: That's a good article, Mike. I remember when I almost drowned a
: dozen or more years ago. I was swimming to a diving dock some
: 50-yards from shore on choppy water. Normally, I am a strong
: swimmer but for some reason, that day, every time I came up for
: air I got a mouth full of water. Instead of relaxing and timing
: things better, I went into a semi-panick mode and fought to get
: air. Once I realized that I was in serious trouble, I relaxed,
: watched the wave action from below and then timed my breaths
: well enough to get my strength back. Once you fall short of air,
: there isn't much time left to live...I came that close. My wife
: at the time knew something was up because I stopped swimming and
: basically disappeared from the surface while I was trying to
: relax. She was in panick mode until finally she saw me start
: swimming again. Once I got on that diving dock, I sat still for
: a while, feeling really uncomfortable with the idea of having to
: swim back. I did swim back just fine but my confidence was
: shaken by how little time it took my body to weaken to the point
: where I knew time was of the absolute essence. Nowadays I take
: things very calmly when I fall in...no panick, just collect the
: senses and start thinking.

: Robert N Pruden

It's a funny thing... The panic instinct is supposed to be a survival mechanism. However, in most situations, the best way to survive is to keep calm and maintain composure in order to think your way out of the situation.

StephenHJ