How to Run Across Water: A Guide

Do you remember how, as kids, we’d toss stones across a pond or lake, trying to get them to skip just right?

Yeah, I don’t either.

I didn’t grow up around lakes or ponds. I grew up near the equator, where the only thing going for us was the heat? A solid 40 degrees Celsius. But I have seen stone skipping in movies. Apparently, the trick is to throw the stone at a low angle, about 20 degrees, and make sure it’s moving fast and flat enough.

So that got me wondering… if stones can bounce on water with the right angle and speed, can humans do it too?

Short answer: nope. Not without gear or superhuman abilities. Although, maybe we should just try throwing a person at a 20-degree angle and see what happens? Kidding. Mostly. But let’s break down what it would actually take to run on water.

What It Takes to Run on Water (According to Science)

Researchers at some university decided to model this (because of course they did) and here’s what they found:

• Minimum speed required: Around 30 m/s (that’s 108 km/h or 67 mph).

• Force per step: You’d need to smack the water with a force about 15 times your body weight.

• Step frequency: Roughly 4.5 steps per second.

• Contact time per step: About 0.1 seconds or less.

For context:

• Usain Bolt’s top speed? ~12.4 m/s (45 km/h)

• Cheetah’s top speed? ~29 m/s (104 km/h)

Even a cheetah, nature’s speed demon, barely hits the speed mark—and it doesn’t have the leg strength or water-slapping technique to stay afloat.

Bonus Round: How Basilisk Lizards Pull It Off

These little guys can run on water, and here’s why:

• They’re light. Like, ridiculously light.

• Their feet slap the surface super fast—up to 20 times per second.

• Their leg movements generate enough upward force to counteract their tiny mass.

We, on the other hand? We're just too heavy and too slow. But that doesn’t mean it's entirely impossible...

Could We Cheat It with Gear?

Here’s where paddles come in:

• Bigger feet = more push. They spread your weight and let you smack more water per step.

• Hydrodynamic slapping. If the paddles close on the downstroke (for push) and open on the upstroke (to reduce drag), you get more lift—kind of like swimming hands.

• Lighter is better. A lighter person needs less force to stay afloat. Combine that with good paddles, and you might get the speed requirement under 30 m/s.

So, no, we can’t run on water. Not with our current biology. But with super strength, engineered gear, and a lot of speed? Maybe. It's not impossible - just highly impractical. For now, we’ll leave the water-walking to lizards and movie magic.