If a person reads a lot of theory about how to swim, different types of techniques, other people’s written experiences etc., can they swim if thrown in a deep swimming pool? Or, at least, be able to swim enough to reach the steep end and save themselves from drowning?
By “a lot”, I mean spending over 6 months to a year, gaining theoretical knowledge. And when we throw them in the pool, they are willing to try it, as in, “I have learnt enough, and I am willing to try it out.”
In the immortal words of Mike Tyson, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
No matter how much you study, landing in the water will change everything.
Reading will nevertheless help. It’s not going to give you perfect form on your breast stroke, but that’s not what OP is going for here. He wants to not die if he suddenly finds himself in deep water. There’s plenty of benefit from reading about how to go about not dying under those sorts of circumstances.
Sure it will help. But by no means did you learn how to swim through theory alone.
Which is kind of the whole point of this post
The point of this post is to ask whether reading about techniques is enough to “at least, be able to swim enough to reach the steep end and save themselves from drowning.”
And yes, yes it is. It’s not going to make you a good swimmer but it will certainly allow you to accomplish that.