# Can you swim? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204 "2011-01-19T15:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/1 "2011-01-19T15:38:03Z")
What do you think would happen if you fell into deep water, not close to land? (See poll.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/2 "2011-01-19T15:43:35Z")
Former lifeguard and competitive swimmer - assuming the water wasn’t so cold that I went into hypothermia I could swim to shore. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/3 "2011-01-19T15:49:43Z")
I am a strong swimmer so I would be fine. I can swim for hours at a time. It doesn’t really matter how deep the water is once you get over 6 feet deep or so BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/4 "2011-01-19T15:54:11Z")
I used to be a great swimmer when I was younger but now I’m fat and out of shape. But it makes me float better! So I guess a combination of swimming and floating to rest would save me as long as it wasn’t wavy cold water. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/5 "2011-01-19T15:56:56Z")
I would probably be able to survival float. Don’t think I could swim a half mile without exhausting myself. It’s not a matter of being in shape (I can run distances of 10-15 miles just fine). I just can’t swim aerobically, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/6 "2011-01-19T16:02:20Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I used to be a great swimmer when I was younger but now I’m fat and out of shape. But it makes me float better! So I guess a combination of swimming and floating to rest would save me as long as it wasn’t wavy cold water. I grew up swimming a mile and a half or more a day in the summer [my dad and I used to swim across Silver Lake and back every morning before he went to work, and I was frequently in swimming with friends during the day, or swimming down the lake shore to my cousins to hang out and home in the afternoon] Now I am fat, and I float like a freaking cork. As long as nothing nibbles on me, or hypothermia hits I am [almost] drownproof. [one is NEVER drownproof, accidents happen] ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/7 "2011-01-19T16:05:07Z")
I’m a very strong swimmer…in pools, ponds and lakes. The ocean is a different beast, the wave action can make it really hard. When I was in Puerto Rico the hotel had a floating line about 30 yards from the shore to mark where you shouldn’t swim unless you liked being run down by waverunners, and I decided one day to swim out to it. It took me nearly a half hour to swim 30 yards and I was exhausted from fighting the waves. A half mile in high seas? I’m probably going to drown. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/8 "2011-01-19T16:12:34Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/9 "2011-01-19T16:18:10Z")
I can’t swim. Not even if my life depended on it. I’ve had several different classes, but I was never able to learn, I always sunk. This is compounded by the fact that I’m legally blind without my glasses, and I can’t anything that’s more than about a foot away from my face without them. In my swimming classes, I couldn’t tell which edge of the pool was closer. Now, my classes were when I was young and in shape, and I’m pretty fat now, so MAYBE I’d be able to float and paddle. But I still can’t see my goal. Oddly enough, I enjoy exercising in the water, as long as I don’t go in the places where the pool is more than neck deep. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/10 "2011-01-19T16:26:17Z")
No problemo. If the current and waves aren’t to much, I’d take my time but I’d get there. I was in a situation a few years ago where I had benefit of flippers and snorkel, but I was fighting a super strong current. It took a long time to go maybe 20 yards, and I was exhausted by the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/11 "2011-01-19T16:30:49Z")
I can do pretty well in a swimming pool. But my vacations were never spent near crystalline bodies of water. If I’m going boating, I’ll wear a vest! ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/12 "2011-01-19T16:31:56Z")
I did a mile last night, in the pool, with a bad elbow. I’ve done open water swims of 5k and 5.5 miles before, and a few others of 1-2.5 miles so I’m pretty sure I’d make it. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/13 "2011-01-19T16:38:36Z")
Not saying it applies here, but I’ve noticed people generally overestimate their swimming abilities. Half a mile is a piece of cake to a real swimmer, not so for most of us, IMHO. I’m in decent shape endurance- and strength-wise (can power-walk five miles in a little over an hour, or whip out 15 clean chinups), but I’m seriously exhausted by a measured 200 meter swim using crappy breaststroke technique. This distance happens to be the standard measure of swimming ability here. I’ve never tested my abilities to the max, but given four times that distance, I might easily find myself being unable to keep going while still in the deep. Sure, I could keep on floating and hope hypothermia doesn’t sink me before rescue arrives. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/14 "2011-01-19T16:45:27Z")
I suck at the “put your face in the water” styles of swimming, due to learning in chlorine-laden pools and having eyes that are very sensitive to that. (I still have some residual anxiety from childhood over that, unless I have goggles.) However, I can float without much difficulty at all, I can do the backstroke well, and I can dog-paddle just fine. So assuming the waves aren’t bad and the water is warm enough that I could break up some swimming periods with some floating, I could make it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/15 "2011-01-19T16:46:26Z")
I’m not a very good swimmer, but I’d be fine as long as there weren’t other conditions - cold water, waves, etc. It would take a while, I’m sure - all I have is a crappy breast stroke. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/16 "2011-01-19T16:50:25Z")
Never going to be an issue because I am never going anywhere in a boat. However, I would almost surely drown, because I would have a panic attack. I can swim, but I am scared of big water (i.e. lakes, rivers, and seas). Last time I went swimming was in the Columbia River. I swam out almost to the rope line, looked back at shore and realized I was going to die. My 12 and 13 year old daughters were with me and talked me back to shore (back floating most of the way so I wouldn’t drown). That was it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/17 "2011-01-19T16:50:42Z")
I think I could swim at least two miles as long as the ocean wasn’t too rough or too cold. I’ve been swimming all my life, used to be a lifeguard, and am SCUBA certified. I’m very comfortable in the water. I also float well, so it’s not hard to take breaks. Hypothermia or sharks would be more likely to get me than exhaustion. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/18 "2011-01-19T16:58:06Z")
I don’t think I would have a problem. I’m willing to bet that I could make it even in cold water, though it would be a race between reaching shore and hypothermia setting in. I was a competitive swimmer in high school, and swim regularly for exercise today. I’m also a certified lifeguard, having recently re-certified by taking my third lifeguarding course in my life just last summer. I’ve competed in a 1-mile swim in a lake at my son’s Boy Scout camp for the last three years. The farthest I’ve ever swam is a 1.6-mile open-water ocean swim across Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, in which I participated in the “Save the Bay” swim twice back in the late '90s. The water was about 68 degrees F. In one swim, the waves were about 2 feet. Assuming no current, I can swim a half-mile in about 15 minutes. My swimming speed is therefore about 2 knots. If the current is greater than that, then all bets are off, obviously. I’m sure I could stay afloat indefinitely until hypothermia set in. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/19 "2011-01-19T17:03:38Z")
I’m not a strong swimmer, but I could swim 1/2 mile. Failing that I’m a good back floater. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/20 "2011-01-19T17:08:40Z")
As others have mentioned, it entirely depends on conditions. Nice sunny day, no waves or currents, warm water? Piece of cake. Lake Superior in January? I think you’re pretty much dead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204.md?page=2)