As proved by the time I decided a nose-dive into a canal was a great idea after one too many bevvies, I can swim okay.

Guess it's one of those things its best to start young; surely should be on all the school's PE curriculum?

I didn't learn to swim until I was about 11 years old. Our school tooks us swimming but as a non-swimmer in a class size of around 30 and one teacher - not great. My step-dad ended up paying for private lessons where I eventually learnt.

I'm by no means a strong swimmer but I can get by.

Georgia on the other hand has been having swimming lessons since she was around 8 months old.

I can swim, but not very well. I'm OK in a calm pool, but give me some waves and I'd be in trouble pretty quickly. Not gonna win any prizes for technique either!

My mum only learned to swim properly in the last 10 years, but she took me and my sister to the pool when we were very small so that we didn't inherit her fear of water. I'm not convinced it totally worked, but perhaps I should take lessons to improve myself.

I'm like Jola, i can swim enough to get by. I have a phobia of putting my face in the water so i'm not a powerful swimmer. Ray on the other hand is. Joel can't swim, he's very wary of the water but he's happy in the shallow end wearing his water wings and has just plucked up the courage to go on the slide as long as either Ray and I are nearby. Hannah on the otherhand is basically fearless. She loves the water. She can't swim as of yet, but we're hoping to start teaching her soon. With some luck she'll be like her dad. It makes me laugh too as both her and her dad are Pisces (the fish) which is a water sign

I was able to swim quite well when I was young, until around 7 or 8, but somewhere between then and 10/11 I stopped being able to. Nobody has any idea what went wrong

I'm Piscean and can't swim. Can't say I have any burning desire to, either.

I can swim, but i learnt when i was about 8 i think. i love it now and i think i'm quite good, not good enough to compete, but i've done a few sponsered swims (one in the med ). i think i've got my silver award too, that was a few years ago now though.

I am a major water baby - I love swimming! I was taught to swim when I was about 1 or 2 in Florida and I just love being in the water. I used to be a good swimmer, and was in a few teams but then I discovered boys and chocolate

I can swim enough to get by but I hate it. I look like a whale in a swimsuit but 'cos I wanted to snorkel and swim with dolphins in Florida I had to get over it. Luckily there are only a few photos floating about

I love to swim as long as my suit fits properly

Didn't learn until I was nine, but by the age of 10/11 was local gala standard.
Think it must be genetic as my mum used to be a county team member

I can swim. I used to represent my school. I love swimming but don't go as often as I should as I have the looking-bad-in-a-swimsuit-thing too.

Backstroke is my strongest stroke

They spent years trying to teach me to swim at school, but to no avail. My lack of swimming isn't helped by the fact that i'm the opposite of naturally bouyant. I haven't attempted to swim in years, as i hate ending up drowning on the bottom of the pool. Kinda glad i'm no the only one here.

I was taught to swim when I was really young, used to do regional competitions although I can't remember ever winning. Still quite a strong swimmer though I haven't been since I had to rehab my back in April of last year...swimming in a warm sea is brilliant

I'm pretty terrible at swimming, but I love the water, which is quite strange. I'm just about good enough to be able to go out and surf, so other than that I don't really care. (You wouldn't catch me going out without a friend to watch my back, however.)

(Edited by Linz 26/09/2003 17:40)

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by lizzieslayer
I am a major water baby - I love swimming! I was taught to swim when I was about 1 or 2 in Florida and I just love being in the water. I used to be a good swimmer, and was in a few teams but then I discovered boys and chocolate

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same here but substitute Florida for Gibraltar


I now don't do much actual swimming but I do aqua aerobics three times a week to keep me in tip top condition

I learnt to swim when I was a baby too, so long ago I can't actually remember when lol

On holiday as a kid I used to do a lot of snorkelling etc, and I'd always have to be the one to go fetch the diving brick in swimming class at school

O cant rember when I learnt to swin it was that long ago, but I love swimming, dont like the sea much too many beasties in there.

i can swim enough but not a great swimmer. I never had swimming lessons (a place only came up about 2years after i put my name on the list and then i couldn't be bothered ) so i just taught myself really. Not a paerticulary keen swimmer - always got a cold when i went swimming (such a sickly child!)

i learnt to swim from a baby, i think i was a few months old when i first went to a pool.
i think it should be on a school curriculem...kids go on skiing holidays but thats not going to save their lives if they fall in a river or something...i mean the world is covered by 80%water not snow.
it really got me in my school that theyd make time for skiing yet have no time to teach basic swimming when its far more vital....end of rant..soryy old school memeories seeping back to haunt me even today