"Dead man's float" (and not in OED)

[Joel S. Berson]

In "Tales From the City" in today's Boston Globe magazine section, a
Newton resident writes that "at the Boston Sports Clubs' [sic]
Watertown location" he overheard an "exchange between a swimming
instructor and a boy of 5 or 6."
"Instructor: 'You've just learned the dead man's float. What's great
about that?'
"Boy: 'I don't know.'
"Instructor: 'Well, if you get into difficulties, you're on your back
and can breathe easily. You can then just float to the side of the
pool or call for help.'
"Boy: 'What if I don't have a cellphone?'

The joke may be funny, but the swimming instructor's instructions are
not.  In the dead man's float I was taught, one floats vertically,
face immersed with just the top of the head out of water, raising the
head periodically to breathe.  See
http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html (AKA the jellyfish
or dead man's float).  That provides more buoyancy than floating on
one's back, important for people whose density approaches that of water.

P.S.  "Dead man's float" not in OED.

Joel

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