1) Yes I can swim.... I taught myself how to swim under water and then I had about 2 lessons on how to swim on top of water and then I had a "private" tutor b/c I was more advanced than the others after those two days of learning how to swin on top.
2) I almost drowned as a kid, I was floating in a tube, I got out and thought I could float without the tube....needless to say I was wrong
I remember it like it was yesterday, my dad jumped into the pool to save me.
My dad and both my sisters know how to swim, my mother doesn't.
At one point in my life (very briefly) I was considered a very promising competetive swimmer...long story short, I really didn't want to deal with my hair.