Tonight I had my first of eight swimming lessons over the course of the next 4 weeks. It looks like it might be as tough as it has always been in the past (though I haven’t really even tried since I was in my early teens, some 20 years ago).
I just can’t float. Ok, I can float sorta. But this gal that is teaching the class, she can just splay herself out on her stomach or back and just sorta float there. No moving. No kicking legs. There she is, just a floatin’, kinda like a raft in the middle of the ocean. Me, I can float for a few seconds, but slowly my body gets dragged under.
I guess that just means that, when I learn how to flail in an organized manner that leads to actual movement, I’m going to have to expend half of my energy just trying to stay afloat.
But nonetheless, I’m learning to swim. Good for me.
My ex-boyfriend couldn’t swim, and it bugged me. I’ve been swimming in Lake Michigan since the days when Qadgop had to forcibly prevent me from eating the sand, and a non-swimming boyfriend just didn’t seem right.
Now, the current one swims, but he’s too skinny to deal with lakewater for very long without going all blue and shivery.
The key to floating is to relax. If you don’t struggle to stay afloat, you can float. You can start with what’s called the Dead Man Float…face down, arms relaxed and hanging to your sides loosely.
It was hard for me at first, but the human body will float, once you let it.
We could knock you unconscious and prove it to you!
My mother has never learned to swim. When I was a teenager I swam competitively with a club. The club coaches were determined to teach my mother to swim but never succeeded - she didn’t care enough to persevere. She was then all muscle and bone and floated like a rock.
The girl teaching you probably has more body fat and less bone and muscle than you because many people, particularly men with muscly legs, more naturally float in an upright position. If you can find this position, even if you need to tip your face up, you can prove your buoyancy by taking a deep breath and feeling yourself rise.
Don’t worry about the effort to stay afloat. It’s like riding a bike - when you’re going the right speed the wobble disappears (sinking in the case of swimming) and when you slow down it comes back.
I still swim regularly now and if I stop my legs start to sink but any slow forward motion brings them back up. Here is a good explanation of buoyancy.
Here’s another “Can’t float on my back” guy chiming in.
I have pretty low body fat in my legs and those babies tend to sink. That said, swimming is a terrific and fun skill. Go nuts! I think a large part of learning to swim is getting comfortable with having your face underwater. When I tread water not much more than my eyes is above water, except to breathe of course.
And I always liked to call it a Survival Float rather than Dead Man Float. Just a little more optimistic, dantcha know.
If the world is ever flooded, we’ll take longer to starve AND we’ll stay afloat until we do! I’m sure my native people must have been from some waterworld where thick thighs were necessary.
Course, women come equipped with those built-in floatation devices anyhow… Makes it easier to float on our backs.
I’m glad you’re learning to swim. Everyone should know how… When you get really good at it, take a naked moonlight dip… it’s a magical experience if it’s shared with someone special. Oh… unless you live by the ocean… Probably not a good recommendation, then…
