Treading water for 10 minutes - how hard can it be?

[FinnMom]

A sinker is no freak of nature. Esp. for a lean-built, muscular person, usually a male, it's not usual.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

A sinker is no freak of nature. Esp. for a lean-built, muscular person, usually a male, it's not usual.

My sarcasm went by without notice, did not mean to offend.

Here is an abstract for a study of 98 men, they were looking for the causes of drowning. All 98 were concluded to have enough personal buoyancy to float in fresh or salt water at full lung volume. Statistically, I think my opinion is realistic.

Human body buoyancy: a study of 98 men. [J Forensic Sci. 1977] - PubMed - NCBI

 

[Doc Harry]

It's nearly impossible for a human with air in their lungs to be negatively bouyant, certainly not SIGNIFICANTLY so

I had a roommate in Florida who was a very muscular individual. He used to take a full breath of air and then walk around on the bottom of our swimming pool.

He almost flunked out of our Navy flight school class because of swimming issues. Eventually he passed, and went on to fly P-3s out at Moffat Field.

 

[pjhansman]

My sarcasm went by without notice, did not mean to offend.

Here is an abstract for a study of 98 men, they were looking for the causes of drowning. All 98 were concluded to have enough personal buoyancy to float in fresh or salt water at full lung volume. Statistically, I think my opinion is realistic.

Human body buoyancy: a study of 98 men. [J Forensic Sci. 1977] - PubMed - NCBI

Reminds me of a similar discussion on SB last year.....a poster stated that in all his years of competative swimming he never saw anyone with negative buoyancy. Perhaps because people with negative buoyancy tend to avoid competative swimming?

In your example, I might suggest the results just might be skewed a wee bit by the fact that many negatively buoyant people stay away from opportunities to drown.

 

[Fatterboy]

you can't teach someone who already knows everything.

all my life I have tried to convince floaters that I don't float and have received the same statements time and again, that I must be doing something wrong or not relaxing, etc.

I simply do not float.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

you can't teach someone who already knows everything.

all my life I have tried to convince floaters that I don't float and have received the same statements time and again, that I must be doing something wrong or not relaxing, etc.

I simply do not float.

Hence my "freak of nature" comment (which as a bit negative, sorry). Maybe you are that 1 in 1000 type person that has a combination of small lungs, dense bones, no fat, etc... Peoples bodies are highly variable and I certainly don't know the extremes. I do know it not typical.

However, a lot of people think they are sinkers when in fact they are not. The lung capacity provides something like 11lbs of lift. Positioning the head and relaxing along with breathing off the top of the lungs seems to magically turn the sinkers into floaters. That's the whole purpose of drown proofing, so they will realize they can float. I have been through this perhaps a dozen times with scouts who think they are sinkers when we do the water safety test. They all turned out to be floaters in the end.

 

[g1138]

Not everyone has the same lung volume to body ratio. And not everyone can stretch their diaphragm the same amount (accounting for body size ratio between individuals).

To say everyone can float with a full lung full of air isn't true.

 

[Bonuss]

When I was younger I could "walk across the bottom of pool" and likely even salt water most the time. I still sink if my lungs are not 3/4 full (just breathing off the top) but now carry extra "natural buoyancy". Bones are in the 1:1000 large end of spectrum though.
Bob in CO

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm 58 with a bit of a gut. My legs, however, sink like a stone. I would agree that info. on usuing full lungs should be given ahead of time. Also, how to drown proof (this is the only way I could get a 5 on the DM test, as if I couldn't drown proof there is no way on the planet I could hold my hands out for the last 2 mins. -- I would think that it would be the same if I was 22). Everyone's body buoyancy is different, similar to how each person needs a different amount of sleep. People will argue against that.

 

[Pauly854]

I am a fatass, and also a sinker....but only if I stuff a few cannon balls in my BCD.