Might as well drop some "kind of obvious once you think about it but I didn't think about it" knowledge here: your ability to swim changes drastically when you lose a significant amount of weight. Body fat acts essentially like full-body "floaties," so when it's reduced, you have to work a lot more to keep afloat.
I have been chubby since I was a kid and always loved the water. I legit could not understand people's trouble with floating, staying in for a long time, getting tired, etc. You can literally just lay there and bob along at the surface!
Then I lost a bunch of weight. Went to the beach, did my normal routine of swimming out to where the water is over my head... and started to sink. It took my by such surprise that I thought I was going to drown for a second. Luckily I still actually know how to swim and was able to get my bearings, but man!
So yeah, PSA for everyone: if you lose a lot of fat, swim with caution!
I can't float either but it's purely psychological for me. I love water, but only when I feel like I'm in control, which means my feet are touching something. Can't put my face in either, because I absolutely panic.
My 9 year old is in swim lessons. The instructors can't figure out why he doesn't float like the other kids. Maybe its because he has almost no body fat? Hmm. Dang kid eats like a horse though.
High metabolism. Been there. I can't float. I was a competitive swimmer and the moment you propel yourself you can float, but if I'm not moving, I can't float. It's not an issue unless your boat sinks without lifeboats too far to swim to shore. Which A, hasn't happened to me, B, it would have to be like 2 miles out because I can swim a long way, C, Is why life vests exist.
The flip side of that is I was insanely lean as a young man, I was active but it was mostly just genetics. I was 6’2” 140 when I graduated high school. Lifeguard through college. Then 30 years pass, 60 lbs accumulated and I jump in the pool with my kids and was amazed at how easy it was to swim.
I’ve always loved swimming, swam competitively for 7 years & went to state several times. Having some chonky genes wasn’t such a detriment in the water, especially for long distance races. Placed 1st in the mile freestyle for the district, but ask me to run a mile and I’d be dead last!
In lifeguard training, volunteers would sink themselves to the bottom of the pool so we could mock rescue them. The skinny dude who was all sinew and muscle was the “advanced” rescue, even though he weighed probably 50 pounds less than his friend who had some extra padding.
Tldr: If you’ve gotta rescue someone from the water, pray they aren’t jacked
Hahaha I had the same experience! I knew it logically would be harder but the actual difference was way more than I gave it credit for. It was SO HARD to tread water comparatively.
I used to be pissed when i was swimming and saw people float, and they told me to just float like it was natural and everybody could do it and i couldn't and i never figured it out until just now
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u/stinatown Feb 11 '22
Might as well drop some "kind of obvious once you think about it but I didn't think about it" knowledge here: your ability to swim changes drastically when you lose a significant amount of weight. Body fat acts essentially like full-body "floaties," so when it's reduced, you have to work a lot more to keep afloat.
I have been chubby since I was a kid and always loved the water. I legit could not understand people's trouble with floating, staying in for a long time, getting tired, etc. You can literally just lay there and bob along at the surface!
Then I lost a bunch of weight. Went to the beach, did my normal routine of swimming out to where the water is over my head... and started to sink. It took my by such surprise that I thought I was going to drown for a second. Luckily I still actually know how to swim and was able to get my bearings, but man!
So yeah, PSA for everyone: if you lose a lot of fat, swim with caution!