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Curious why swimming is considered a required skill for people to have in Iceland, and why swimming lessons until age 14 are compulsory, as the article says. I

Curious why swimming is considered a required skill for people to have in Iceland, and why swimming lessons until age 14 are compulsory, as the article says. It does seem like swimming pools in Iceland are a bit different than the U.S., being geothermally heated. That answered my first question, which was "wouldn't it be too cold to swim for most of the year?" and may also offer an explanation for why they become community hubs: a place to be outside during winter without freezing to death. Just a guess on my part; would love to visit Iceland but haven't yet. We have plenty of community pools in the U.S. (about 309k of them, according to a quick Google search), but the vast majority are private. We had a swimming pool at my house growing up (I consider it a miracle, since we were fairly poor), but I also spent a lot of time at the community pool. Growing up in a hot climate, our pools were never heated, geothermally or otherwise, and served mainly as a way to cool down in the 10000 degree heat. That may be partly why there are so many private ones in the U.S.: you would jump in them to cool down, then after a few minutes you'd get out and go play somewhere else until you got hot again. Oh, the other purpose for private pools is teenage skinny dipping, which you wouldn't do in a community hub (I assume).

cm2012 3y ago
Every tiny small town in Iceland has at least one amazing swimming pool. With the free geothermal energy its just part of the culture. I loved it when I visited!
- euroderf 3y ago
  The flip side of this is that all hot water taps give off a faint odor of sulfur. Kinda cool tho.
fastasucan 3y ago
>wouldn't it be too cold to swim for most of the year? On the contrary. The ocean in Iceland have a surprisingly even temperature. And even if it is a cold period its a big thing to be swimming during winter in nordic countries. In addition to that, its not like you can control when you might fall in water. >a place to be outside during winter without freezing to death. Thats extremely hyperbolic, the avg temperature in december in Reykavik is -1.2 celsius.
- karaterobot 3y ago
  > On the contrary. The ocean in Iceland have a surprisingly even temperature. Sure, it holds steady at a frigid and deadly 5-11 C, depending on the season! https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/iceland/reykjavk.htm https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/iceland/reykjavk.htm > In addition to that, its not like you can control when you might fall in water. No doubt, but there are lots of dangers that are outside your control, and many preventative skills are not compulsory. My question is why swimming in particular is considered a required skill to have, as opposed to other survival-related skills like, say, orienteering, first aid, bushcraft, krav maga, improvised appendectomies, etc. Is this because swimming is so common? Are there an unusual number of people falling into the ocean, compared to other countries with oceans? > Thats extremely hyperbolic, the avg temperature in december in Reykavik is -1.2 celsius. That was meant to be an exaggeration; a joke. Being wet in below freezing temperatures is certainly dangerous to your health, though you'd have a way to warm up in most cases.
  - jowdones 3y ago
    Yeah, Iceland is like the last place I'd have guessed people swarm to get swimming lessons. Like I go to Crete in August and I cringe entering the sea coze it feels cold. When I was a kid I'd bathe in local rivers, hills area and always took me quite a bit of time to get in (water's maybe 20 Celsius?). And going to the mountains with water exiting a large underground cave (10 deg Celsius), some people would swim in it but even getting with my feet in it would numb my fingers, no way I'm dipping my balls in it . So again, Iceland and swimming... sounds more like a joke.
_dain_ 3y ago
> Curious why swimming is considered a required skill for people to have in Iceland, and why swimming lessons until age 14 are compulsory, as the article says. The fishing industry is one of Iceland's biggest employers, having everyone able to swim is helpful in case of accidents.

cm2012 3y ago

Every tiny small town in Iceland has at least one amazing swimming pool. With the free geothermal energy its just part of the culture. I loved it when I visited!

euroderf 3y ago
The flip side of this is that all hot water taps give off a faint odor of sulfur. Kinda cool tho.

fastasucan 3y ago

>wouldn't it be too cold to swim for most of the year? On the contrary. The ocean in Iceland have a surprisingly even temperature. And even if it is a cold period its a big thing to be swimming during winter in nordic countries. In addition to that, its not like you can control when you might fall in water. >a place to be outside during winter without freezing to death. Thats extremely hyperbolic, the avg temperature in december in Reykavik is -1.2 celsius.

karaterobot 3y ago
> On the contrary. The ocean in Iceland have a surprisingly even temperature. Sure, it holds steady at a frigid and deadly 5-11 C, depending on the season! https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/iceland/reykjavk.htm https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/iceland/reykjavk.htm > In addition to that, its not like you can control when you might fall in water. No doubt, but there are lots of dangers that are outside your control, and many preventative skills are not compulsory. My question is why swimming in particular is considered a required skill to have, as opposed to other survival-related skills like, say, orienteering, first aid, bushcraft, krav maga, improvised appendectomies, etc. Is this because swimming is so common? Are there an unusual number of people falling into the ocean, compared to other countries with oceans? > Thats extremely hyperbolic, the avg temperature in december in Reykavik is -1.2 celsius. That was meant to be an exaggeration; a joke. Being wet in below freezing temperatures is certainly dangerous to your health, though you'd have a way to warm up in most cases.
- jowdones 3y ago
  Yeah, Iceland is like the last place I'd have guessed people swarm to get swimming lessons. Like I go to Crete in August and I cringe entering the sea coze it feels cold. When I was a kid I'd bathe in local rivers, hills area and always took me quite a bit of time to get in (water's maybe 20 Celsius?). And going to the mountains with water exiting a large underground cave (10 deg Celsius), some people would swim in it but even getting with my feet in it would numb my fingers, no way I'm dipping my balls in it . So again, Iceland and swimming... sounds more like a joke.

_dain_ 3y ago

> Curious why swimming is considered a required skill for people to have in Iceland, and why swimming lessons until age 14 are compulsory, as the article says. The fishing industry is one of Iceland's biggest employers, having everyone able to swim is helpful in case of accidents.