# Do people who can't swim really drown quickly in calm water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294 "2009-05-13T14:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/21 "2009-05-13T17:54:05Z")
I love swimming but I’ve always floated like a rock. Staying above water is an exhaustive exercise for me. I can do it but it tires me out quickly. I’ve always admired people who can tread water so effortlessly. I can remain calm in calm water and tread water EXACTLY how it’s taught and my head will go under. To stay up I literally have to tread double-time. Almost like having to sprint to keep up with a jogger. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/22 "2009-05-13T18:10:52Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I learned to swim when I was about six years old so it’s always odd to me when adults don’t know how to swim. This thread is really interesting and makes a lot of sense. Same here. We were always going to the beach or the pool when I was a kid. And I don’t even like being wet. I remember thinking “how the hell do people drown themselves?” Even if you get tired, you just sort of float around for awhile. Although I did fail the swim test in summer camp because you had to know like 5 different strokes and all I could do was the regular freestyle thing. And that sucks because you have to take swimming classes all summer and you can’t use any of the boats. Like WTF!? I just need to be able get back to the boat or land if I fall out, not compete in some fucking 4x100m medley relay shit! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/23 "2009-05-13T18:14:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If you must you are not amiss slugging the person if you have to to either knock them out or just stun them enough so you can save them (bit of a last resort but the alternative of one or both of you drowning can merit it). Noted for the next time the “Where’d your Username come from?” thread pops up 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/24 "2009-05-13T18:17:33Z")
Why is it odd that people don’t always know how to swim? I lived in Florida, near the water as a kid, so we were at the beach all the time. But living in the UK, the only place you’d ever swim was at the local baths. It’s not as if swimming is like walking. You can live a very full life and never go swimming. Swimming, or at least, the ability to comport oneself safely around water, and to stay calm in the water, takes a lot of exposure. I’m a little surprised that some folks are surprised that people just don’t calmly relax when they fall out of a boat, etc. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t float very well, despite having a silver swimming certificate and spending countless hours in the ocean and in pools… ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/25 "2009-05-13T18:38:42Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > It seems to me that even if you’d never swam before in your life, you could intuitively figure out enough to tread water for a few minutes. You push down, and your body gets pushed up. Simple Nope. Speaking as someone who slipped and fell in at a swimming pool at age 10 (I got out as I refused to pee in the pool, there manners kills me), it’s easy to remember how I would have drowned without the instructor to hand. I fell in backwards and found myself without a footing on the pool floor, quite disorientated. I had no idea how or where my limbs were thrashing, my head was bobbing up and down so one second my vision was clear and I could hear the echos in the pool, the next I was submerged and everything was muffled. All I knew for sure was feeling the stick shoved at my hand, grabbing it and all of a sudden being upright and on a firm footing. Ask a swimmer how water feels and they’ll probably talk about the thrill of floating and how it feels like they’re flying. All I can think of is how unpleasant it all is. Even being by the shore (and I love walks on the beach with my daughter) when the tide is high gives me a slight mental shudder. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/26 "2009-05-13T18:52:10Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Why is it odd that people don’t always know how to swim? I lived in Florida, near the water as a kid, so we were at the beach all the time. But living in the UK, the only place you’d ever swim was at the local baths. > > It’s not as if swimming is like walking. You can live a very full life and never go swimming. > > Swimming, or at least, the ability to comport oneself safely around water, and to stay calm in the water, takes a lot of exposure. I’m a little surprised that some folks are surprised that people just don’t calmly relax when they fall out of a boat, etc. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t float very well, despite having a silver swimming certificate and spending countless hours in the ocean and in pools… I learned to swim at a community pool, so it’s hardly like it requires some kind of unique exposure. It just surprises me that people don’t make it a priority, it’s one of those very basic survival skills. **msmith537** I feel your pain, that would be incredibly irritating. I always have had trouble mastering the butterfly stroke. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/27 "2009-05-13T19:06:25Z")
When I met my wife, I was astounded to learn that she could not swim. She had an uncle who thought that teaching swimming by throwing a four year old into the deep end would be the thing to do. All it really accomplished was making her very afraid of the water, and that uncle. It took me a long time to get her over this and teach her to swim well enough to make a few laps of the pool. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/28 "2009-05-13T19:35:54Z")
> [@Telcontar](#): > > How many people can’t swim? I’d think that most kids are taken to the pool/river/radioactive cesspit at least once. You’d think that… and at the minimum, you’d think that those that can’t would tell their camping buddies that they can’t swim, when the camping trip involves a 2 MILE PADDLE IN A CANOE. (Ok, it was the next day, horsing around, 1/4mile from shore, floating in the water, when I found out that he can’t swim. :rolleyes: I was joking about having been thrown from the canoe by his jump, and noticed that he wasn’t all that happy about being in the water… felt odd as a late 30’s guy to be putting a life jacket, while floating, on my buddy.) > [@Giles](#): > > Something similar happened to my daughter, when she was about one or two, and hence too young to ask what had happened. While visiting a neighbour, with lots of people round the pool, I saw her at the bottom. I don’t now how long she’d been there, but I yelled for someone closer, and in a swimming costume, to get her out. (She’s fine now, more than 20 years later, happily married and a high-school teacher). What is odd is that she went to the bottom: I thought that the human body would normally float, and not sink. Put me on the list of survivors as well. I did the same thing at about the same age. My father saw me in the bottom of the pool, and jumped in to get me out. I still prefer to be underwater if I’m in the water. I did all the Red Cross classes as well, and will concur with those above who have explained the lifesaving process. Being a fish, I was always pretty confident that I’d last longer underwater than they would, and I could continue the rescue once they released me and tried to get back to the surface. I was great at the “evasion from panicked victim” training. Never underestimate panic in any situation. It’s the one who stays cool that has the best chance of survival, even without a clue as to “what to do.” Not panicking is the “best thing to do,” but the hardest at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/29 "2009-05-13T19:38:59Z")
I can’t swim and I panic in water. I sink like a stone. For those of you who CAN swim and want to see try this. Go into a pool and float on your back. Then all of a sudden quickly TENSE all your muscles at once and watch how fast you sink. Once you tense your muscles you go down like a rock ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/30 "2009-05-13T19:39:35Z")
When I was 11 I was in Acapulco and got caught by a current and was getting towed away from the beach. Even at that age I was a strong swimmer (part fish really) but I had no experience in the ocean. I was aware that currents existed and could be dangerous but had never encountered it. At first I had no clue it was happening and was merrily swimming around. I was pretty far from the beach but was not worried at all. I started swimming back when it became apparent I was not getting closer to the beach. So I tried swimming faster. Still no closer. So I really poured on the energy…no help. At this point I did start to get panicky, real panicky (had never really been truly panicked till then I realized later). Fortunately I mastered my panic and considered the situation. I knew I would exhaust myself if I kept trying to swim fast and that wasn’t really working anyway. So I settled on swimming towards the beach at an angle and that worked. Was a long swim though and I was a good mile or more down the beach from the hotel I was at but I was on dry land and fine with that. Looking back on it I am clear that if I went with the panic mode things could have turned out a lot worse for me. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/31 "2009-05-13T21:18:10Z")
Interesting thread. What about salt water? My father taught me to swim; maybe I was around 7 or 8 in the back bay behind Atlantic City. Everybody will float in salt water. I swim for a half hour to an hour off the west coast of Barbados where the surf is extremely mild most times. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/32 "2009-05-13T21:24:46Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Interesting thread. What about salt water? My father taught me to swim; maybe I was around 7 or 8 in the back bay behind Atlantic City. Everybody will float in salt water. I swim for a half hour to an hour off the west coast of Barbados where the surf is extremely mild most times. Salt water provides more buoyancy. The saltier the water the more buoyant you’d be in it. Here is a rather extreme example of this: [Picture of guy reading a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Dead_sea_newspaper.jpg) The Great Salt Lake in Utah is similar I think in this respect. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/33 "2009-05-13T21:46:43Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Salt water provides more buoyancy. The saltier the water the more buoyant you’d be in it. > > Here is a rather extreme example of this: [Picture of guy reading a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Dead_sea_newspaper.jpg) > > The Great Salt Lake in Utah is similar I think in this respect. GAHH! What’s wrong with his foot!?! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/34 "2009-05-13T21:55:32Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Well there’s your problem. The dead man’s float is mean to be done on your stomach, face-down in the water. It’s a much easier way to float, but you do have to get over the fear of floating with your face under the water. This technique can save your life. I practice it every time I’m in the pool. You have to relax, let your limbs dangle beneath you and just float, tilt your head to the side to breathe, float, repeat. I’m an awesome swimmer, have been since I was little. I teach my boys to swim. It’s remarkable how fast most kids latch onto learning to swim. Throwing my sons way up into the air only to come crashing down into the water in the pool is always a requested event! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/35 "2009-05-13T21:58:12Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > GAHH! What’s wrong with his foot!?! Just mud. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/36 "2009-05-13T23:47:16Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I learned to swim at a community pool, so it’s hardly like it requires some kind of unique exposure. It just surprises me that people don’t make it a priority, it’s one of those very basic survival skills. Ahh, and where exactly are people who don’t have access to a community pool or any safe body of natural water supposed to learn this “basic” skill? And why is this supposed to be prioritized over every day life? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/37 "2009-05-14T07:55:46Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Here is a rather extreme example of this: [Picture of guy reading a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Dead_sea_newspaper.jpg) > > The Great Salt Lake in Utah is similar I think in this respect. Reminds me, Dad and his brothers were taught to swim by my grandfather in a lake in county Monaghan. To show them how easy it was to float, he used to float on his back while smoking a pipe 🙂 Sadly my only memory of Dad “helping” me in the water was of being swung round and round and round over the water off the beach, I never went back in for the rest of the holiday. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2009, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/38 "2009-05-14T08:55:35Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I can’t swim and I panic in water. I sink like a stone. For those of you who CAN swim and want to see try this. Go into a pool and float on your back. Then all of a sudden quickly TENSE all your muscles at once and watch how fast you sink. Once you tense your muscles you go down like a rock I’m sort of like this in that I sink, unless I hold a full breath of air. No matter how relaxed I am, as I exhale, I will go under water, unless I do it as quickly as possible. I can’t tread water for more than a minute or two. I’ve tried many times, I’m in good shape aerobically (I can run 13+ miles without issue), but when I start treading, it becomes anaerobic and I lose all my energy quickly. I don’t feel like I’m panicking or tensing up. I’m just not an efficient swimmer. If I try swimming or treading at a sustainable aerobic rate, I can’t stay above water. And it’s not like I didn’t take swim classes. It was required in high school, and I even got an ‘A.’ But that just required four laps of the pool and some survival floats, which was pretty much my anaerobic threshhold. Any more and I’d have to stop for oxygen somewhere along the way. And it’s a pity. Swimming is something I’d love to do well. I literally have dreams about how relaxing and comforting swimming is. And I could use an exercise that doesn’t abuse my joints like running does. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/39 "2009-05-14T11:53:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m sort of like this in that I sink, unless I hold a full breath of air. No matter how relaxed I am, as I exhale, I will go under water, unless I do it as quickly as possible. I can’t tread water for more than a minute or two. I’ve tried many times, I’m in good shape aerobically (I can run 13+ miles without issue), but when I start treading, it becomes anaerobic and I lose all my energy quickly. I don’t feel like I’m panicking or tensing up. I’m just not an efficient swimmer. If I try swimming or treading at a sustainable aerobic rate, I can’t stay above water. And it’s not like I didn’t take swim classes. It was required in high school, and I even got an ‘A.’ But that just required four laps of the pool and some survival floats, which was pretty much my anaerobic threshhold. Any more and I’d have to stop for oxygen somewhere along the way. > > And it’s a pity. Swimming is something I’d love to do well. I literally have dreams about how relaxing and comforting swimming is. And I could use an exercise that doesn’t abuse my joints like running does. Hard to say since I have never seen you swim but my first guess about this is you try to keep too much of you out of the water when treading or swimming. Try treading water so the water level is near your mouth. When swimming I see a lot of undertrained swimmers lifting their head and shoulders out of the water for a breath. Watch competitive swimmers. Their heads barely leave the water. In freestyle for instance your motion through the water has it stream by your mouth without going in. You can literally take breaths with your mouth still half in the water (just turn your head to the side a bit without leaving the water at all). Also, in freestyle at least, there is no need to breathe on every stroke. Try every-other stroke. This may help you float better while swimming and is much more efficient energy wise for you (more energy moving you forward than energy expended lifting you out of the water). Can take a bit of practice but it’s not rocket science and easily enough achieved. Swimming is, in my view, the best exercise you can engage in for numerous reasons. Fun too. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294/40 "2009-05-14T14:57:55Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > **msmith537** I feel your pain, that would be incredibly irritating. I always have had trouble mastering the butterfly stroke. I mastered it after 4 weeks of swim class while everyone else was learning archery and sailing and other cool shit.☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-who-cant-swim-really-drown-quickly-in-calm-water/496294.md?page=3)