Dillards 85: Ungodly Swim Suits It's a Cruel Summer

[Zebedee]

6 minutes ago, IsmeWeatherwax said:

Its good to know shes not alone, thank you ?

Likewise for me

[sadiZ]

My oldest is like this, too. He freaks out with water getting on his face. He isn't on the spectrum, but does have some minor sensory issues, so I think it is related. I want him to learn to swim, but he screamed bloody murder just getting baths until about a year ago, so I can't imagine trying to force him into a pool with a bunch of other kids... maybe I'll spring for private lessons for my kiddos next summer when he is 5 and my youngest is almost 3... I really do agree that learning to swim enough that you don't drown if you fall into water is super important, and we are around water fairly frequently. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

2 minutes ago, sadiZ said:

My oldest is like this, too. He freaks out with water getting on his face. He isn't on the spectrum, but does have some minor sensory issues, so I think it is related. I want him to learn to swim, but he screamed bloody murder just getting baths until about a year ago, so I can't imagine trying to force him into a pool with a bunch of other kids... maybe I'll spring for private lessons for my kiddos next summer when he is 5 and my youngest is almost 3... I really do agree that learning to swim enough that you don't drown if you fall into water is super important, and we are around water fairly frequently. 

I'm like this also.  Not on the spectrum but have some sensory integration issues.  I need a towel within reach in the shower so I can keep my face dry and as a kid I would also scream bloody murder if my face got wet at all.  

Before the internet I thought I was just a difficult weirdo, but now that I know that some of my quirks are actual things others experience as well it makes me feel better.  

[OrchidBlossom]

I’m an avid swimmer, I’d say I feel more comfortable in water than on land, certainly more graceful (low bar though!). I had a pool growing up as well as easy access to a beach and boating. 

MrBlossom is... not. But he’s a great sport about it and I’ve been teaching him. He grew up on an island, so it always baffles me that he didn’t learn to swim properly, despite having loving and otherwise cautious, prudent parents. He can kind of paddle about but a strong current would be a bad time all around. 
 

For me, any future Blosslets will need to learn to swim. Non-negotiable.

[mpheels]

5 hours ago, OHFL2009 said:

My university required all freshmen to take a swim test the first week of school.  It's been a few years so my memory is fuzzy, but I think it was one length of the pool freestyle and one length backstroke. If the lifeguards deemed that you failed, your first two cycles of phys ed were swim lessons (there were 3 phys ed cycles per semester). 

My university had a swim test requirement before graduation - swim 50 meters then either tread water or keep swimming for the remainder of 5 minutes. Any stroke was fine, even doggie paddle. Just had to be in the pool for five minutes and not drown. Students could take swim lessons as one of thier phys ed credits, and the final exam fulfilled the swim test requirement. The test started during WW2 as a way to make sure graduates were prepared for military service. I graduated in 2004 and was I among one of the last cohorts with the swim requirement.

[HideousGreenShirt]

On 7/24/2020 at 1:39 AM, PennySycamore said:

The legendary Australian swimmer Annette Kellermann was arrested at Boston Harbor for wearing a costume deemed to be immodest.  I think it was similar to modern tank suits.  Her compromise was to wear a one-piece that covered her arms and legs. but was still form-fitting.  Annette made a few silent films and was the first actress to appear in films nude.

Her successor as a swimming star was Esther Williams who played Annette in the biopic,  Million Dollar Mermaid.  In This Time for Keeps, Esther had to dive to the bottom of the pool and then re-surface.  Her plaid flannel suit became so waterlogged that she could not re-suface and so to keep from drowning, Esther had to un-zip her suit and surface naked.  After that experience,  she began wearing nylon suits with latex from Cole of California and modeled one for the Secretary of the Navy. He ended up ordering 50,000 suits for WAVES which is what women in the Navy were once called.  

 

On 7/25/2020 at 4:37 PM, Snowless said:

One would be surprised to learn that, but wool is actually naturally very water-resistant due to the lanolin (sort of an oily/waxy substance that is secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool bearing animals — sheep, certain types of goats, musk oxen, alpacas, and so on...) that is present in the wool.  It’s sometimes called “wool fat” but is actually chemically closer to a wax.  The lanolin present in sheep’s wool prevents the wool from becoming waterlogged if the animal is caught out in very rainy weather.  The wool also has air pockets at the microscopic level, and thus insulates the animal from cold air even if the wool itself has gotten wet.

When the wool is shorn, it sometimes gets scoured (washed), which will remove some of the lanolin (although some spinners prefer to spin with unwashed and untreated wool, or “in the grease”, although this is up to personal preference as spinning in the grease, especially from an animal who had a higher amount of lanolin in the wool to begin with, can leave the spinner’s fingers feeling incredibly sticky).  But usually, there is still some lanolin left in the wool even after it’s been washed and spun into yarn.  I’ve been a knitter for almost 15 years now and I’ve learned how to recognize a wool or wool-blend yarn by touch.  Even in wool blend yarns, I can usually feel a slight slickness or stickiness to the yarn that I don’t typically feel in a fiber like acrylic or cotton...almost like it has a slight oiliness to it.

Wearing swimming costumes made of wool in Victorian Britain would have actually been beneficial for people going into the water because of the northern latitude, which would mean cooler ocean water in the summer compared to ocean water in the tropical latitudes (which is why you typically don’t see, even with the current climate change trends, tropical storms and hurricanes forming near or heading towards the British Isles, because those storms need warm water to form and fuel themselves).  Even if the wool had been treated before being spun, it would still maintain its water resistance properties and keep swimmers from feeling too cold in the cooler waters.

I'm behind with this thread due to the wedding of the decade over in Rodrigues land. I just wanted to say that I am never not impressed by the knowledge on interesting and diverse subjects FJ members have! Thank you both so much for sharing! 

[OHFL2009]

20 hours ago, mpheels said:

The test started during WW2 as a way to make sure graduates were prepared for military service. I graduated in 2004 and was I among one of the last cohorts with the swim requirement.

I think the reasoning was probably the same with my school, although there was always a story floating around about a wealthy alum who had a child who drowned, and donated money to the school with the caveat that all students know how to swim. But it was one of those legends where the details seemed to change every time I heard it, and my university had a close relationship with the Navy during WW2, so that theory makes the most sense. I'm pretty sure the school ended the swimming requirement in the past few years though.

[Maggie Mae]

21 hours ago, OrchidBlossom said:

I’m an avid swimmer, I’d say I feel more comfortable in water than on land, certainly more graceful (low bar though!). I had a pool growing up as well as easy access to a beach and boating. 

MrBlossom is... not. But he’s a great sport about it and I’ve been teaching him. He grew up on an island, so it always baffles me that he didn’t learn to swim properly, despite having loving and otherwise cautious, prudent parents. He can kind of paddle about but a strong current would be a bad time all around. 

I'm similar to you, I can't outrun many people (and it's never graceful) but I can swim faster than a lot of people (men and women) in my masters group. I feel a lot more comfortable on or around water. I dislike hot arid places without lakes or coast access. They have their own beauty, but vacations just don't feel the same without access to an ocean or pool. 

The Mr is not a water person. He wears socks and shoes in every type of weather, even on his SUP (which he sits on). He gets grumpy about being splashed. He never wants to go in the ocean and is content to sit on shore and read. He knows HOW to swim - in our area you have to pass a swim test to graduate from high school. He just doesn't. 

We have a bunch of friends from various islands and island nations in the south pacific, and it's hit or miss if they can swim.

[OrchidBlossom]

2 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

 

We have a bunch of friends from various islands and island nations in the south pacific, and it's hit or miss if they can swim.

That’s so interesting! I just can’t imagine being surrounded by water and not learning to swim! ?

[libgirl2]

i don't have an athletic bone in my body. Gym was my worse subject. I never hit a softball with the bat and maybe caught one once. I can't do a cartwheel or a handstand, but there is one thing I can do, swim. The bad part is my high school did not have a pool at the time I went! So I continued to barely get a passing grade. 

[Maggie Mae]

On 7/28/2020 at 12:34 PM, OrchidBlossom said:

That’s so interesting! I just can’t imagine being surrounded by water and not learning to swim! ?

Yeah, it's crazy to me, but I'm always meeting people who can't swim. Even in college I taught swimming to people my own age who never learned but needed to pass a test for ROTC or whatever. My coach goes out of her way to find women who went to school pre- Title IX and help them swim/run/bike. The world has changed and still is changing so rapidly, even in sports.

[Glasgowghirl]

I am not the strongest swimmer I had a few lessons when I was 8, I could swim before then but my mum and dad felt I needed a bit extra help. Then when I was in Primary 7 the school took us to our local pool for 12 weeks of lessons, a few people in my class learned to swim then and some after the lessons still couldn't swim. 

[xenobia]

It's interesting to read all of this. In Sweden swimming lessons are required as part of the PE in school. So all kids here (or at least a very, very large majority of them) learn to swim between ages 10-12. Many kids can swim before that as well. 

I'm not a big fan of swimming, mostly because it's so cold to swim/go bathing in lakes and at the seaside here. But I always thought of swimming as something that everyone can do. It's good to be reminded that we have different backgrounds and skills. 

[The butcher's wife]

I can swim quite well, but I am SLOW. Holy sloth. I can swim under water without catching a breath further then most other people I know though. We learned to swim in Kindergarten. During the winter, every tuesday all the kids would get loaded into the cars of a few dedicated mums and we drove to swim lessons. In our final year, all kids had to take the "Seepferdchen" (Seafilly, if you will), for which you have to swim 25 meters , dive to retrieve something out of shoulderhigh water, and know about basic water safety. Afterwards, you got a little sticker to sew onto your bathingsuit. 

Spoiler

Swimming was never mandatory at school for me, but I know that it is in other areas. We did join some kind of swimming club when I was about nine, but, due to the aforementioned slowness, I quit after I placed last in my age group in all the competitions. Nonetheless, I think it is a very important skill to have, and I know that many people, especially from poorer or less educated backgrounds don't see the necessity or lack the funds to teach their kids (or learn themselves; the numbers of people drowning while swimming are on the rise).

[Meggo]

My mom thought I was taking "too long" to learn to swim - so at age 6 - she put me on the swim team. 

I did *learn* and I guess it beats just throwing me in the pool but.... 
My kiddo will just take lessons … until he doesn't need them anymore. (I do think he'd LIKE swim team - because he's fast & loooooves the water - but...) 

[Not that josh's mom]

My son jumped into the pool into water over his head, at 3, came up spluttering and dog paddling and yelling "I can swim". I was right beside him in case, but he sure didn't need me. 

I'm a strong swimmer, always very close by if needed, but he never looked back. Diving boards in the deep end of public pools, finished LifeSaving swim lessons at 12. 

We never swam in lakes, quarries, or oceans so didn't cope with waves or currents,  which would probably have made a difference. 

Then there's my husband who sinks like a rock if he tries to float. 

[neurogirl]

My grandma (and namesake) died via drowning so my parents made absolutely sure I knew how to swim at...4? Definitely before kindergarten. I went to my first summer day camp where we were supposed to take a test before going into the deep end of the small pool (5 feet). I didn't know this and was swimming around on the wrong side with some kids until the counselors noticed and freaked out. They made me go back to shallow end and formally tested me after group pool time, which was such an injustice to baby me (they could already clearly see me swimming in the deep end). I totally understand it now. My parents just recently fulfilled their Minnesotan dreams of getting a lake house, and any future Neurokids will absolutely be given the same swim lesson demands. 

It's been a little spooky/spiritual that my namesake died in a lake but I love the water (even got engaged on a boat on a lake). The sleep away camp I went to as a high schooler had "polar-bearing" which was meeting by the flagpole at 5am to jump in the lake and wash with nature-friendly shampoo/soap. I got an award for doing this every day - didn't have to fight with all the other girls for the 4 shower stalls. Nothing but lake water for a week every year. I'm sure my mom was so happy to have me stuck in the car with her for the two hour ride home  This was also a Christian camp! No JTTH weird guilt trips or confessions - kayaking, crafts, ropes courses, games, and half hour evening worship beneath the trees with fun songs and loving each other before campfire. And polar bearing! I'm not very religious anymore but I miss those days.

Spoiler pic: the actual camp waterfront. 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by neurogirl

[mpheels]

I grew up in a small coastal community at the confluence of a tidal river and sound. A couple of the grandfatherly men from our church were the self appointed swim instructors. They lived on an old family farm compound on the waterfront, and all the families from church took their kids to the farm to swim on Sunday afternoons in the summer. The water was only 4-5 feet deep, so one of the instructors would wade out about 10 feet from the end of the fishing pier, and the other would pick up kids and toss them in he water. It seems ridiculously dangerous in retrospect, but we all learned very quickly. As a result of this approach, I was always very good at treading water, but never learned proper form until I took lessons in my late 20s.

[finnlassie]

On 7/30/2020 at 5:23 PM, xenobia said:

It's interesting to read all of this. In Sweden swimming lessons are required as part of the PE in school. So all kids here (or at least a very, very large majority of them) learn to swim between ages 10-12. Many kids can swim before that as well. 

I'm not a big fan of swimming, mostly because it's so cold to swim/go bathing in lakes and at the seaside here. But I always thought of swimming as something that everyone can do. It's good to be reminded that we have different backgrounds and skills. 

Very much the same here in Finland. It's pretty rare that people don't learn by the age of 13, since we're required to do multiple swimming lessons from 1st to 6th grade, and you still do them in later years but not as often. After 4th grade there are fewer lessons, but if you haven't learnt to swim or have serious issues, you have to attend extra swimming lessons... that are taken out of your regular school hours. I did not learn how to swim until I was 12 and my friend, who was an avid diver, showed me what they actually mean when they tell you to kick in the water. The kick has to start from your hip, not your knee!

[nausicaa]

On 7/28/2020 at 4:31 PM, Maggie Mae said:

I'm similar to you, I can't outrun many people (and it's never graceful) but I can swim faster than a lot of people (men and women) in my masters group. I feel a lot more comfortable on or around water. I dislike hot arid places without lakes or coast access. They have their own beauty, but vacations just don't feel the same without access to an ocean or pool.

I can swim forever. Like a freakishly long amount of time without stopping. I was born for an open water swim. I am not saying this to brag, moreso because it's a mystery I can't figure out. 

I suck at all other endurance sports and have always been a terrible runner, even when I was in amazing shape. 

[Bad Wolf]

Second and first class scout ranks require swimming. I was working with a scout on the spectrum who is afraid of water. We were going to meet at the pool, with his parent, and see if we could get him through it. Then Covid hit.  Hopefully we can get him going one day.

[Maggie Mae]

6 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I can swim forever. Like a freakishly long amount of time without stopping. I was born for an open water swim. I am not saying this to brag, moreso because it's a mystery I can't figure out. 

I suck at all other endurance sports and have always been a terrible runner, even when I was in amazing shape. 

Yeah, I feel you. I run because it burns a lot of calories and it's part of triathlon, and my friends do it but I rarely enjoy the actual run. My SO can run like I can swim. He doesn't seem to be uncomfortable or hot or have weird shoe things. He just runs and then talks about how great the run was. Meanwhile I'm like "ugh my music is bad/my foot hurts/I'm too hot/I'm too cold/my shoulder hurts/look at watch/ugh I hate this song/is that a bear? etc. But it goes the other way in water, he's cold or scared of fish or currents or sharks or waves and I'm like "it's cool." I know when my limit is. Even when other people are putting on wetsuits I usually go without unless it's a race and I need the speed boost. I just like the feel of the water, I guess. 

[Smoochie]

My mother was held under water as a child by her brother and thus became afraid of the water.  My father loved water, skiing, boating, etc.  My mother put us in swimming lessons when we were probably 4 & 5 so we didn't develop her fear.  I also went all the way to lifeguard, though I never worked as one, but, did teach 5 of my cousins to swim and dive.

I am a water baby, if I am near water I want to be in it or on it and when I'm in it, it's like an all day thing, I don't do quick dips!  I also prefer vacations with a pool & a beach. 

Like Jill's bathing suit, I have the long short bottoms (blue & black) and wear a variety of normal bathing suit tops... I may have a problem, I own 10 (bought on sale) and keep looking for more!

I love the 2 piece option when you need to use the facilities and like others on the fluffy side, now prefer the longer shorts, though with long legs they are only mid leg length on me.  I can't stand the skirts, had one and wore it 2x, wet it stretched out and in the evening air was cold slapping the legs!

[16strong]

On 7/27/2020 at 7:08 PM, mpheels said:

My university had a swim test requirement before graduation - swim 50 meters then either tread water or keep swimming for the remainder of 5 minutes. Any stroke was fine, even doggie paddle. Just had to be in the pool for five minutes and not drown. Students could take swim lessons as one of thier phys ed credits, and the final exam fulfilled the swim test requirement. The test started during WW2 as a way to make sure graduates were prepared for military service. I graduated in 2004 and was I among one of the last cohorts with the swim requirement.

This sounds oddly familiar. No chance you went to a certain ASU in the southeast is there? I never had that requirement, because the old pool hall was closed due to damage when I arrived in 2007, but it was definitely a topic of discussion.

[libgirl2]

On 7/30/2020 at 3:29 PM, Not that josh's mom said:

My son jumped into the pool into water over his head, at 3, came up spluttering and dog paddling and yelling "I can swim". I was right beside him in case, but he sure didn't need me. 

I'm a strong swimmer, always very close by if needed, but he never looked back. Diving boards in the deep end of public pools, finished LifeSaving swim lessons at 12. 

We never swam in lakes, quarries, or oceans so didn't cope with waves or currents,  which would probably have made a difference. 

Then there's my husband who sinks like a rock if he tries to float. 

My cousin can't float either. Growing up, we had a pool. She would come over and I remember trying to teach her. As soon as I would take my hands away, down she went.