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~80% of the US claims to be able to swim, though I've found some sources that say only ~60% have the "five basic swimming skills," but they don't seem to provid
by cthalupa 2y ago
~80% of the US claims to be able to swim, though I've found some sources that say only ~60% have the "five basic swimming skills," but they don't seem to provide any details around how they determined that vs. the people self reporting the ability to swim.
I'm not even finding consistent details on what the 5 skills even are, though being able to get into the water, float, tread water, perform some sort of basic swimming stroke, and get out of the water were probably the most numerous.
I don't see how someone could claim they could swim and not be thinking of all of those things, though.
- ghaff 2y agoI don't remember the details of basic swimming tests but that sounds about right. The bottom line is that if you end up in the water within sight of shore under normal conditions you shouldn't panic or drown. I can easily believe 60-80% depending on the criteria. I haven't swum regularly for years and was never a real distance swimmer but I can swim by any reasonable measure.