Water proofing question?

Question

I tend to hear people, when talking about water proofing, give reference to something called "bobbing" in the water. What do they mean by this? And if you know any good breath holding exercises it would be appreciated as well.

Thank you

Answer 1

http://www.drownproofing.com/

Item #3 describes it.

Answer 2

As a former swimming instructor and lifeguard I really dislike the term "drown-proofing".  It is a single phrase lie.  No one is really drown proof no matter what skill level one attains.

What you are talking about is what the American Red Cross and most other swimming-safety organizations call survival floating or survival swimming.  It consists of using simple sculling motions of the arms and simple relaxed and easy kicks to keep even a non-bouyant person near the surface, so that they can tilt their head back and breathe as needed.

Bobbing should actually be fairly minimal if the skill is done properly in a relaxed manner.  Bobbing is the effect of going up and down in the water like a cork or fishing-float, which tends to partly submerge and then re-surface in a rythmic kind of way.  A person will do the same thing while survival floating, though the amount of submersion is ideally fairly minimal.   Bobbing in cold water can accelerate the onset of hypothermia.

You should be able to get a certified Swimming Instructor to teach you this in about 5 minutes.  Try your local Red Cross or Parks & Recreation Dept.

A good reference for this set of skills is the American Red Cross Swimming & Water Safety Textbook, available at your American Red Cross chapter.  It has easy to follow instructions and great illustrations.  You might find a used copy cheap at your local used book store.