Could Natalie wood swim

Answer 1

No, and she had a deep-seated aversion to water and water sports. This may have stemmed from an accident ( staged, but one that got out of control) when she was almost drowned as a child actress in a scene on a bridge. It seems the stunt-masters missed their coordination and fired the ( separation charges) too early or too late. It seems to me they could have more safely taken telephoto shots of Natalie on an intact span or catwalk and then dubbed in the destructive stuff. Bridge accident occured at a camp site and was not really the major event of the movie- I always thought they used doubles for such risky stunts. so it goes. SS Socal Gloria signing off, watch out for... Broken Ties!