im not that good either- dont worry!

[Forest Rose]

Don't worry, you're not the only one! I can swim, however I only ever learnt to swim breastroke and not front crawl- and the only stroke they ever ask us to swim in swimming lessons at school is front crawl, which eveybody else can do. As for what you could do, could you maybe ask your family or close friends to show you how to swim out of school? Or there are always out of school swimming lessons with other people who can't swim much at all, who would all be in the same situation. I guess the only other thing I can suggest really is to avoid swimming, or just get in and try and have some fun, even if you have to stay in the shallow end. :)

[Starlight Blaze]

try and get private lessons! there are some people who hate water (I can't understand I love water but oh well) and they don't change, but maybe if you just practice a little, you'll get it, like "run" around the shallow end?

[sports fan1]

i can only do the dog paddle. My mom has apperently been teaching my all wrong.

[oceandude33a]

I love to swim, i swim competivily, and im a volunteer ocean lifeguard, i also teach and coach swim lesson. If you dont want to go throught the embarrasement of swim lessons, ask a friend who is a better swimmer and go to a pool and he/she could help you along, and dont be embarssed, wish you lots of luck

[ItStOuGhEnOuGh4Us]

I suggest getting someone at the Y to teach you. Have you tried to Dog paddle? that is a good start. Also just relax in the water, don't be afraid of it.

[Derek951]

Don't feel bad if you can't swim. Life will be great even if you never learn. If you do learn how to, however, you will love it. It's way fun.

[skater94]

Swimming is overrated, just learn it you can save yourself. Maybe, you might even find it fun.

[Philleeep]

I can only just swim and learnt by myself in the last year if that so don't worry

[SosbanFach]

My dad lived in Aberdyfi in Wales when he was young, and he's still pretty bad at swimming, so even people living by the sea can't always swim. I doubt anybody will care, and eventually you might learn by yourself, as Jonetsu did, so don't sweat it ;)

[dusman77]

I can't swim either, it's ok

[TheMatrix]

Swimming is a sport that is not natural to everyone.Walking,driving,running, all of these are quite easy to master, however, it needs some sychronisation and stamina to comprehend how to swim and to top it all off, before we improve our swim technique, we all have a different swim style based on our real ability which makes it that much more complex.
Please don't bump old threads. This one is from over a year ago.
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