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Sheerness swimming teacher Libby Tucker shows off floating skills

Meet the incredible human buoy!

Swimming instructor Libby Tucker can stand upright in water without sinking.

The gravity-defying gran has been able to perform the trick for as long as she can remember.

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Libby Tucker at Sheerness swimming pool
Libby Tucker at Sheerness swimming pool

And generations of learners at Sheerness swimming pool have watched in awe as the 67-year-old shows off.

Libby can stand still without sinking or even cross her legs and arms without completely disappearing under the surface.

On Wednesday, the 5ft 2in Islander showed off her skill in the 6ft deep end of the pool.

She said: “It’s just something I have done all my life really. I don’t know why I can do it and other people can’t.”

Her floating made waves nationally in July 1977 when she took part in a drive by the Children’s Society to break as many records as possible in a week.

Video: Human buoy Libby Tucker

TV presenter Nicholas Parsons gave the longest-ever after-dinner speech, West Country singers The Wurzels found a needle in a haystack and Libby floated for nine and a half hours.

The grandmother-of-two, who celebrates 50-years of marriage to John, 73, next year, has taught thousands of Islanders to swim after learning herself as a child in the sea off Blue Town. She has even tutored four generations of the same family.

Libby, who has been based on the pool, off Royal Road, Sheerness, for 46-years says the biggest reaction she received was four-years-ago.

Libby Tucker keeps her head above water
Libby Tucker keeps her head above water

She said: “We were on holiday in Egypt and went out onto the Red Sea. I’d bought a water-proof camera and was looking to take some pictures of the coral. I was sorting the camera out and floating as I do, when the captain of the boat said ‘you can’t stand on the coral’.

“I told him I wasn’t and he wouldn’t believe me until he jumped in and swam under the water and saw that I was floating. He was very surprised.

“People are surprised when they see me do it, but I really don’t know why I can; it’s just something I have taught my body over the years.

“It’s really handy to be able to float while giving children instructions.”


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