Yes, everyone falls, even Nathan! I believe I was not explaining things right. When I fall, my brain may have enough time to let me know I'm falling. It won't have enough time for me to say, "ok, you're falling, squat and put your hands in front of you and gently lower yourself to your hip." My brain just isn't that fast. Thanks for the luck, I will need all I can get as I haven't been in the water since I was in the hospital last August. I do the butterfly, which a lot of people don't do, and that keeps me from embarrassing myself too much and allows me to bring home some medals.
That's the reason we "train" falling. The more times you go through the motions, the quicker you are to react in the safest way possible when you actually fall. Muscle memory does wonders.