# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/41 "2011-01-19T22:51:01Z")
I’m a pretty good swimmer but I’m not sure I could do 1/2 mile unless the water was very calm and not too cold. I’d sure as hell try, though. If I stopped to tread a few times, I could probably do it. ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/42 "2011-01-20T01:14:13Z")
I swim around 1.5 miles 3 times a week, so I’m pretty confident I could make 1/2 of a mile relatively easily. However, when I’ve been swimming in the ocean or lakes, or heck, even in a really cold outdoor pool, I am slower than usual and grow fatigued far more easily. Swimming in cold water is a fair bit more exhausting than swimming my 100 lengths at the Y. Happily, I can tread water forever, so even if I grew tired, I think I’d be okay. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/43 "2011-01-20T01:19:48Z")
I can swim a little bit (like, in a pool) but if I was half a mile from shore with no-one to save me? I’m done for. No way I’d ever make it that far. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/44 "2011-01-20T01:25:02Z")
In a lake, with water not too cold and waves not too bad? Cake. I’m slow, but I can tread water and float to rest. In the ocean with real waves, even if the water isn’t cold? I don’t know… I might live, but I’d be exhausted. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/45 "2011-01-20T01:27:20Z")
Back in high school, we had 6 weeks of daily swim class each semester . . . and yes, the boys had to swim naked. The ability to swim was a prerequisite for graduation. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/46 "2011-01-20T01:29:08Z")
I can swim 1/2 mile in calm water, but that’s about it. I don’t do too well out in the open ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/47 "2011-01-20T01:42:38Z")
I can kinda swim – I can slowly and noisily make my way from one end of the swimming pool to the other. Never got the hang of treading water though, so not sure how I’d last in open water. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/48 "2011-01-20T03:22:37Z")
I could make it. Not sure how far I could get with a standard breaststroke before tiring out — I suspect not very, since I don’t swim much these days — but that’s not what I’d do. As I figured out as a teenager (when my father and I decided to take a shortcut across Smith Mountain Lake while camping), if I relax and float on my back, I can do a half-assed backstroke sort of thing for as long as you please. I wouldn’t be getting anywhere fast, but I’d end up on shore not much worse for wear. Of course, the above assumes reasonably calm water. In the middle of a storm, all bets are off, but then that’s going to be true for most anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/49 "2011-01-20T03:31:07Z")
I could probably backstroke a marathon (not in marathon time, of course), but only if the water was both calm and warm. Drop me into cold water, and some panic-like switch flips in my body, and I revert to not being able to do anything but doggy-paddle (which would certainly wear me out long before a half-mile). ---
**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 20, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/50 "2011-01-20T14:32:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Back in high school, we had 6 weeks of daily swim class each semester . . . and yes, the boys had to swim naked. The ability to swim was a prerequisite for graduation. Same here–except for the naked part. I even got an A in my swim class. (And not everyone got A’s or even B’s.) Still, I’d have to float in the above situation (and I’m marginal at that, too) or possibly drown. Just because one is required to take a class and could swim the required laps with the required strokes doesn’t necessarily mean one can swim well. I managed to pass all the tests, but just barely. I can’t tread water for shit; I’d drown if I tried to tread water for more than, say, two or three minutes. Luckily, the treading test was exactly as long as I could possibly tread before drowning. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Electric\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/51 "2011-01-20T14:52:06Z")
I used to swim in the ocean at least a few times a week as a youngster. I had pretty good endurance and wasn’t bothered by cold; once I served as human flotation device for a shivering friend when we got caught in a riptide. I’ve gotten a bit out of shape, now, but I’m still buoyant and warm-blooded enough that I think could slowly paddle to safety. Honestly, the thing that might get me is my fear of monstrous creatures from the depths. If I panic and waste my energy worrying about Cthulhu rising and devouring me I might tired myself out and drown. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/52 "2011-01-20T17:29:20Z")
You needed a “definately would drown” in your poll 🙂 I would love to learn to swim but I get too scared. As soon as I put my head underwater I panic and sink like a stone ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/53 "2011-01-20T17:58:06Z")
I would go down like a $2.00 hooker. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/54 "2011-01-20T18:03:35Z")
I don’t float easily, so I’d be boned unless I learned to breathe water. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/55 "2011-01-20T18:24:34Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > 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 think so too. I’ve done 1/4th a mile and almost immediately back and it was really hard for me because I’m not a strong swimmer. I’m not confident I could still swim that distance now, so I didn’t pick the option that said I could…I could probably make it back to shore on my own through a combination of swimming, floating on my back and doing the doggie paddle, but to call it “swimming” is a bit lofty. ---
**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 21, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204/56 "2011-01-21T17:01:01Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > 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 swim over a mile (1800 meters) every morning, but that’s in a pool. Now, if the following is true… > [@Chronos](#): > > I could probably backstroke a marathon (not in marathon time, of course), but only if the water was both calm and warm… then that means that **Chronos** –on a warm, calm day–could swim to [Catalina Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catalina_Island,_California) from San Pedro, and that would be really cool, because he’d save the $32 fare on the ferry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-swim/568204.md?page=2)