Friend never went swimming in the UK on fam hols

I used to holiday on the East Coast and it was usually freezing, I did swim but not much, West Wales is better, South Wales quite good

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We went every year to the south coast of England (Lancing was a favourite) and my mother, who loved the sea and taught us all to swim, insisted we swam every day, even in the rain. I still swim every day on holiday and we regularly go up to the local Normandy coast for a morning dip. I would feel very guilty if I wasted an opportunity. 😂

We holidayed at the British seaside, but despite the best efforts of my mother and grandmother, both county-level swimmers, I never learned to swim. So, whilst I’ve been in the sea around most of the UK, I’ve never swum in it (or any sea, anywhere).

As a child I swam in the sea on holiday in Wales, and in Frinton where we went at weekends. I don't think children feel the cold! My DGC swim most summer evenings in the sea, along with the dogs who need no encouragement!

Kate1949

Blimey. Other people's lives. I can't swim and never had a holiday as a child.

I was thinking exactly the same. Even days to the coast an hour away were rare. My parents struggled with feeding us, no money left for luxuries.
I taught myself to swim at the local swimming baths. If I remember correctly it was 1/-.
I earned half a crown for doing a neighbours shopping, enough for my bus fare, entry and a bag of chips.

I did however, ensure my own children had swimming lessons.

At school the swimming teacher's idea of training was to tell the whole class to jump in. I nearly drowned and I've never tried it again.

never learnt to swim so a paddle is all I had as a child..

had swimming lessons over the years but confidence is a problem....

Well the ‘never had a holiday’ bit resonates I had one week in a caravan when I was 4 with mum and dad That was my one holiday and apparently I got food poisoning so don’t think they had a good time bless them
However we always lived by the sea so I was brought up in cold water and still love it, sea swimming all year round I m not a strong swimmer more of a dipper with little swims I just love the water it’s in my bones the sounds, the salty smells and tastes the very feel of it all Told them my ashes best go out to sea to feed the seals and fish 🤣🤣🤣

I was born and grew up on the coast and all local kids could swim like fish. All our spare time was spent swimming, making mud slides and jumping creeks.

My grammar school had a pool so I was in the swimming team. I won small cups for swimming both at school and at home in the annual regatta.

I don’t swim much now because I cannot find a warm enough pool - i hate feeling cold.

On the summer weekends my dad used to drive us down to Ogmore or Llantwit major we used to go swimming there . I can remember how cold the sea was ! Especially walking back from swimming freezing cold with the sand lashing against me as it was always windy as well !

I have memories of being very small and swimming in the sea with my Grandparents at Eastbourne, Selsey and along the south coast. Then from 11 onwards it was always a summer holiday abroad.

We have lived close to the sea since I was 14, and now during the summer school holidays always take the GC down to the beach if the weather is warm, they paddle board or body board and swim.

I a, not an overly confident swimmer, but most times I have a dip in the sea if it’s warm enough.

Swimming in the sea was a part and parcel of my childhood, as was scraping the tar off my beach shoes when we got home. The pollution was more visible then.

Now I don't live near the sea and I'm not as strong a swimmer as I was. Still enjoy a few lengths in the local pool and splashing around with the Gchn.
My best swimming memory is of a very cold, clear lake- just me swimming from the rowing boat with OH holding the oars steady and shouting at me when a pike swam alongside for a moment. Not quite Jaws!

I too think it's important to have a healthy respect for the sea Bluebelle and embrace it as a child if you live by it. You sound at one with it!
My DGC aged 6 and 8 are true fishes.
My father drowned in the sea, and I've worked hard to never allow that to deter my family and me from enjoying it.

I remember being on holiday in Colwyn Bay when I was very young and we couldn't go in the sea because there was a shoal of jellyfish in the water.

We holidayed at Weston super Mare and also south Devon. Always played around in the sea. After a little mishap that left me rather upset at the time it has triggered a life long fear of water and swimming.

When I was about 5 I was paddling in the shallow waters at Croyde Bay Devon, a freak wave and strong tide took me out into the sea in seconds.
My father in seeing what happened dived in to try and save me (losing his glasses as he swam). But he wasn’t a strong enough swimmer, a man who was a very strong swimmer overtook him and managed to get to me.
My poor Dad had to drive home with his eyes glued to windscreen - he couldn’t see a thing.
After that my Dad was determined I should be a strong swimmer, he took me swimming lessons and we both swam every week. So I am a confident swimmer but the sea around this country is too cold and now too dirty.

Jellyfish seem to be everywhere recently. 🪼 🪼 My friend in a wet suit was stung on the neck last year.

I've got cut off by the tide twice, once with friends when we were teenagers and we were rescued by two young men in a rowing boat who were obviously used to daft unsuspecting holidaymakers. The other time was quite frightening, I was with someone who should have known better and we were there at night until the tide went out.

Never under-estimate the sea. DH has a monthly DD to RNLI.

We went to Margate now and again, I can swim but never enjoyed the sea, too cold even in Summer.A quick dip and out to get warm and make sandcastles suited me.

We always swam in the sea on U.K. summer holidays. I do most certainly prefer warm water now, but once or twice in recent years - towards the end of a good summer! - we’ve found the sea in both Devon and on the S coast, amazingly warm.

As a child, I do recall swimming somewhere off the west coast of Scotland and being amazed at how much warmer the water was, than what I was used to in S coast U.K. Presumably it was down to the Gulf Stream effect.

Callistemon21, my father (RN in WW2, 2 years of the Battle of the Atlantic) used to quote Kipling (IIRC) - ‘…the old grey widow-maker’.
He was a good swimmer, though, and would encourage us.

1980 and a group of mums and kids are picnicking on the shore by the Solent and the kids are in and out of the water. One of the dads joins us, he's the medical officer for the port of Southampton.
"Get those kids out of that water," he yells. He says it's really unsafe due to the toxicity of the sewage and other pollution.
I've been careful about sea swimming ever since.

Gosh, no.

School swimming lessons weren't a thing in my primary school days, and grammar school involved trying to avoid being made to try a length with a shout old woman who stood on the side with what looked like a wooden window pole that was meant to encourage us.

I've had swimming lessons a couple of times as an adult, and eventually got brave enough to swim even in the deep end - but only if the side was within arm's length.

My brothers could swim but it didn't ever occur to my family that they should do so in the sea, although we had a week in Filey every year for many years. (We dug "elephant traps" on the beach - lightly moated sandcastles, not deliberate trip hazards 🏖️)