Forget how to swim?

[cococandy]

Can you forget how to swim? My father is 77 years old and hasn't swum for over 30 years, although he used to be a prolific swimmer in his youth. He tried to swim for the first time in decades yesterday and couldn't do it. Could barely keep his head above water and could barely propel himself along. Is it possible that your body can forget how to swim or is it just that he has no upper body strength anymore?

[dot.hawkes]

Probably just needs to take a few refrehser lessons and use swimminh aids to give him confidence, it is great exercise for him if he can keep going.

[joannie10]

probably the body is just not moving in the same way. My dad has been told would be worthwhile him swimming and that crawl would be best for him(has sore knees). He feels he can no longer do this properly - therefore wont really help his knees. I have suggested a couple of adult swimming lessons which our local pool does - of course not quite got round to it yet but def think that would help.

[netibiza]

Well, I've forgotten how to ride a bike.

[bigmamma]

Awww bless, hope he didn't panic , poor soul.
Do they do refresher swim classes for pensioners at your pool , they do at ours.:-)

[crossroads]

You might forget how to swim if you switched brains with a non swimmer.

[neo.]

If you tell her its like riding a bike she may sink under the weight of the bike ...and the attendents may kick her out for taking a bike in the pool

[annie0000]

I would imagine that his strength to weight ratio is probably somewhat different to what it was 30 years ago - most people wont notice as they would have adapted over time if they swam on any kind of regular basis. He probably just needs to keep going along to the pool and not putting himself under pressure to swim, just getting a feel for how mush effort he needs to make to keep afloat and then building up to smimming a few strokes at a time. I hope that he was not put off and enjoys his re-found activity.

[smudge]

I would say it's more to do with a lack of energy &/or a lack of confidence cococandy. If he could swim before, even all those years ago, I'm sure he'd soon pick it up again after a few more visits to the pool.

Nice gentle glides in the warm children's pool to start, might be a good idea.

Good luck.