200m swim test and 10 mins water treading

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I would to thank everyone who gave tips and advices here. Today I practised in the deep end of the pool and completed 200m swim, and for survival float i could stay as long as I want with combination of water treading, backfloat, drownproofing and playing around in the water. Will sign up for Scuba course next.

In Scuba course, what is the most challenging thing that we need to pass?

Well done for practising and improving your water skills. Now try not to over think or worry too much about what may or may not be difficult in the course itself. Some skills are harder for some, easier for others. Your instructor is there to guide you. They will brief the skill, explain the benefit of the skill, demonstrate the skill step by step and allow you time and opportunity to master it. All you need to do is relax, focus and, above all, enjoy it!
 
In Scuba course, what is the most challenging thing that we need to pass?

I think for most people it's water up the nose. Chlorinated pool water is particularly unpleasant when it hits the olfactory nerve.

When you breathe in you normally suck air in the nose, even if you're mouth-breathing. Underwater, when you take your mask off for the mask-clearing drill, you suck in water.

Practice using a neti pot and also with a snorkel and swimming goggles (not diving mask: the ones that leave your nose open) in the pool.
 
When I talk to newer divers (I am new myself) at the quarry it either mask drills (like posters said above) or people uneasy and breathing too fast.

When you have to break the seal of the mask make sure you do it only with a finger and let the water drip slowly to fill the mask. You can slightly exhale through the nose to avoid water coming up your nose.

For overbreathing i don’t think there is anything else than just trying to relax ? At any point you can just stop to regain your composure and continue the drill rather than stressing and trying to do everything fast ?
 
My hardest skill as newbie diver is maintaining neutral buoyancy at depth. It’s a work in progress, I’m sure I’ll get there eventually, but improvement is incremental.
 
Overbreathing an AL80 on a pool dive may make it harder to control your buoyancy and the drills in mid-water, but won't get you in trouble. Unless you hyperventilate so hard you pass out. When chlorine up the nose hits the spot, it stings, it makes your eyes water, and (to me anyway) everything smells like vinegar for some 5 minutes afterwards. I'm not enjoying any of it, but after decades in the pool I can "man up" and keep going. I can easily see someone not used to it bolting to the surface, coughing and spluttering -- that can be trouble.
 
Overbreathing an AL80 on a pool dive may make it harder to control your buoyancy and the drills in mid-water, but won't get you in trouble. Unless you hyperventilate so hard you pass out. When chlorine up the nose hits the spot, it stings, it makes your eyes water, and (to me anyway) everything smells like vinegar for some 5 minutes afterwards. I'm not enjoying any of it, but after decades in the pool I can "man up" and keep going. I can easily see someone not used to it bolting to the surface, coughing and spluttering -- that can be trouble.
It was the last one: I have seen one person who didn’t want to stay down because he felt like they couldn’t get enough air from the reg.

I guess that’s not about overbreathing but more generally about being too stressed ?
 
Today i found out most of the swim part is mental, all this while i swim at the deep end of the pool, maybe i was afraid of exhausting in the middle of the pool and drown hence i have doubt to keep going. Today i swim at the shallow end and had no problem of 200m continuous breast stroke. now its time to focus on the 10m survival float

I told ya it was in your head. You got this!!! I'm so very very happy for you and cannot wait for the post that you are now an OW diver, got hooked on it, and signed up for your AOW class. :clapping:
 
I would to thank everyone who gave tips and advices here. Today I practised in the deep end of the pool and completed 200m swim, and for survival float i could stay as long as I want with combination of water treading, backfloat, drownproofing and playing around in the water. Will sign up for Scuba course next.

In Scuba course, what is the most challenging thing that we need to pass?

Congratulations - as @BikerBecca says a lot of it is mental. You get stressed by the fact it is a TEST.

I found the mask clear to be an issue in the pool - mainly because my eyes sting with chlorine to the point that I can't keep them open. I just did the mask clear with closed eyes. It was no problem in OW as even in sea water there is far less of an irritation.

Buoyancy control is another thing that takes a bit of managing as (even if everything else is perfect) your lungs affect your ability to hover. Breathing in and out will cause you to move up and down accordingly but you can manage it by timing and altering the volume of your breath. Sounds difficult (and it is initially) but gets easier with practise to the point at which it becomes automatic - you just think "I want to drop down a couple of feet" and subconsciously alter your breath to do it.
 
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