if your a man, and you try and float just by doing nothing, you can't

girls can, most men can't , so don't worry

the rest of your post I can't make sense of, swimming is technique, improve technique you'll be able to swim longer and with less effort.

Breathe in.

p.s... why do you want to float? just get a lilo

your inefficient because your technique isn't great, your core muscles are weak for swimming, and your swim fitness isn't great.

"floating" has fk all to do with it

happy to give you a lesson if your in London,

Er does the person who told you this have any qualifications of any sort? y'know..like Swim coach or psychologist?

Normally people don't like deep water because they think about what might be swimming round beneath them..

Also, would recommend that you take a pool boy to the pool to stick between your legs. This will improve your swimming posture and allow you to build on arm technique leaving your legs to just trail. Then once youve sorted that out you can add legs in.

I also have this same problem and it puts me off going. Me and the girlfriend used to go every other week to try and get some exercise but after maybe 4-5 lengths I had to have a long rest before I could continue. My girlfriend however was able to just keep going and wondered wtf was wrong with me. It's not like I'm seriously unfit - I run to keep fit. I just can't swim!

Right - I was in a meeting before, so only dropped the link in.

First question would be are you swimming with your face in the water? If not - i.e. doing crawl with your head up and forwards, this will force your legs down.

Second, if you're face in, where are you looking? Looking too far forward will, again, make your legs sink. You need to be looking downwards and turning your head to the side for breathing. Count your strokes and look at the marks on the bottom to tell you when the end is coming up. Obviously if you're not in a lane swimming session this is harder, but people get the message if you stick to one side of the pool and cruise up and down.

Third, are you adequately rotating your body? Keeping very flat in the water is not only inefficient, but since your legs hinge at the waist (put simply), that's where they sink from. Having adequate rotation as you stroke with your right and left arm means your legs spend little time overall in a horizontal position.

Fourth, consider your kicking. A gentle flutter kick ought to be enough to keep the legs afloat. Also, point your toes. Feet create drag. After that, the problem stems from swimming posture and core strength.

Fifth, core strength. Chances are, your core isn't strong enough to support you in an efficient position, or you're not engaging it properly when you swim, so your legs sink, which acts like an anchor, slowing you down and tiring you out.

Do have a look at the swimsmooth website. It's a bit of an overall philosophy towards swimming technique and not everyone agrees with everything there, but there are plenty of hints and tips for free regarding technique and a lot of what's said makes a lot of sense. Youtube is good for videos too. Watching a pro swimmer and then trying to visualise whet they look like when you're in the water can help. You need to remember swimming really isn't about overall strength or CV fitness for most people. It's all about efficiency in the water. That's why a 13 year old girl who weighs six stone wet through can smoke you in a pool, despite you being able to lift her over your head.

ETA - and OP - it's not an unusual problem at all. It's a problem most recreational swimmers, myself included, suffer from.

Shockingly, you may improve your swimming technique and swimming fitness by swimming more.

Equally shockingly, you may find it challenging when you first start out without either of these.

On a more positive note once you've got going it all comes together quite quickly.