swimming vs floating

Question
i need you to settle a dispute i have with some friends of mine.  My girlfriend is taking swimming lessons and just took the lesson where you learn how to float.  She can't float and is afraid she can't advance to the next level.  I say you don't have to know how to float to swim. That will come more natural later as you advance thru the swimming portion of your lessons.  Do you think the same way? floating  is helpful when you need to rest in the water but you don't need to float to swim

Answer
Jerry,
Thank you for writing.  This is a tough one.  I don't want to take sides.  :-)

Floating is essential to swimming, however it's not something that you necessarily do while swimming.  In other words, you need to be able to stay on top of the water while swimming.  This comes from your buoyancy.

Not everyone can float on top of the water very easily.  People with dense muscles have a harder time floating.  People who have less dense muscles can float easier.  This comes down to 2 things:  (1) you your muscle density and (3) your relaxation.  You don't have much control over your muscle density.  However, you CAN control your relaxation.  If your muscles are relaxed, they are less dense.  When you tense your muscles because you are not relaxed...they become compacted and more dense.  In other words, floating truly comes down to being relaxed.

If someone is learning how to float, they are more than likely  not completely relaxed in the water yet.  They would need to trust that they will now "drown" in the class.  They would need to trust the lifeguards and instructors.  They would need to try do do everything they can do to float.  However not everyone is going to float as well as others.

Now this may not have helped out at all.  I tried to stay on the fence with this one while giving you the basis for floating.  Hopefully this did help you out.

Please let me know if you want more clarification.
Good luck.
Eric