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SCUBA certification is just that: SCUBA certification. They don't make you prove that you can walk to the nearest gas station when you get your driver's licence for a reason - they are concerned with your driving skills. Likewise, SCUBA agencies (should) concern themselves with a student's ability to use SCUBA properly.

That said, any time you participate in water activities, it's a good idea to be able to swim. The stronger a swimmer you are, the better. But there is no minimum distance that makes any sense to require. Whatever PADI or NAUI or SSI, etc., decide upon is arbitrary. I see no reason to make it arbitrarily longer. Now, if someone could present me with data showing the average distance a stranded diver has to swim...

Personally, I can swim a mile non-stop without getting winded. But I've no inclination to force an arbitrary standard on diving students.
 
what if you have a problem with your BC and have to ditch it!
I would never dive if I didnt know how to swim.
 
KUDOS for hauling those distressed divers out couta0938.

Thought it is more important to dive within your limits than how far you can swim. Isn't the crust of the topic really that? Conditions at the dive site dictate those limits to the individual. Sounds like the 2 people hauled out exceeded their limits or didn't plan well for the conditions out there by having someone experienced in that area brief them or buddy up with them. BTW... Were they experienced or trained shore divers in that area? Did they drop their lead?

Should there be a swim standard. Yes. How much? I don't really know. As someone mentioned earlier, you can pass a 200 yard swim test and tread water for 10 minutes then down the road in a few months have your physical condition go South. Who'd know until it was a problem? BTW...PADI's swim test is the same as the Boy Scouts of Amerca to qualify to enter water over your head.

Also agree with the earlier post that no matter how fit you are, you can find yourself in a situation where the sea will get the best of you.

Surprised no one brought up regular medical physicals. Seems more likely to find a hidden physical problem (i.e. bad heart) in your doctor's office than in a pool doing laps.
 
I took my 1st NAUI class in 1973. While the overall training was much more than most classes are now, the swimming requirements were pretty much the same. 200 yards & tread water, maybe we had to do a short underwater swim.

The academics side was considerably more than a current PADI OW class. We had various gas laws, diving physiology, and internal regulator designs that were all taught, and on the written exam. There was a fair amount of math, and calculators did not yet exist. We worked it all out longhand. As I recall, my final score was a 94.

I was 12 years old. My biggest problem was handling a tank out of the water, but I managed that, too.

No, I don't really see a need for a tougher swim test. The only real purpose it serves is for the student to demonstrate basic competency in the water. As a DM you will have greater responsibilities that do not apply to the avg diver.

I am bothered by the brevity of the classroom work I see today. Maybe what we covered in the past was a bit overkill, but I do think that somewhat more than is covered now would be desirable.
 
Blackwood:
SCUBA certification is just that: SCUBA certification. They don't make you prove that you can walk to the nearest gas station when you get your driver's licence for a reason - they are concerned with your driving skills. Likewise, SCUBA agencies (should) concern themselves with a student's ability to use SCUBA properly.

That said, any time you participate in water activities, it's a good idea to be able to swim. The stronger a swimmer you are, the better. But there is no minimum distance that makes any sense to require. Whatever PADI or NAUI or SSI, etc., decide upon is arbitrary. I see no reason to make it arbitrarily longer. Now, if someone could present me with data showing the average distance a stranded diver has to swim...

Personally, I can swim a mile non-stop without getting winded. But I've no inclination to force an arbitrary standard on diving students.
The perfect minimum distance is not obvious, there isn't really a perfect answer. Zero is not the right answer. Gotta pick something.

Actually, when you get your license they are concerned with more than your driving skills - you have to be able to see too, they give eye tests. That actually seems a bit similar to diving and making sure you can swim. And before someone says using glasses is like using dive gear, it's unlikely you will ever ditch your glasses.
 
Its not about certification requirements, its about personal responsibility.
If a ski instructor teaches a client skills, and the client learns those skills, the instructor has done his job. If the student then decides to become an expert, he or she will need to get physically fit as well as practice those skills.
If a diver wants to become a safer, more competent, and complete diver, he or she should get more physically fit. The consequences are obviously greater for poor fitness in diving than other sports.
 
Miami_Diver:
what if you have a problem with your BC and have to ditch it!
I would never dive if I didnt know how to swim.

Hmmmm... there is NO way I'm going to sink wearing 7-mil john/jacket wetsuit in the ocean!!! (assuming I ditch weights) That's 14-mills of neoprene over my core. My girlfriend even wears an additional 3 mil suit.

Should the swimming tests be tougher? Maybe. Should I worry about drowning if I can't tread water? DEFINITELY NOT!

So, as long as I were fit, swimming with fins shouldn't be a problem. Thus, what help is it really to be able to swim well? I think most of that is just being comfortable in the water, not swimming technique.

- ChillyWaters
 
Some good responses and some that leave me wondering. Perhaps, as somebody said, the swim tests don't need to be tougher, but Divers need to be taught more about lifestyle and the importance of being fit and healthy.

ChillyWaters - Great, so you won't sink... but if you find yourself bobbing in the sea a mile away from the shore with the tide dragging you further out, your 14mm of Neoprene is going to swim you back to shore? If thats the case, then please tell me where to buy that suit, 'cos I sure as hell want one :)

DiveDoggie - you've made a really good point there. But you don't often ski in buddy pairs - very few adventurous activities outside of diving operate in buddy pairs, whereas newer divers rarely dive solo. The point I am making is that if you're unfit and a poor swimmer and you get in a spot of bother, you're going to be a liability to your buddy and endanger him/her. On the flipside, what happens if your buddy gets into trouble? If you can't rescue yourself how are you going to help them?

This goes a lot deeper than just sinking and swimming (bad pun, I know!)
 
ChillyWaters:
Hmmmm... there is NO way I'm going to sink wearing 7-mil john/jacket wetsuit in the ocean!!! (assuming I ditch weights) That's 14-mills of neoprene over my core. My girlfriend even wears an additional 3 mil suit.

Should the swimming tests be tougher? Maybe. Should I worry about drowning if I can't tread water? DEFINITELY NOT!

So, as long as I were fit, swimming with fins shouldn't be a problem. Thus, what help is it really to be able to swim well? I think most of that is just being comfortable in the water, not swimming technique.

- ChillyWaters
So I guess you never plan on diving in a warm climate, or you'll wear your 7mil when you do?
 
Wayward Son:
I am bothered by the brevity of the classroom work I see today. Maybe what we covered in the past was a bit overkill, but I do think that somewhat more than is covered now would be desirable.

Having originally certified NAUI in the same period '1973' and having just taken a PADI cert course, I think the classroom was about the same. I will say that looking at my old NAUI cert book, the literature has undergone a dumbing down with a 'user might be an idiot' approach in the PADI book. But the tests and the information in the PADI course was about the same.

This may be an instructor related issue, since my PADI instructor was from the same era as us.

Stan
 
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