Watching my kids on video, as they run off the dock into the water, feels good. I know they are safe. I prepared them, so they could do that without life vests. That was a skill that I wanted to teach my kids.
I knew of a grown woman who never learned how to swim. She has other skills and abilities. What we teach our kids, influences how they will show up in the world. My kids are confident in their ability to swim. They are not over confident. They love to swim.
In teaching them how to swim, I did not tell them of any dangers. They just know how to swim. If I were to tell them of all of the possibilities that could go wrong, I don’t think they would go in the water. If we stop and think about all that could go wrong with whatever we choose to do, we may not get around to doing it. I say go for the open swim, if you know how to swim. Don’t think about drowning.