"It's a race to the bottom — literally the bottom."

Their just retvrning to tradition

I was going to say wasn't this common in the age of sail? I remember reading something about sailors drowning often because they couldn't swim, and that was just expected
- It was considered bad luck to know how to swim because the water already had a taste of you and wouldn't give you up
  
  Which to me just sounds like they didn't care if you lived or died
- It was really because it didn't make a difference - if you went overboard, you died, no matter how good at swimming you were.
- If they can't swim away... they can't get away.

I'm going to laugh if they bring back the draft and people just go

"...nah"

Tbf if you throw enough bodies at the problem eventually youll just be able to walk across the dead bodies no need for swimming tyvm

NONONO only evil Soviet Union uses sheer numbers

We civilized ubermensch only need a few genetically pure supermen (and a few brown meat shields) to put the rabble in their place

The race's finish line be like: bottom-speak

...but in a little sailor cap

second strongest country in the world :))))

While its fun to dunk on, all it means is that British Navy basic training is just going to have their sailor boys learning to swim instead of just expecting them to already know how.

Its gonna be a net negative for the anti war crowd because this just opens up recruiting to poorer people who don't have time/access to swimming pools and swimming lessons.

Yelling out how expendable you are as I cry and ask for more of you to join my declining navy.

Homer Joins The Royal Navy

Truly this is the Sick Man of Europe.

Permanently Deleted
- Ukraine is the bleeding out almost dead man of Europe.

I'm not trying to be rude, but how can you not know how to swim? Like not talking race or long distance, but just like... Keep your head above water and move forward? I feel like that's just natural? Would love to be enlightened

It's a bit of a class thing since you need to either have physical access to a swimmable body of water or have economic access to a pool and then have the free time to either teach your kids yourself or the money and free time to drop them off at swim lessons.

In the US, black Americans are the most likely to not know how to swim and poor Americans in general are more likely to not know how.
- I can't see how it's a class thing, like you can live by water without it being beachfront property. Plenty of poor people live by the water all over the world and in the US. I guess I just don't understand, but I thank you for trying to explain
is this a serious comment
I never got a grasp of how to breathe for front crawl, because it is tiring and I always needed more air than I could get in between arm strokes. Maybe if I had better technique so I was less out of breath, then I wouldn't need as much air and I'd figure it out, but whatever.

Swimming is pretty hard and tiring if you aren't using proper form and trying to streamline yourself. If you can only swim 10m until you get tired then that's basically the same as not knowing how to swim.

If I lived near a community pool maybe I'd try and learn/practice during lane swim times, but I don't and gyms with pools are too expensive monthly.
- I don't float either, but if I kick my legs my head stays above water. That's what I meant by "keep your head above water."
  
  never got a grasp of how to breathe for front crawl.
  
  If you're at the point of struggling to do a specific style, you're past the point of not knowing how to swim at all.
  
  If you can only swim 10m until you get tired then that's basically the same as not knowing how to swim.
  
  I guess, but I imagined when people say "I cannot swim" that they meant that they could not swim. That's at least what I am asking about, hence why I specified "not long distance". I can easily understand not being in physical shape to swim long distances, but that's not the same as not at all being able to swim, which is what I am asking about.
If you lack exposure to the water. It doesn't come perfectly naturally, especially if you are a bit older and have developed a fear. It's definitely easier to learn if you're younger.
- But that's kinda what I mean, I don't get the "learning" part. Swimming is like... Climbing a tree or digging or doing some other somewhat complicated but approachable task. You're not gonna be great at it, but isn't there an intuitive approach you have?
  I've never ran Track & Field or polevaulted, but I'm sure I could kinda do the simplest of simple of those. Not great or competitively, but I would be able to do it. I feel like it would be that with swimming too - Youre not gonna be great, but you're going to figure out a way to move yourself forward pretty intuitively
Why would anyone drown if swimming was that easy? It's like riding a bike: trivial and instinctive for those who know, but dangerous and complicated for those who don't.
- Because its physically demanding. Im sorry but swimming is easy. And again, i feel like I have to reiterate: when I say swimming I mean "keeping your head above water and moving in a direction of your choice". Dogs know how to do it! Not talking long distance or fast or for a long period, I'm just talking "not immediately sinking when you hit water".
  
  Others have taken the time to explain that that's not what they mean when they say they cannot swim. I assumed "I cannot swim" meant "I cannot swim" and not "I cannot swim very well". I guess its just one of those quirks of language.
  
  Most people don't drown in water by the way, they freeze to death.
I can only guess that people panic
I didn't really get a proper grasp on anything but the backstroke until I took adult swimming classes in my 20s.

It doesn't help that not knowing how to swim doesn't stop gym class from forcing you to participate. I drank a lot of chlorine during 2 weeks each year.

And it's wild, I was an avid distance runner, biker, and tree/rock climber. Swimming just didn't click for me for some reason.
- Weird! Backstroke was the first thing I figured out too - and that's sort of what I mean. Kinda just worked something out.
  
  And yeah I remember the mouthfuls of chlorine :yea:
Thank you for this thread - I have had the same bafflement and the exchanges below were enlightening.
- Thank you for this response. I feel like half the people responding haven't read my question all the way through, so it's been quite frustrating.

i for one support these new standards

Being able to swim when stationed on a ship sounds way more useful than it actually is. In a 'man overboard' situation, it doesn't help you much, you get fucked by the inertia of a massive ship that can't just turn around and pick you up. By the time they manage to turn around the ship, the real problem is actually finding you. Even if you're an excellent swimmer, your chances of survival are very low.

Breaking News: UK Royal Air Force no longer requires knowing how to fly a plane to join (Source: Me)

Reminds me of Marx talking about the downward trend of height requirements in armies.