FishEveryone: the Fetchland swimming wire
1 lurker |
94 watchers
Apr 2024
8:59am, 21 Apr 2024
10,261 posts
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Northern Exile
It's ridiculous! Swimming is a life skill as well as a great sport. I heard that the Royal Navy are scrapping the entry requirement to be able to swim. Apparently something like 1 in 3 kids in England leave school without being able to swim. Apologies, I'm only just catching up with this thread .... yes, this news item has caused much comment on the RN and military channels that I frequent and it comes down to recruitment, it's extremely difficult attracting young men and women into the navy nowadays and the MoD have had to consider all avenues to get them in, binning the mandatory swim test was one of them. I understand that as yet there are no firm plans to introduce swimming lessons either  I have to say that like many, I think this is misguided in the extreme but there's no denying that something had to be done - the UK can barely staff the very few ships and submarines that we have and Conditions of Service (pensions etc) have deteriorated to such an extent that the kids just aren't staying in for full-length careers, it's a real problem. My mind goes back to the days when I served on surface ships and whenever in the tropics we frequently did "Hands to Bathe", basically we shoved a scrambling net over the side and jumped in for swim, the only thing protecting us was a) your ability to swim and b) a young sailor in an inflatable armed with a gun*. Quite a sobering experiences swimming in the Atlantic with two miles depth beneath you * To protect from the nobbies (Nobby Clark = Shark) |
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Apr 2024
9:05am, 21 Apr 2024
10,262 posts
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Northern Exile
It's hardly a surprise - I suspect most schools don't do swimming lessons any more. Partly because many of the local swimming baths have closed. Thus like many other sports it becomes a preserve of the wealthy and middle classes. Even when I went to school, although we got some LA swimming lessons through primary school, this didn't continue and if I'd been interested in it as a sport, then there was no pathway information given out or perhaps even available. I have to say, Fozzy, that I find it abhorrent that you manage to make some kind of social comment on everything that doesn't fit your political agenda. Swimming pools closing is a consequence of social change for sure, but it's more about an indolent and less sport-focussed generation than schools simply failing to teach swimming. Presumably you are pointing to things like private schools etc where they have there own pools? My regular pool was one such, but the school in question also opened it to the public and I swam there for years until very recently, it was considerably cheaper than the local authority pools too. |
Apr 2024
10:32am, 21 Apr 2024
42,691 posts
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Nellers
Back in the pool this morning. First time I've swum on consecutive days in a while. Did my "double pyramid" of 100-150-200-150-100 x 2 with some warm ups and downs and easy 100s inbetween. Worked fairly hard but not flat out and still hit my fastest overall average pace for the working bits. Just under 1:45/100 pace for the 1400m of "work". 1:57 overall average throwing in the easier bits. |
Apr 2024
11:11am, 21 Apr 2024
16,913 posts
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jda
OTOH I'm not sure that talking about an "indolent generation" is really a fair reflection of the way sporting facilities and opportunities have been stripped away from younger generations. On top of which it seems to me that academic pressure is much higher than when I was a lad. The youth of today surely have just as much reason to complain about the attitudes and behaviour of older generations, as the converse. Locally, the state school uses the pool a few hours a week but considering the size of pool and number of pupils I suspect it can only be a minority interest. There are also lessons available at various levels and ages, so perhaps people have to learn outside of school. The private school's pool is also available for hire at a very reasonable rate (at least it was a few years back). Back in my day, in theory we were all taught to swim at school but I didn't really get very far (just about enough to avoid drowning but not a lot more) and had to pretty much start from scratch in my 40s. |
Apr 2024
12:34pm, 21 Apr 2024
67,626 posts
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LindsD
That's less than I was paying
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Apr 2024
12:35pm, 21 Apr 2024
67,627 posts
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LindsD
Oops. Thread has moved on and I didn't refresh. Sorry. That was to Nellers
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Apr 2024
10:33am, 22 Apr 2024
10,264 posts
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Northern Exile
OTOH I'm not sure that talking about an "indolent generation" is really a fair reflection of the way sporting facilities and opportunities have been stripped away from younger generations Mm yes, perhaps "indolent" is the wrong word to use here, but there is little doubt that young people today aren't as physically active as they used to be, there are far more diversions available that don't involve physical effort. My own two offspring are a perfect example, the eldest was a lazy bugger and hated physical activities, spending way too much time glued to a Play Station, however the youngest was a child of the outdoors and spent every available moment on his skateboard at the old gasworks or playing in the woods. There was never a moment in his upbringing when he didn't have scabby knees and although they both turned out to be good, competent swimmers, only the youngest one really embraced it. |
Apr 2024
1:22pm, 22 Apr 2024
27,297 posts
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Angus Clydesdale
I wasn’t envious of the Navy very often, but “hands to bathe” would’ve been cool. Also football on arctic ice (but I wouldn’t have wanted to endure the conditions on the journey to get there )
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Apr 2024
1:30pm, 22 Apr 2024
10,265 posts
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Northern Exile
Angus Clydesdale wrote: I wasn’t envious of the Navy very often, but “hands to bathe” would’ve been cool. Also football on arctic ice (but I wouldn’t have wanted to endure the conditions on the journey to get there ) I've been "under the ice" on many occasions, but never did the surfacing through the icecap thing, sadly. |
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Apr 2024
1:44pm, 22 Apr 2024
27,299 posts
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Angus Clydesdale
My cousin did it, just once. He’s got some great photos of it.
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