How Long Could You Survive in Deep Water?

THE National Safety Council estimates that fully one half of the American population would drown if they were pushed one at a time off the deep end of an ordinary swimming pool.

A study at the University of Georgia by Bramwell Gabrielsen disclosed that 71 percent of drowning victims were non-swimmers; 22 percent were rated fair at swimming. Only 1 percent were rated as excellent swimmers.

Although these studies and estimates indicate that your chances of survival are much better if you can swim, yet many swimming coaches doubt that ordinary recreational swimming alone is enough for water survival where distance, rough water, heavy clothing or other difficult circumstances might confront the swimmer. An interesting system for survival was originated by the head swimming coach at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Fred R. Lanoue. Professor Lanoue called his system “drown proofing.”

The Principle of the Technique

The drown-proofing technique is based on the idea that you will fare better in a relaxed upright position just under the water’s surface, coming up only when you must inhale. The basic fact to grasp is that the average human body, even when clothed, tends to float or nearly float.

Picture this: You know that a wooden canoe paddle will float. Now if you fasten enough weight to the blade end to offset very nearly the paddle’s ability to float, what happens? The blade then sinks straight down, pulling the paddle under water. But the unweighted end soon bobs back to the surface. The paddle does not sink; it still floats, but mostly underwater.

Now picture yourself in place of the paddle. Your body will bob along about like the paddle as long as your lungs are free of water. With air in them, your lungs are a natural life preserver. Beginning with this physical fact, Professor Lanoue reasoned that a good way to survive for a long time in water is to manipulate oneself so that one surfaces just enough to breathe, and then coming out of the water just high enough to inhale.

Thus the principle of drown proofing boils down to a matter of relaxing under water in a more or less upright position. Once the principle is applied, even a child five years old can survive in deep water for hours. Persons have bobbed in rough ocean water for twelve hours, and “walked” their way along in the water a distance of twenty miles!

However, this survival method requires practice if it is actually to save your life in an emergency. In view of the fact that some 7,000 persons drown each year in just the United States and Canada, would it not be wise for you and your family to know how to survive in deep water?

Learning the Technique

In learning the drown-proofing technique, the first thing to abandon is the urge to keep your head above water. The idea is to drop your head forward in the water and let your body hang vertically, not in the regular horizontal swimming position. Let your arms hang limply from the shoulders. Hang like a rag in the water.

Do not worry; most people will not sink. Your body will float in the water with only the back of your head above the surface. By hanging there, feet down, you are letting the water do the work of supporting you, and you are conserving your energy.

However, since in this position your nose and mouth are under water, what can you do when you need air after fifteen seconds or so?

Bring your arms up in a relaxed and easy manner, crossing them in front of your head. Also, in the same easy manner lift one leg toward your chest and extend it forward while at the same time you extend the other leg backward. Now raise your head, exhaling through your nose. To keep your head above water long enough for you also to inhale, bring your feet together in a scissors kick, and in an easy movement sweep your crossed arms outward. You want the movement of your arms and legs to be sufficient so that you can get a good breath of air, but not so much that it brings your shoulders out of the water.

As soon as you have taken in air, drop your head in the water again, face down, and bring your arms to your sides. Rest with your body completely relaxed. However, do not hang there in the water until your lungs feel as if they are bursting for air, but come up for air again before you feel an urgent need for it.

By alternately resting and coming up for air in the manner described, you may find that you can stay in the water for quite a long time without becoming fatigued. The advantage is that you are not using up your strength by continuous body movements. Rather, most of the time you are actually resting.

Also, by a slight adjustment in your kick and your hand stroke you will find that you can move forward in the water a couple of feet or so with each emergence for a breath of air. Thus you can cover, in time, a long distance without tiring. Of course, in order for this drown-proofing technique to be effective, you will have to spend time practicing it.

With a knowledge of how to survive a long time in deep water, it is unlikely that you will ever drown. But in most instances if precautions are taken, there is no need to get into a situation where there is a danger of drowning.

So take precautions. Reflect on this sobering fact: Drownings are the second-most-common cause of accidental deaths in the United States. Surely this is good reason for knowing how to survive in deep water.