So You Say You Can Swim. Are You Sure?

If you plan on diving into a large body of water this summer I hope you're a good swimmer. Because by the sounds of it, not many of us are.

The Red Cross recently conducted a survey asking people how proficient of a swimmer they are. What they found is 80% of people claim they can swim. But the question becomes how many of the 80% fall into the "barely" category?

Supposedly, only 56% can do the five basic requirements which label you as a competent swimmer.

The five requirements are:

• Being able to jump into the deep end of a pool.

• Tread water for one minute.

• Turn around 360 degrees.

• Swim 75 feet.

• And get out of the pool without using a ladder.

Those requirements are basically a way to determine whether you'd be able to save your OWN life, not mention the life of someone else.

About half of us couldn't. Not good news, considering 46% of people according to the survey have been in a situation where we thought we might drown.

Might be a good time to buy stock in life preservers. Or if you're a good swimmer and looking for a way to make some extra cash this summer, sounds like the perfect time to hang out your shingle and start offering lessons.

Source: RedCross