Swimming in deep water../

[extraT]

Oh wise PH, I need your sage advise… that hopefully won’t kill me

I need to learn how to swim in deep water.

Background: I live in Austria where we have some amazing lakes. I also have a 10 years fearless daughter who loves swimming. Every time we go to the lake, she begs to swim in the deep water. It fills me with dread, because I *feel* like I’m helpless if anything would happen. I would love to be the action dad that swims out there with her. Normally speaking, I AM the action dad: rock climbing, skiing, cycling, whatever the sport, I am normally up for it and feel comfortable. Just not with swimming.

Part of this fear is because as kid I almost drowned (at the Water Palace in Croydon sometime in the early 90s!)

I can swim comfortably in a pool, where I can touch the floor of most deep ends- I’m that tall. But the second I can’t touch the bottom, I panic, take a deep breath duck my head under water and swim with all my might until I can reach the bottom. Don’t ask me why, even I think I’m fking weird.

I have an Intex 10mx 5m x 1.5m deep pool. I can swim 30 laps no problem.

I’ve also just bought a kayak (with life jackets!) so yeah, this is a skill I need to learn and fast, whilst staying alive…

Can anyone point me in the right direction/ have any tips they can share?

PS, I watch those free diving videos because I’m jealous they they can do. It sets my anxiety off something rotten mind! Probably doesn’t help me, perhaps I should stop…

Any tips / pointers / videos???

[popeyewhite]

Either graduated exposure or CBT.

[BoRED S2upid]

Would a pull buoy help? You shouldn’t really be swimming in deep water without one anyway.

[Bill]

It's just another fear to be quelled. I get a flap coming on when I can't see the bottom anymore even if I've been out of my depth up to that point. Snorkelling over the edge of a shelf where it went from 5m to I don't know how many caused me a bit of a wobble! Likewise jumping off a yacht into 100s of metres of water...

I'd get a mask and snorkel and experiment in a lake on the edge of your comfort zone until you get used to it and can't see the bottom any more.

[CrunkleFloop]

Try snorkelling, it's a very relaxing way to enjoy the water and you can venture further out as you get more confident.

[CrunkleFloop]

Bill said:

It's just another fear to be quelled. I get a flap coming on when I can't see the bottom anymore even if I've been out of my depth up to that point. Snorkelling over the edge of a shelf where it went from 5m to I don't know how many caused me a bit of a wobble! Likewise jumping off a yacht into 100s of metres of water...

I'd get a mask and snorkel and experiment in a lake on the edge of your comfort zone until you get used to it and can't see the bottom any more.

Hah, you beat me too it!

[Jarcy]

Perhaps learn to scuba dive. (Although this might also be one of your huge dreads though).
But maybe learning the skill of breathing underwater might counteract the issues you have with being out of your depth.
You can start this in a pool and do an experience dive, when you don't actually go out of your depth.

[Bill]

CrunkleFloop said:

Hah, you beat me too it!

[extraT]

Snorkelling might be something to try, but if I panic and go under, I’m just helping my lungs fill up quicker with the wet stuff….

[WelshRich]

I realise that the lakes in Austria will be warmer than in the UK but have you considered a wetsuit? Not to keep you warm, but for the additional buoyancy. It’s not far off wearing a life jacket, without wearing a life jacket

My wife refuses to believe me (despite evidence to the contrary) but I don’t really float - low body fat so my feet/legs sink like stones and my plimsoll line is level with my nostrils. I swim like a shark (if I stop moving I’ll die) but wearing a wetsuit fixes this and means that I can stop/rest without disappearing beneath the surface…

[Bill]

extraT said:

Snorkelling might be something to try, but if I panic and go under, I’m just helping my lungs fill up quicker with the wet stuff….

Practice going under when it's shallow. It's about familiarity, so you don't panic. Or at least remember not to breath if you do go under.

[extraT]

I actually had the same idea, but it looks a bit stupid in the 35degree summer heat

Does anyone have any exercises I can try? I’ve just watched some treading water videos I might give them a go.

It doesn’t help that my SWMBO can float! I mean she can just lie back and float. Makes me jealous!

[esuuv]

You need to slow down and stop - you need to be comfortable just treading water, you need to know that when you're swimming you can just stop - take a breath and relax.

Maybe start in a pool deep enough that you can't touch the bottom - swim out until you just can't touch then stop, tread water - relax, get your breathing under control - may take a few times but you'll get there.

Open water swimming can be super overwhelming - panic is not good, but if you feel it coming then knowing you can just stop and get your breathing under control is a great skill.

[clarkmagpie]

extraT said:

I actually had the same idea, but it looks a bit stupid in the 35degree summer heat

Does anyone have any exercises I can try? I’ve just watched some treading water videos I might give them a go.

It doesn’t help that my SWMBO can float! I mean she can just lie back and float. Makes me jealous!

Practice star floating, all about relaxing, soon as you begin to panic you start to sink.
Lie on back, arms out, legs out and just look at the sky.
Very relaxing when doing it correctly.
Also, it's one of the first thing kids are taught in the pool. If getting into difficulty, on back, limbs out, float.

[Spare tyre]

The crabs that bite testicles are on the bottom, you are much safer in the deep

[WelshRich]

clarkmagpie said:

extraT said:

I actually had the same idea, but it looks a bit stupid in the 35degree summer heat

Does anyone have any exercises I can try? I’ve just watched some treading water videos I might give them a go.

It doesn’t help that my SWMBO can float! I mean she can just lie back and float. Makes me jealous!

Practice star floating, all about relaxing, soon as you begin to panic you start to sink.
Lie on back, arms out, legs out and just look at the sky.
Very relaxing when doing it correctly.
Also, it's one of the first thing kids are taught in the pool. If getting into difficulty, on back, limbs out, float.

You sound like my wife - I can absolutely confirm that it’s nothing to do with technique or lack of confidence (I swam competitively for several years at a decent level). She won’t believe that I’m “not doing it right” and I daren’t tell her that she only finds it easy because she’s got fatter legs than I have!

Edit to clarify that I’m referring to my wife, not the OP’s SWMBO

Edited by WelshRich on Tuesday 11th July 18:23

[hidetheelephants]

WelshRich said:

I realise that the lakes in Austria will be warmer than in the UK but have you considered a wetsuit? Not to keep you warm, but for the additional buoyancy. It’s not far off wearing a life jacket, without wearing a life jacket

My wife refuses to believe me (despite evidence to the contrary) but I don’t really float - low body fat so my feet/legs sink like stones and my plimsoll line is level with my nostrils. I swim like a shark (if I stop moving I’ll die) but wearing a wetsuit fixes this and means that I can stop/rest without disappearing beneath the surface…

extraT said:

I actually had the same idea, but it looks a bit stupid in the 35degree summer heat

Does anyone have any exercises I can try? I’ve just watched some treading water videos I might give them a go.

It doesn’t help that my SWMBO can float! I mean she can just lie back and float. Makes me jealous!

I'd be cautious about leaving the shallow water at the edge of your lakes; the shallows are warm on a sunny day but the deeper water can be much colder and cold shock can and does kill unwary swimmers. These risks can be mitigated by either wetsuits or buoyancy aids; you may feel daft or your child may object because it looks dorky, safety isn't stupid but drowning is; for the shallows a swimming cozzy is fine but for the deeper water a little more preparation seems like a good idea to me.

[s2kjock]

I used to have a very similar phobia, and for years wouldn't "swim out of my depth" other than in a swimming pool. Worse when I can actually see the bottom, like a vertical agoraphobia if that makes sense.

I am much better now, and I think it was probably a combination of "just diving in" when in a large group on a boat tour once (somewhere sunny) and actually finding it not a problem, and the same holiday going somewhere with sea swimming pools/piers (semi-supervised) and trying it - being able to snorkel and see fascinating wildlife also helped, although I still get the "fear" if I look seaward underwater where it gets obviously deeper.

I am not an especially good/strong swimmer, but can swim quite competently enough to not worry about drowning - actually just doing it gave me confidence after a while that I wasn't going to sink, and could (to a degree) tread water or just paddle about happily enough doing some lazy breast-stroke if I was tired.

That said, developing that confidence is a lot easier in a sea (more buoyant) and somewhere relatively temperate (Madeira for me). A cold Scottish loch I wouldn't be too keen to have a go at, but I guess if a decent wetsuit made it manageable would feel more comfortable.

[marksx]

s2kjock said:

I used to have a very similar phobia, and for years wouldn't "swim out of my depth" other than in a swimming pool. Worse when I can actually see the bottom, like a vertical agoraphobia if that makes sense.

I'm a reasonable swimmer, but once went to Greece, jumped off the boat into the crystal clear water and realised just how BIG the sea is. I know it sounds daft but it really hit me.

[MrJuice]

I think treading water is the key (obviously)

when you are comfortable treading water, you lose your fear because you know you can take a breather and then start swimming again. My son is fearless and frankly dangerous. I'd always be stting bricks when he was in a pool but now he can tread water, I know he's got that much more safety about him cos he won't panic and will just take a breather.

I cannot tread water and will not go where there's not a side to swim to within 10/15 metres. I is terribly restrictive and something I hope I can sort out