Negatively bouyant swimmers

[donacheson]

Originally posted by Doc
I have always been negative. In my (skinny) youth, rather severely so and now in middle age with a "somewhat more rotund" body type, moderately so. This may be genetic, as my 15 year-old son is also severely negative.
During my commercial diving days, it was irrelevant and in scuba or skin diving there were many ways to compensate; a shorty wetsuit or just a full lenth wetsuit jacket was more than enough to compensate.
Folks who are not negative might not appreciate the difficulties involved. If you stop your efforts at some sort of propulsive movement, you sink! This means that though you may be able to swim, you can never rest without some sort of bouyancy aid. Over the years, I've spoken to other "negatives" and some seem to avoid water sports of any sort. I've sometimes wondered if many negatively bouyant folks might be disinclined to try scuba for this reason.

Oooops! Someone forgot to tell me when I was a boy that everyone didn't sink to the bottom, even in salt water with lungs full of air, unless at least gently treading. It never troubled me and never troubled my daughters when they were young, either. All of us, though, have rounded out "a bit" and can now float.