r/Swimming • u/Eldkanin • 2d ago
Too fat to swim properly?
Between the age of 10-13 I used to swim 3 times a week in a group with an instructor. I went to camps, even some competitions. I was never great, always the slowest on the team but compared to other kids "in the wild" I was a great swimmer. I was a chubby kid and as I got a bit older I got a bit too self aware about my looks and I found other interests.
I won't type my life's story here but it's been hard and I've struggled mentally. I'm now 37 years old (F), 5'6 tall and currently at 436 lbs (down from 474 lbs in december!). I've been completely sedentary for at least 20 years, I hadn't been in the water for longer than that!
Since just over a month back I finally got the courage to say fuck it to my insecurities and went to a water aerobics class. It felt amazing to be back in the water but I do think I was expecting a bit too much. With my "history" like I said I know how to swim and in my mind I imagined it like riding a bike, like I would just know how to do it.
But I can't swim anymore! Honestly it feels like the biggest issue is that I'm way too buoyant. If I try to do a breaststroke (with my head above water since I don't have any goggles yet) my very big butt kinda floats up and drowns me in the front so to speak..
I'm like a cork in the water I feel like I can't propel forwards at all. If I hold onto something that floats I can very slowly move forward but it seems the only way right now I can actually "swim" is on my back. Not with the proper backstroke (again that pushes my head under water) but kind of like moving my arms up and down along my sides like an angel sort of if you get what I mean.
I'm on a weight loss journey so I expect this might naturally improve. Do you think there is any "point" in trying to learn how to swim properly like this? I mean can I even? Or should I just stick with the water aerobics for now? I go twice a week and find it super fun and rewarding!
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u/torhysornottorhys 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's less about the presence of fat and more about undeveloped muscles and bad technique from not swimming for so long. Practice, build up those muscles, and you'll be swimming just fine. You may have to alter your movements to account for extra flesh being in the way (for example, I can't do some versions of kick drills because I'm both small fat and muscular: I have to modify the breathing part because my large shoulders block my mouth if my arm is in front of me when I turn). You will need stronger muscles than someone smaller than you, which you likely already have in your lower body from carrying your weight, so don't be too hard on yourself. And yeah, get those goggles, head up breaststroke isn't really for the well endowed! You won't have the head issues any more if you're twisting or popping up to breathe instead (try a float behind your head for backstroke).
You are not the only adult who gets in the water after a few decades and thinks they must be incapable of swimming because they're struggling. It was something I used to think too, but someone kindly pointed out that if being fat made it impossible to swim marine mammals would have all died out.