Can you swim?

[Flinders]

Where I lived as a kid in the 1960s all kids in the borough learned to swim at least 2 lengths, and most of us four or a lot more, when at primary school except those with medical exemptions. And we all did the Water Safety badge. This was because of the local canal, and there being lots of mill lodges still.

Now, thanks to demolition of public pools and the national curriculum, kids don't learn, go on holiday to the seaside or to hotels with pools, or do 'adventure' stuff with or near water, and sometimes the worst happens.

All kids should have to learn to swim when at primary school. IT's a basic life skill.

[ambodach]

Not the same pool Mick. I was much earlier than that and the old pool had been replaced by your time there I think. We took a thermometer from the school and discovered that the sea was warmer than the pool. We did swim in the sea but had to dodge round the turds and condoms floating around. In retrospect I cannot imagine how we survived without catching some dire disease. Ahh happy days of youth.

[Ben@Forest]

Where I lived as a kid in the 1960s all kids in the borough learned to swim at least 2 lengths, and most of us four or a lot more, when at primary school except those with medical exemptions. And we all did the Water Safety badge. This was because of the local canal, and there being lots of mill lodges still.

Now, thanks to demolition of pubic pools...

Perhaps we should be glad they've been demolished..
.. but on a more serious note surely nearly all pools are public in the sense they are run by or for a local authority? And in the 1980s some LAs went down the route of building leisure pools with a flume or wave machine but no way of doing a 25m length. There's one still near me but also an almost new 50m pool - you'd not have got that 20 or 30 years ago.

[Vorpal]

Perhaps we should be glad they've been demolished..
.. but on a more serious note surely nearly all pools are public in the sense they are run by or for a local authority? And in the 1980s some LAs went down the route of building leisure pools with a flume or wave machine but no way of doing a 25m length. There's one still near me but also an almost new 50m pool - you'd not have got that 20 or 30 years ago.

I know of a few standard swimming pools that were used for school instruction, swimming courses, OAP exercise classes, etc. that were aging, and rather than replacing them, the councils have demolished the buildings. They say they can't afford them anymore, and no funding was available to build modern facilities.

When I lived there, a new swimming pool was built near Braintree, and that had both playing and training facilities. I thought it was really nice, and went frequently with my children. But Braintree seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

The UK has about 1/3 the number of swimming pools it had in the 80s, and it's dwindling fast. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olymp ... omise.html

[AlaninWales]

Not the same pool Mick. I was much earlier than that and the old pool had been replaced by your time there I think. We took a thermometer from the school and discovered that the sea was warmer than the pool. We did swim in the sea but had to dodge round the turds and condoms floating around. In retrospect I cannot imagine how we survived without catching some dire disease. Ahh happy days of youth.

You were just building an immune system , something else that is lacking in an over-sanitised society.

[merseymouth]

Hi all, As a child of the 50's I virtually lived in the local baths! Has an annual pass I swam 6 days a week, 3 - 4 miles per day, then things went horrible?
Because little boys were always supposed to wee in the pool, with minimal testing an upkeep I picked up a serious ear infection!
Sixty years later after 3 operations I am advised by my doctor that if immersed in the wet stuff I must drown rather than go back to the surgery with another dose of nasty!
With the cuts to local budgets I think that the water will be very dodgy these days? TTFN MM

[Flinders]

Where I lived as a kid in the 1960s all kids in the borough learned to swim at least 2 lengths, and most of us four or a lot more, when at primary school except those with medical exemptions. And we all did the Water Safety badge. This was because of the local canal, and there being lots of mill lodges still.

Now, thanks to demolition of pubic pools...

Perhaps we should be glad they've been demolished..
.. but on a more serious note surely nearly all pools are public in the sense they are run by or for a local authority? And in the 1980s some LAs went down the route of building leisure pools with a flume or wave machine but no way of doing a 25m length. There's one still near me but also an almost new 50m pool - you'd not have got that 20 or 30 years ago.

Thanks, corrected that!
A lot of areas closed some or all of their LA pools and became dependent on private 'gym' pools. Here we had one of each. The LA closed its own as part of a redevelopment scheme which got it a new- and much smaller- facility, e.g., with no diving pool (the old pool had one). Then a new owner bought the gym and closed the privately run pool. This is a big town, it now has only one pool, no separate diving pool. Not nearly enough for all kids to learn to swim and provide for adults as well.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

....................... Still cannot float though !

That reminds me of a chap I knew in HMS Sirius. We were out in the Far East 1988 and called in at Lumut naval base Malaysia and we had access to the outdoor olympic sized pool.

Loads of us went, and one chap "of a dark complexion" could swim like a fish, but his party trick was sinking to the bottom, sitting there with his arms folded and his legs crossed, and staying there until he ran out of breath. He professed to have negative buoyancy and could prove it by stopping swimming, then sinking like a stone to the bottom despite having a lungful of air.

I can swim underwater, and my party trick was do a length underwater, but I can't sit on the bottom because I float .......... or at least I did when I was last in a pool.

Nothing to do with being afraid of water at 9, but I don't float well either, you then find that keeping up hard work, I only have to breath out about a quarter and sink, did a lot of snorkel diving late school days with my mates, every day in the summer.
Spear fishing, so you would hold breath and submerge, wait for fish to poke out if you could hold your breath.
Two minutes was easy enough and held my breath for 3 min 20 secs once long ago after coming out of hospital.
Probably could still hold my breath for.............................1 min 50 secs...........Phewwwwwwwwwwww, oh well.
Underwater no problem.

[Mick F]

I've not been swimming since well before I left the RN in 1996. It could be that I've not been swimming for over twenty-five years.

Can I still do it?
Dunno.

Worked it out that it was some time in 1992 that I last even entered water to swim.

Yesterday evening, I went to Tavistock pool and I climbed in, and just swam. Just like that. No issues, no worries, no problems.
Six lengths later, I had a rest, and then did another two.

It's like riding a bike.
Once you've learned, it's easy even after a gap of 26 years.

[pwa]

I've not been swimming since well before I left the RN in 1996. It could be that I've not been swimming for over twenty-five years.

Can I still do it?
Dunno.

Worked it out that it was some time in 1992 that I last even entered water to swim.

Yesterday evening, I went to Tavistock pool and I climbed in, and just swam. Just like that. No issues, no worries, no problems.
Six lengths later, I had a rest, and then did another two.

It's like riding a bike.
Once you've learned, it's easy even after a gap of 26 years.

+1
I hardly ever swim. It bores me. But I know that if I jump into deep water I will swim.

[peetee]

I can swim. Swimming in a pool has never bothered me but the first time I tried snorkeling from a boat in open water the sight of the sea bed way way down below was unnerving to say the least!
For years I used to just splash around in the pool but I was persuaded to try using swimming to improve my bike fitness - which it undoubtedly did. Technique with regard to coordination of stroke and breathing was the main problem but after 3 or 4 sessions I had cracked it and within a week I was easily clocking up 100 lengths of a standard 25m pool. I thought I would find it boring but a level of concentration is required that for me is enough to keep my brain occupied.

[Littgull]

,,,,,,,,,,,,she's going to Tavistock pool this evening for a taster session, and if she's ok, she'll be taking swimming lessons. She's not convinced that she can swim at all now.

We'll see.

We went.
It was stressful for her but she's determined she'll be swimming by Christmas.
That's seven months or so, and she's signed up for swimming lessons every Tuesday until further notice.
We left there this evening, and went straight to the pub because she wanted a stiff gin (or two).

I'd sat by the pool and kept an eye on her. I was watching some people swimming back and forth, length ofter length after length. I consider this boring in the extreme and cannot understand why anyone would want to do that.

I was chatting to a lifeguard chappy and commented on the swimmers and he said that I should take it up as it's good exercise. I replied that I'd just cycled 35miles today and on Thursday I plan on a 45mile ride, and why the heck would I want to be bored silly swimming length after length after length after length after length ..............................................

Swimming is great exercise. I learnt to swim in the cubs when I was 9 years old. I'm now 64. Being born and bred in the Westcountry and living in Torquay for the first 30 years of my life it was almost essential as all my friends and family could swim and it meant living by the seaside was enjoyed to the maximum.

I still swim twice a week as well as cycling an average of 100 miles a week over each year. The swimming is great for an all round workout, improving flexibility and is especially good for arthritic joints as it is non weight bearing. I have one swim where I peel off 40 slow lengths which takes me about 35 minutes. Then my swim later in the week is just 20 fast lengths which I complete in about 15 minutes. For both sessions I'm not in the pool long enough to get bored. The snag with only doing cycling for exercise (very beneficial though it is) is that you don't get an upper body workout. Unless you are into technical challenging mountain bike riding which I no longer do.

[Mick F]

......... snorkeling from a boat in open water the sight of the sea bed way way down below was unnerving to say the least!

We were crossing the Indian Ocean back in '86 and we had a "hands to bathe" session. The ship was stopped of course, and they lowered a scrambling net over the lee side and everybody and anybody who could get the time off watch jumped in. Great fun!

The thing is, we had chosen the deepest part of the Indian Ocean to do this. I was told it was five miles deep!
Very unnerving, to say the least!

Just looked it up.
Java Trench 25,300ft deep.

[661-Pete]

It's like riding a bike.
Once you've learned, it's easy even after a gap of 26 years.

Not unicycling, though. I've still got my unicycle, rusting away in a shed, but I've totally lost the knack. Maybe it's just that I'm too old and creaky. As long as I can stay upright on two wheels, I'm OK (although it may have to be three wheels some day....)

[Flinders]

It's like riding a bike.
Once you've learned, it's easy even after a gap of 26 years.

Not unicycling, though. I've still got my unicycle, rusting away in a shed, but I've totally lost the knack. Maybe it's just that I'm too old and creaky. As long as I can stay upright on two wheels, I'm OK (although it may have to be three wheels some day....)

Was out cycling in the country once and saw a chap on a unicycle coming the other way. I really had to look twice to believe it. At the circus, fine, but he would have had to have cycled miles to get where we met; I've never thought they were machines for distance.