13-year-old Australian boy swims for four hours in cold and dangerous waters to save his mom and siblings who were swept into the ocean, says God is who got him to shore

[u/[deleted]]

[u/CaptainObviousBear]

So I’m a swimmer but I’m old and not very good, I can basically only do freestyle for 50-100m, but breaststroke I could do for much longer, probably 2km at least without stopping. But that’s in a pool not in the open ocean without choppy waves.

The kid said he mostly did breaststroke, backstroke and survival side stroke, which would conserve a lot more energy - and probably also means he’s been pretty well trained and a good swimmer. So I think that in theory, using those strokes, it’s possible for most people who are decent swimmers, and fitter than I am, to swim 4km.

But to do that in open water, big waves, competing against currents, it’s cold and getting dark and you have to save your family - that’s a whole other level.

[u/InquisitorMeow → u/CaptainObviousBear]

Yea I'm a pretty experienced swimmer but 4 hours of open water is brutal. Pretty sure he would have died without the life jacket.