If you want to take someone sailing on a boat and you ask them if they can swim, what exactly are you asking? Everyone can float if they have a life jacket right?

My understanding is that someone is being asked if they can take care of themselves and/or tread water until they are rescued and/or if they are a strong swimmer, but I could be wrong.

  • Pat12@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Seems like a basic safety/planning kind of question since you’d be in the middle of a body of water

    I think so, too. Swimming with a life jacket in my opinion is more difficult than swimming without one. However, I would think that treading water is more difficult than swimming with a life jacket so maybe if swimming with a life jacket is the expectation, then that’s ok.