[simplicio]

In defense of the parents, I think a lot of drownings are people who can swim, but not very confidently, and get into the panic response described at the link and end up being unable to recover without outside help. I've seen this happen to both children and adults.

[leghifla]

When I was about 10, I was able to swim but I was not great at it.

For some reason (I think someone dived just in front of me), I needed to stop swimming and ended "vertical" in the water. It was quite unusual for me at the time. For a moment, I tried to go back to swim horizontally on the belly, without success. Then tried on the back, no success either. After a few tries, I began panicking like it is said the the video: I was just climbing an invisible ladder... A guard finally helped me reach the border of the pool and that was over.

After that, I tried to put me under the same circumstances: vertical in the water, 2 m from the border. And then convert to horizontal swimming. Every time it was easy. To this day, I still have no clue why I was not able to do that

[genewitch]

the brainstem probably takes over, which will disconnect the rational, logical part of your brain from your extremities.

i'll just comment my comment here instead of crapping up the entire thread. I went through about 20 videos and only missed two because the site assured me the person who the lifeguard rescued was "splashing around". My median time was -5s, with an upper bound (probably site limited) of -15s. The videos are just a toy, though. You know someone is going to need rescue, and probably about 10 seconds in. I was picking the people who looked like they'd need help. I'd make a great lifeguard but it would be because i'd point and yell at people to get out of the deep end 30 seconds before they even had any issues.

I learned to swim at 5-8 or so, and from 10-15 we spent summers swimming in the pacific ocean. I never had to be rescued during that time. I went swimming with a bunch of friends at Huntington Beach directly after a sewage leak into the ocean near there and they had put bleach into the water. I have asthma, so when i crossed the "can't touch the ground" part of the undertow and had an asthma attack, i yelled at a friend "get a lifeguard, i won't be able to get back to shore" - he relayed that on and then came to make sure i didn't "freak out". The lifeguard did have to tow dead weight, though, i couldn't move due to lack of breathing - not breathing water.

It is good to know that i can watch a decent sized group of people in inner tubes swimming and notice if one is struggling.

[giantg2]

And the parents not knowing this distinction. "My kid can swim" can mean any number of things. They rely on their kid being able to swim even marginally and expect the lifeguards to be infallible. It's sort of to be expected because most people in general do not have extensive experience nor basic training when it comes to being in or on water.

[t0mas88]

Don't swimming courses have a test at the end?

That's how it works in the Netherlands. Kids get level A first, then B etc. They must pass the test at the end. Level A is basically normal above water swimming. B requires certain distances of under water swimming. Higher levels include swimming with full clothes on and swimming out from under a larger plastic thing with a hole they "fell through" to simulate typical water emergencies.

[lupusreal]

Swimming courses in the US only test swimming under normal conditions, in a pool with a swim suit. To get tested for ability in adverse conditions you need special courses which some orgs like the boy scouts offer.

What's really crazy is how easy the minimum requirements even for Red Cross lifeguard training are. When I did it, the "hardest" swimming qual was something like swimming 500 meters. That really should be table stakes for merely calling yourself a swimmer.

[BrandoElFollito]

500m is 5 back and forth olympic pool. This is something.

I used to swim for my high school team. I learned to hate pools. Now I want to get back to vary the physical activity (thanks god for the headsets you can wear in the water)

500m is what I plan to ultimately do, for many people who "can swim" this is already a lot.

[giantg2]

If you're a lifeguard in a body of water with currents, 500m is not a lot. You can swim a long distance without moving much realtive to the shore.

[throwup238]

GP mentioned Red Cross lifeguard training which is specific to pools. They also have waterfront lifeguard training for lakes and rivers, but ocean lifeguards fighting significant currents go through a much harder certification done by other organizations like the United States Lifesaving Association.

It's much more strenuous and far fewer people make it through, thanks in part to the physical requirements.

[BrandoElFollito]

Ah sorry, I missed the lifeguard part. I thought this was for regular swimmers. Apologies.

[giantg2]

There aren't any official universal tests that I know of. Different trainers might give a certificate, but most of it is very informal in the US. The standards are extremely low.

Organizations like BSA have different courses and tend to certify their members by different levels for what privileges they have in the water. The Red Cross and YMCA have the most recognized certifications, mostly for their lifeguard courses.

If you want a good idea of how much of a joke the standards are in the US, the basic test to be in the Navy is only a deep water jump, 50 yard swim, and 5 minutes prone float. Most other branches don't even have a swim test requirement.

[lupusreal]

It doesn't help that most adults only have marginal swimming skills, so their basis for judging the skills of their kid is biased by their own inability.