7 ms·

When I was 12, I went on a week long hike as a scout. We decided to swim across a lake, and 1/2 way through, I got tired, and tried swimming back, but couldn't.

When I was 12, I went on a week long hike as a scout. We decided to swim across a lake, and 1/2 way through, I got tired, and tried swimming back, but couldn't. I remember having the presence of mind to yell out help before blanking out. My closest friend in the troop luckily turned around, swam back to and drug me back to shore. I was scared of the water after that, but some how ended up fighting my fear and earning the swimming merit badge, which for a weak swimmer, was no easy task. For his heroism, and because I had overcome my near death experience, we were both recognized for embodying different aspects of scouting. That incident in the lake inspired my friend to go on to become a life-guard. Both my kids started swim lessons in infancy, and my oldest son gets compliments for his swimming skills while at the public pool. Though the pool we use has life guards, I never for a second take my eyes of my kids. Maybe one day they'll go on to be life guards prior to college.

jacobolus 7y ago
As a passable but not amazing swimmer I tried to swim not too far from an anchored boat to the beach while carrying my 1.5 year-old, and it was fine for the first 30–50 meters until he freaked out and started flailing his limbs in a way that made it really hard for me to keep his head above water while also keeping us both afloat and moving forward. Thankfully some other people were also going from boat to shore with us, on a raft, and were close enough that I could shout at them to come pick us up. I don’t plan on ever trying that again!
duncan-donuts 7y ago
I want to commen just to make sure it's incredibly clear to never take your eyes off your kids around a pool. My youngest child nearly drowned in 2 feet of water with a ton of adults around. I never take my eyes off my kids around water now. It's too easy for something terrible to happen.
- divbyzer0 7y ago
  Not just the kids. I was paddling with my 3 year old daughter by the shore while my 9 year old was playing with his cousin futher up the beach (and in front of the lifeguard station). My father-in-law (late 60's) wanted to join the two 9 year olds who had swam a short distance to a sandbar, and were in knee depth water. The old man got into difficulty, I dropped my daughter back with the family and asked my wife to have a look at her old man. She said he was fine, he's been swimming here for years. I recognised the pattern of short quick breaths and short quick movements. Each small wave was sapping energy from him. I ran to help and reached him quickly. People nearby had recognised the danger but were too afraid of stepping out of their depth to help a stranger. Ultimately, nobody on the crowded beach was prepared to take any risk to themselves to help (which I can understand). On arrival, I realised I did not know what to do. I held him above the water for a few seconds, which meant submerging myself for the same duration. He was now a dead-weight, who had lost all control. I repeated this twice more, until I felt there was a risk to my own safety. I swam/dragged/paddled/crawled with one arm the short (12 meters) to shore. I was close to becoming exhausted myself. Later that night over a bbq, the family asked why he simply did not turn around. The time between tiring, and panicking/exhausting he said was too short, and he was so close to reaching the sandbar. My wife did not believe he had been in danger until that chat over the bbq. He is alive today because one member of the family recognise the signs of drowning. Being inclose proximity to the lifeguard station which was manned, had no bearing on the outcome.
- balls187 7y ago
  Kids lull us into a false sense of security. Stories of parents turning the back for a split second, only to see their kid missing is the norm. A scary moment like that reaffirms what you said--it's too easy for something terrible to happen. I've experienced it too, just not in a pool. I'm glad your child is safe.
dotancohen 7y ago
A family friend drowned to death at a public swimming pool with two lifeguards and his mother present. He was 11 years old at the time. Never take your eyes off your kids.
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  That is terrible. If it is OK to ask... was there anything special about those circumstances, like was there a specific reason like he passed out first or got hit by something? Or was still learning to swim? Before I read this comment, 11 to me seems like an age where you can start thinking about not watching them, and when I was 12 I used to go to the pool with just friends.
  - dotancohen 7y ago
    I don't remember, I think that he may have dove into the shallow end. I'll ask the wife tomorrow, she remembers everything! The horrible thing is that the pool was crowded, and so many other children were playing within touching distance while he drowned.
  - dotancohen 7y ago
    I asked the wife, and sure enough the child did dive into too-shallow water. He sustained a neck injury in the dive, which led to his drowning.
lm28469 7y ago
Something similar happened to me as a kid, I decided to swim from our boat to the shore of the lake, got exhausted 100 meters from the shore. Before going in full panic mode I remembered you can basically float indefinitely on your back with very minimal effort and did just that until I was calm and rested. Turns out our mandatory swimming lessons from the age of 8 weren't as useless as I thought.
- hnuser123456 7y ago
  This doesn't work for me. I was put on Concerta for 8 years, which essentially eliminated my appetite, so my bodyfat% is low enough that I sink in water unless I take very shallow breaths while keeping my lungs very full (90-100%). Otherwise, my head floats low enough that my mouth is underwater, or I downright sink to the bottom of a pool.
- morgancmartin 7y ago
  I can attest to this method. Similarly to the GP, at some point in my early teens while swimming at a small lake, I decided to try swimming across the lake (more of a cove) and back. I was never a great swimmer but I was confident I could make it because I knew I could just flip over and leisurely kick if I got tired. Sure enough, my arms started to burn about halfway across, so I just flipped over and eased the rest of the way. It's not nearly as fast as "proper" swimming but I'm sure I could keep it up approximately as long as I could walk. Maybe even longer. It makes for a great option in dangerous situations, and is likely a good fundamental technique to teach anyone just learning.
- irrational 7y ago
  I think the skill of being able to flip onto your back and scuttle to wherever you need to go is more important than knowing how to swim (and I love to swim - I swam 2 kilometers just this morning). Unless you are in super cold or choppy water you should be just fine.
  - scaryclam 7y ago
    I have some very young nephews. As well as teaching them how to swim, we're teaching them how to flip over and float, just for this reason. If they can do that, and recognise when they're in trouble, then it might just save their lives one day.
Tomminn 7y ago
A lake has caught me off guard once before. But as a fully grown adult. I jumped in to swim a distance I could comfortably swim in the sea, but the slightly lower buoyancy I had in the lake caught me completely off guard. I was hundreds of meters from the shore when I finally admitted to myself I was exhausted. Made it back fine, but made me much more cautious about swimming in fresh water.
sixothree 7y ago
My only take-away from this video is just how exhausting it is (to me as a non-lifeguard). It feels akin to driving on a busy roadway. Maybe you learn to size kids up, know better where to focus, who to keep track of, and what to look for. But still. Just going through four of those videos left me thankful it's not my primary responsibility. It did help. I never did learn CPR. Maybe this is the year.
- bradknowles 7y ago
  I learned CPR back when you could get a lifetime certification. A few years ago, I took a class taught through my employer at the time (VMWare) and got recertified. It had been more than thirty years, but not that much had changed. CPR isn’t hard. Spotting the drowning person, that’s the hard thing.
em-bee 7y ago
US Boy Scouts have a buddy system when you go swimming. it means that two kids always stay together in the water and keep an eye out for each other. this is probably a good example of why this system exists.

jacobolus 7y ago

As a passable but not amazing swimmer I tried to swim not too far from an anchored boat to the beach while carrying my 1.5 year-old, and it was fine for the first 30–50 meters until he freaked out and started flailing his limbs in a way that made it really hard for me to keep his head above water while also keeping us both afloat and moving forward. Thankfully some other people were also going from boat to shore with us, on a raft, and were close enough that I could shout at them to come pick us up. I don’t plan on ever trying that again!

duncan-donuts 7y ago

I want to commen just to make sure it's incredibly clear to never take your eyes off your kids around a pool. My youngest child nearly drowned in 2 feet of water with a ton of adults around. I never take my eyes off my kids around water now. It's too easy for something terrible to happen.

divbyzer0 7y ago
Not just the kids. I was paddling with my 3 year old daughter by the shore while my 9 year old was playing with his cousin futher up the beach (and in front of the lifeguard station). My father-in-law (late 60's) wanted to join the two 9 year olds who had swam a short distance to a sandbar, and were in knee depth water. The old man got into difficulty, I dropped my daughter back with the family and asked my wife to have a look at her old man. She said he was fine, he's been swimming here for years. I recognised the pattern of short quick breaths and short quick movements. Each small wave was sapping energy from him. I ran to help and reached him quickly. People nearby had recognised the danger but were too afraid of stepping out of their depth to help a stranger. Ultimately, nobody on the crowded beach was prepared to take any risk to themselves to help (which I can understand). On arrival, I realised I did not know what to do. I held him above the water for a few seconds, which meant submerging myself for the same duration. He was now a dead-weight, who had lost all control. I repeated this twice more, until I felt there was a risk to my own safety. I swam/dragged/paddled/crawled with one arm the short (12 meters) to shore. I was close to becoming exhausted myself. Later that night over a bbq, the family asked why he simply did not turn around. The time between tiring, and panicking/exhausting he said was too short, and he was so close to reaching the sandbar. My wife did not believe he had been in danger until that chat over the bbq. He is alive today because one member of the family recognise the signs of drowning. Being inclose proximity to the lifeguard station which was manned, had no bearing on the outcome.
balls187 7y ago
Kids lull us into a false sense of security. Stories of parents turning the back for a split second, only to see their kid missing is the norm. A scary moment like that reaffirms what you said--it's too easy for something terrible to happen. I've experienced it too, just not in a pool. I'm glad your child is safe.

dotancohen 7y ago

A family friend drowned to death at a public swimming pool with two lifeguards and his mother present. He was 11 years old at the time. Never take your eyes off your kids.

quickthrower2 7y ago
That is terrible. If it is OK to ask... was there anything special about those circumstances, like was there a specific reason like he passed out first or got hit by something? Or was still learning to swim? Before I read this comment, 11 to me seems like an age where you can start thinking about not watching them, and when I was 12 I used to go to the pool with just friends.
- dotancohen 7y ago
  I don't remember, I think that he may have dove into the shallow end. I'll ask the wife tomorrow, she remembers everything! The horrible thing is that the pool was crowded, and so many other children were playing within touching distance while he drowned.
- dotancohen 7y ago
  I asked the wife, and sure enough the child did dive into too-shallow water. He sustained a neck injury in the dive, which led to his drowning.

lm28469 7y ago

Something similar happened to me as a kid, I decided to swim from our boat to the shore of the lake, got exhausted 100 meters from the shore. Before going in full panic mode I remembered you can basically float indefinitely on your back with very minimal effort and did just that until I was calm and rested. Turns out our mandatory swimming lessons from the age of 8 weren't as useless as I thought.

hnuser123456 7y ago
This doesn't work for me. I was put on Concerta for 8 years, which essentially eliminated my appetite, so my bodyfat% is low enough that I sink in water unless I take very shallow breaths while keeping my lungs very full (90-100%). Otherwise, my head floats low enough that my mouth is underwater, or I downright sink to the bottom of a pool.
morgancmartin 7y ago
I can attest to this method. Similarly to the GP, at some point in my early teens while swimming at a small lake, I decided to try swimming across the lake (more of a cove) and back. I was never a great swimmer but I was confident I could make it because I knew I could just flip over and leisurely kick if I got tired. Sure enough, my arms started to burn about halfway across, so I just flipped over and eased the rest of the way. It's not nearly as fast as "proper" swimming but I'm sure I could keep it up approximately as long as I could walk. Maybe even longer. It makes for a great option in dangerous situations, and is likely a good fundamental technique to teach anyone just learning.
irrational 7y ago
I think the skill of being able to flip onto your back and scuttle to wherever you need to go is more important than knowing how to swim (and I love to swim - I swam 2 kilometers just this morning). Unless you are in super cold or choppy water you should be just fine.
- scaryclam 7y ago
  I have some very young nephews. As well as teaching them how to swim, we're teaching them how to flip over and float, just for this reason. If they can do that, and recognise when they're in trouble, then it might just save their lives one day.

Tomminn 7y ago

A lake has caught me off guard once before. But as a fully grown adult. I jumped in to swim a distance I could comfortably swim in the sea, but the slightly lower buoyancy I had in the lake caught me completely off guard. I was hundreds of meters from the shore when I finally admitted to myself I was exhausted. Made it back fine, but made me much more cautious about swimming in fresh water.

sixothree 7y ago

My only take-away from this video is just how exhausting it is (to me as a non-lifeguard). It feels akin to driving on a busy roadway. Maybe you learn to size kids up, know better where to focus, who to keep track of, and what to look for. But still. Just going through four of those videos left me thankful it's not my primary responsibility. It did help. I never did learn CPR. Maybe this is the year.

bradknowles 7y ago
I learned CPR back when you could get a lifetime certification. A few years ago, I took a class taught through my employer at the time (VMWare) and got recertified. It had been more than thirty years, but not that much had changed. CPR isn’t hard. Spotting the drowning person, that’s the hard thing.

em-bee 7y ago

US Boy Scouts have a buddy system when you go swimming. it means that two kids always stay together in the water and keep an eye out for each other. this is probably a good example of why this system exists.