Deftones

yup. lived in az where every one had pools, so we learn young. i put both my kids in swim lessons starting at 7 months old. my son is a pretty damn good swimmer at 5 and my 2 year old daughter can hold her own now.

Shazam

Human beings also bicycle. It doesn't mean it's a "basic function".

What is a "basic function" anyhow? Is that a scientific term?

taffer

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that it's a basic function. A basic function would be something we are born to do. We aren't natural born swimmers. We aren't born with the proper equipment for swimming like fish are.

EddieMoney

Barry Lyndon be pissed

DaveyJoe

People who can't swim disgust me.

taffer

A "basic function" I assume he means is something we are born to do. We have lungs, so we are meant to breathe. We have legs, so we are meant to walk. We have opposable thumbs, so we are meant to grip things. We have both types of teeth for eating both meat and plants, so we are meant to be omnivores.

We do not have gills and fins, so we are not meant to swim. We can swim, but it's not something we are born to do, and it's not something we are really efficient at doing without the proper equipment. (Human swim speed is pretty pathetic compared to fish swim speed since fish have the proper equipment for swimming.)

Shazam

Meh, it's just CRM114 being patronizing again.

Hiro11

Not being able to swim could potentially kill you. Not being able to ride a bike isn't a big deal. A surprising number of people die from drowning in very survivable situations including a friend of mine in high school. I think it's pretty important to learn how to swim.

Shazam

When she's talking about a "basic function", she's saying that you're born with the ability to do it. Which is obviously not the case, since yeah people drown and such.

CRM114

Yes, a scientific term.

Although, to be fair, cycling can also be found in the Stone Age:



Precisely. Not to be "patronizing" but swimming was something humans learned to do for survival. You know, that whole Darwinian thing.

RoyalTea

So, cave painting is a basic human function.

Can you cave paint?

CRM114

I take it you don't swim?

RichC2

I can make any cave wall look like a Pollock painting in under 20 minutes.

FantasticVSDoom

I can swim AND cave paint!!!

RoyalTea

What makes you think that?

HN

shark attack --> _____|\____\o/___

EddieMoney

I can drown

AGuyNamedMike

I was taught by the "toss off the end of the dock" method. I swim well enough to have passed my sailing cert.

That said, it's no wonder I don't like being in the water. Swimming is something one does to keep from drowning after falling out of the boat.

My Other Self

No. I had aqua-phobia for awhile growing up because a swimming instructor threw me in to the deep end of a huge public pool and I nearly drowned. Never bothered to learn after that.

milo bloom

I took lessons as a kid and I made sure my kid takes them. He goes to classes at the Y and he's gotten pretty good.

zyzzle

Sure, I grew up in SoCal, where I, and, it seems everybody else had a pool. And we were only 5-6 miles from the ocean. It was a long walk / short bike ride, We kids would head out on Saturdays and enjoy the surf all day. Had lessons at the Y also. I'm glad to have the skill, it does seem odd that many of you never learned. Just as it seems very strange the some older women never learned to drive a car.

OldDude

Last three are trivial, fly might kill me. It was always my weak stroke.

I was on high school swim team (55 years ago) but wasn't all star material. I hoped to be balanced enough for ind. medley, but fly was my downfall.

In high school, team workout was swim a mile, kick a half mile, then do five sprints in your event, call it a night. You could mix strokes for a mile and half, coach told you what to sprint.

OldDude

If you breath underwater, you are clearly doing it wrong. Turn or raise your head (depending on stroke), ESPECIALLY when breathing in. Trust me.

OldDude

Whales and dolphins don't have gills (they are mammals). As they can't live on land, are seriously saying they can't swim (and don't know from birth)?

Turtles, frogs, and waterfowl don't have gills, but they swim pretty well and spend much of their lives in water.

Note that humans can't walk at birth; does that mean we are not entitled to live on land?

Osiris3657

Wow, stunned at the amount of people who can't. Swimming (at least competently enough not to drown) seems like it's second nature.