:) Do/Can most Australians swim?

Not nearly as good as Canadians............ :canada: You should open the Todd Cameron School for Australians who don't Swim Good! :canada:

Timely. I just got back from the land down under. I was impressed with the number of swim facilities in just the 2 cities i was in. One had a civic center with an indoor 50m pool a dive pool along with a 'moat' type pool. It was open from 5 - 9 daily. the other city had a 25m pool with regular hours. so my take in my limited vist was that swimming is more accessible to people than it is in the US. swimming in oceans and lakes was a bit limiting right now because of crocs and stingers but i suspect that stingers aren't a problem at other times of the year. The coolest pool-related thing i saw was in Cairns. They have a public lagoon. It's huge and though it's not deep, they have water aerobics classes and learn to swim classes in it. Most people just use it to cool off! after my visit, i find it a bit depressing that there is one 50m pool in my city that is open to the public and it's open from memorial day to labor day and only in the 50m direction from 5am-7am in the morning - and most of the time, swim teams use it! Everyone is so lawsuit scared that pools that exist are rarely open.

Never been to Australia, but I know a lot of people who have, including a woman I used to coach with. The biggest differences, according to her, were: 1) Australian swimmers are more visible. They form power couples, show up on tabloids, etc, much like movie stars would here. And it's not just the #1 swimmer in the world (aka how Phelps is here). 2) Pools are more accessible year round. There are indoor pools, 50m pools, etc. that are open all the time, unlike here where they shut down after labor day, and you have to buy expensive gym memberships. 3) Swimming is a required course in the public schools. So yes, effectively all Australian children can swim. Although, I imagine it's a lot like American PE classes. Sure, everyone runs a mile on Thursdays in gym class, but not everyone does it in under 12 minutes. I'm sure there's some Aussies in here that will correct me if I'm misinformed. Not personal knowledge as it is....

3) Swimming is a required course in the public schools. So yes, effectively all Australian children can swim. Although, I imagine it's a lot like American PE classes. Sure, everyone runs a mile on Thursdays in gym class, but not everyone does it in under 12 minutes. Pretty much right, except with this point, yeah it is required but that doesn't mean all kids learn to swim. I sucked at swimming at school, mostly because I was scared of water. Didn't learn to swim till I was 22. Most kids do learn to "swim" though. Thanks, David

I grew up in a beach culture, so I was pretty much thrown in as a baby. Quite a few of my school friends were non-swimmers, though, and it depended a bit on ethnic/religious background. I love that when I go home I can drive 10 mins, pay $3 and swim in a huge 50m pool, with more than enough lanes to accomodate the kids' age group practice and casual lap swimmers llike me. And of course, there's the beach. SPOILT!!!! :) The city I live in here has about 150k ppl and NO 50m pool at all!!!!