Fundamentals Swim Test

[mje113]

You bet. I "hit the gym"--hired a swim coach for a few sessions. Before Fundies, I could manage to swim, but I had never properly learned to swim laps, and my lack of technique made it inefficient and exhausting. The swim coaching was worth it. For several years now, I have added swimming laps to my regular exercise routines. As the old knees complain about the decades of running, I've started to shift more to swimming.

Yes, this is exactly what I'm doing (swim coach) and happy with it so far. Feet for me, knees have been holding up after decades of running.

 

[rddvet]

I routinely hear, “hit the gym” for strength related problems ; why wouldn’t a similar attitude apply here? Seriously, if you struggle with either the surface swim or the breath hold, I don’t think you should be diving at all. Neither is a very high bar at all

Not everyone has the luxury of swim experience. I agree the swim is not that rough. The hardest part was catching my breath and getting my hr down after jumping in the cold spring water. But I have the luxury that as a child I was required to take swim lessons and participate in weekly swim meets at my summer camp. Not everyone has that luxury/experience and swimming is just really hard for some people. Swimming and being able to dive imo actually have don't correlate directly. I know some awful swimmers that dive/snorkel just fine

 

[lostsheep]

I want to clarify I wasn’t trying to single anyone out, just speaking generally.

Being honestly confident with your swim skills will let you stay calm when the excrement hits the fan. I’ve had my freak out moments in the water (not diving) and I’ve pulled several others out who were doing just fine until they realized they were a long ways from dry land.

Comfort in the water is huge for safety, probably more so than actually being a strong swimmer IMO.

 

[jrgregory]

I think my problem with the "submerged" semi-requirement, and what I focused on in my RFC, is that it requires specific technique if you are naturally buoyant.
There are absolutely people who are otherwise interested in Fundies but don't pursue it because they try submerged swim in the pool and can't figure out how to stay underwater. I happen to be male, but I understand women in particular have a tough time with floating up. Why would we want an otherwise great diver to be dissuaded from GUE because no one showed them the proper technique? No human wants to put all that time/money/effort into pursuing Fundies and be embarrassed because they "couldn't even pass the swim test" - so they don't pursue it.

If HQ determines that submersion truly should be a gating item for more advanced diving, we could also require it for a tech pass, or for advanced courses - and make the submersion technique part of the basic Fundies curriculum but not required for Rec pass.

I feel like this is one of those things that once you get it (or can do it naturally), its easy to forget that others don't know - so there's no GUE TV videos, very little Youtube or other official guidance, etc.

 

[bipolarbear]

Wait, you had to do your breath hold swim test in full kit? At least you were able to use fins?

That was my experience. The TDI course standards call for the following:

"Complete a horizontal breath-hold swim at depth for 20 metres/66 Feet with mask off or blacked out".

I suppose that at the instructor's discretion you could do this in a pool, without any kit. However for me we did it during the first 'skills' dive of the advanced trimix course, which was conducted in <10m water in full hypoxic configuration (doubles, plus 3 deco/travel gas stages). Fins on.

As unpleasant an experience as it was, I think it was a worthwhile drill. It simulates a complete out-of-gas requiring a lengthy swim to the next available gas (hopefully your buddy, or perhaps a quick ascent to a depth where one of your deco gases becomes safe to breathe). Successfully performing the drill instills confidence in a diver that they can go a surprisingly long time without breathing.

 

[jrgregory]

Just received an acknowledgement of my RFC. Dorota said the Training Council will discuss it and come back with a decision, but as of now the breath hold swim test should be performed underwater with the diver submerged.

Also said she will work on collaborating with some freedivers to add breath-hold swim technique videos to GUEtv.

Will report back if I hear anything further!

 

[grantmac]

But can you weight for neutral? Otherwise this makes the test much harder for people who naturally float.

 

[crofrog]

But can you weight for neutral? Otherwise this makes the test much harder for people who naturally float.

I have for every swim test I’ve done for my gue classes

 

[elmo]

But can you weight for neutral? Otherwise this makes the test much harder for people who naturally float.

I can’t answer that. But I do suggest doing the test *without* full lungs. This makes a noticeable difference to your buoyancy, and importantly the effort required to stay under. Before starting exhale completely to rid yourself of as much CO2 as possible, take a relaxed breath, then exhale to ~half full lungs. It leaves you with more than enough air to complete the swim.

 

[grantmac]

Oh I'm not concerned about completing it. I can do +30m without fins on a breath hold without too much effort.
I just think there needs to be a way for people of different densities to compete equally.