Do You Know How to Swim?

Almost half of us are terrible swimmers or cannot swim at all. That is a very scary fact especially since many of us have children that probably also do not know how to swim. I almost drowned when I was a very small child. My mom had to jump in the pool to save me! It wasn't long after that when I started swimming lessons. There are five basic requirements to pass the swimming test. Read on to see if you actually know how to swim.

With warmer weather approaching now is a good time to ask your family and friends if they know how to swim. According to a new study by the Red Cross, you will probably say you are a perfectly good swimmer but there is a pretty good chance that you are wrong.

In the survey, 80 percent of people claimed they can swim. But the study found only 56 percent can do the five basic requirements for "water competency."

Here are the five basic requirements in the order you should do them:

Being able to jump into the deep end of a pool
Tread water for one minute
Turn around 360 degrees
Swim 75 feet
Get out of the pool without using a ladder.

The survey also found that 46 percent of us have been in a situation where we thought we might drown. But 80 percent plan to go swimming at least once this summer, and 32 percent will go somewhere without a lifeguard.

If you need to learn how to swim in Texarkana, check with these locations: American Red Cross, Minton's Sportsplex, Texarkana College, and St. Michael's Gym.