Can you swim?

Oddly enough, I didn't learn to swim until I was 16, and even then, it took me a few weeks to even get used to it.
 
I learned to swim in a local river when I was around 14. Occasionally hitting my toe over a rock or seeing an aquatic snake swim by didn't bother me much in my teens, but I greatly prefer pools now.
 
we locked that down as young as possible bc why not
can't remember not being able to swim, i used to do competitions as a kid but i'm more akin to a whale shark now than the sleek otter of my youth
 
Yep, learned when I was around 6 and that was considered pretty late. Everybody here learned to swim as a kid, in special swimming schools during summer or sometimes also during the cold year indoors. I did both, for fun! We were a little fun squad swimming around in the summer sun.

I hate diving though; I have a serious fear of deep water. Or shallow water. The bottom of lakes. Undersides of boats. Basically of anything that has been underwater.
 
I actually decided to properly learn how to swim last year after watching the infamous swimming anime just because I had nothing to do and I needed exercise. Managed to learn three of the four main strokes (front crawl, back, breast). Before this, I could float, doggy paddle, random paddle, and dive; things that regular people count as swimming I guess. I used to go swimming when I was a kid and taught myself to go on (and dived into) the deep end all the way back when I was 9 years old. Had an instructor too back when I was younger but he was never able to get me off the floaties for some reason.
 
I passed the Navy qualifying swim test, so I think I pass for 'yes I can swim'. I can retrieve my gear, blow bubbles, turn my pockets inside out, take off my boots, dive, etc. I failed level two though. But I was elbowed in the face. They sent us out in the double digits so it was bound to happen to somebody. I laughed at the panicky ones, though. Wrong, but funny. The look of sheer terror. I guess that's not fair though, some people really are afraid of swimming, just like I live in constant fear of a cockroach climbing into my food when I'm not looking. It's never happened, but it could, right?
 
I can swim. Not amazingly, but well enough...

I have an uncle who is the captain of a ship and has worked on boats his whole life, but he can't swim... Always found that strange haha
 
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