Can you swim in real life?

[b3nno]

That said, if there was a rough current I still wouldn't be able to swim against it for long, those things are powerful.

no one can , i do lots of kayaking on rivers, and find when i fallout of the boat in rough currents, your best bet is to just go with the flow yet swim sideways to the shore, no point in fighting the current , its the same with rips in the ocean

[shubla]

Water is cold, hypothermia comes fast.

[krikke93]

I learned to swim at around the age of 8. I also used to swim as a hobby a few years ago. I went to the local swimming pool every 3 days, so yes, I suppose I can swim pretty well
Alot of my friends have a private swimming pool as well, making me able to go and swim there.

[Ozzy123]

I dont even remember how old I was but it was really long ago when my parents taught me how to swim in a local lake, I know myself a lot of people who can't swim tho.

[shubla]

. In calm water I can at least stay afloat virtually indefinitely.

Staying afloat doesnt really help, if you manage to not drown in first hour or so and help is still not there, youre going unconsicious and shortly after that gonna die. (If water is very cold its even less)

[TeckXKnight]

You must at least tread to have any hope of being saved though. It's also exhausting to swim for too long, so if you can do a good 500 meters at a time and give yourself a break to breathe that'll help.

[NOOBY93]

I can swim, when did I learn? When I was about 4-5 my parents told me to swim and that's pretty much it, there's really not much technique since people float in water, but I learned how to swim really fast maybe when i was like 10 trying to race with friends
oh and where, it was in the adriatic sea since that's the closest sea to my home, 5 mins walking at the place i lived at the time

[Potjeh]

It's not taught in school here, but I grew up next to a river so I can swim just fine. The last 4-5 years I've been swimming a local lake lengthwise (~1km) daily during the summer to stay in shape, but last summer we had crappy weather so I couldn't do it and hence I'm over 100kg now And now I've moved to Mostar for work, and the river here is too cold and dirty, and the public pool is too small and too crowded

[Amanda44]

We lived in the country side, lots of rivers, ponds and lakes, (including one in our garden) so my parents taught us to swim at an early age for safety reasons. We were taught in a baby pool at a sports centre.
Unfortunately my brother had a really bad experience when he fell into a water full quarry pit at a really young age and then almost drowned as he couldn't climb out, so he grew up with a fear of being in the water but, oddly enough, a love for fishing. It led to a few close calls during his childhood as he refused to learn to swim, despite constantly being on rivers and in boats and keep nearly drowning! Lol.
As an adult he did finally realise the importance of being able to swim and learnt, the fear eventually went.

I loved swimming and still do and swim regularly, I have always lived close to the coast so swim in the sea and in rivers, lakes - I'm not keen on public pools but I use them during the winter. I'm quite a strong swimmer and have a certain amount of endurance, I used to do a lot of sponsored swims for various charities and usually managed to be the last one out, lol, though once I had my dog I switched to sponsored walks so haven't done it for awhile now.

It is taught in schools here with a weekly swimming lesson in the local public pool if the school doesn't have their own.

[synntax33]

I've was given lesson early on about kindergarten or so, and am currently in the process of teaching my children to swim as well, although large amounts of people I know cannot. In America it seems to be a regional/Cultural thing.