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KillerJupe t1_iwffi8s wrote

Reply to comment by theAmericanX20 in TIL about Deaf lifeguard Leroy Colombo, who overcame childhood paralysis through swimming and saved a record-breaking 900+ lives during his career. His swimming talent and use of sight rather than sound to identify drowning swimmers allowed him to save people other lifeguards would have missed. by lemontreelemur

WhereI am it’s pretty common for many, not all, Asian fishermen to go out and not have any clue how to swim or how to get back on their boat.

Most people would think they are crazy or stupid.

By saying Asian fisherman I was explaining why someone would be on the water and be unable to swim. They had no business on the water as they put their lives and others in danger.

It might come across as racially prejudicial, but the vast majority of kayak rescues, where I worked, are Asian guys who can’t swim and their buddies are terrified to help… because they can’t swim either.

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Glum_Butterfly_9308 t1_iwfi5n6 wrote

It is actually true that a lot of people in Asia don’t know how to swim. I live in Vietnam and I have personally resuscitated someone after drowning. I have several other friends who have saved drowning victims. I’ve heard of friends of friends dying because they fell in a lake and no one else could jump in and save them. Drowning is the number one cause of death for children here. None of my Vietnamese friends can swim, even ones who grew up on the coast. When I go on vacation here and to other Asian countries I often see groups of tourists wearing life jackets in waist high water.

That said, I do a lot of scuba diving and the all the boat captains I’ve met do know how to swim.

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KillerJupe t1_iwfidm9 wrote

There are always exceptions to the “norm.”

Not every old fat white guy in Texas is a racist MAGA supporter… but a lot are ;)

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