So, as you might surmise, I am not in total agreement with Seymour Fisch. You CAN pass the basic Open Water course and get the OW certification even if you are only a mediocre swimmer who can flail his way across the pool. But I believe learning to swim in the traditional manner CAN help one become that much more confident and safe as a diver. You may not NEED to learn to swim properly now, but in hindsight I wish I had done it before my original OW course and not waited until I was facing more advanced training. I don't think you will regret it if you get some lessons.
I agree! I'm not in total agreement with myself, either. :d I'd love to be a better swimmer, and this thread has inspired me to look up a local, Total-Immersion-Inspired swim coach, and I'm going to try to make time in my schedule for lessons some time in the next few months. And all the technical tips people are sharing (re: relaxation, balance, streamlining, etc.) are absolute gold. Thanks!
I just didn't want the OP or other beginners to feel as if they have to become super swimmers before they can start scuba.
John, I doubt there would be any liklihood of a scuba diver having to swim for hours without mask, fins and snorkel. .or tank....
The issue I am raising, is that almost every weak swimmer I have ever met, that tried to learn scuba diving, found themselves in an alien environment that kept them too nervous and uncomfortable, for them to learn scuba well.
...
Most non-swimmers are very close to panic when placed in the water with a scuba tank on...Poor swimmers are similar, their weakness at swimming still has them in near panic--they are NOT in control of their environment. The water does not make sense to them, their arms and legs do not do what they want from them....and they will be focused heavily on this feeling of near helplessness.
...
I feel a bit silly questioning Dan, given my lack of experience, but is it really that bad?!? Are there really so few people who love diving, despite being weak swimmers? (Indeed, as I mentioned, partly I love scuba because it compensates for my weak swimming. If I could freedive as well as I see a bunch of you in your videos, I might never have bothered with the time and expense of scuba.) Once this thread got going, all these elite swimmers jumped in, and it was 40 posts before MinimalMayhem was the only person besides me and the OP who admitted to being a weak swimmer.
Put me in a situation where I need to swim for a couple hours without any aids of any kind, and I'll likely drown. But give me a wetsuit, mask, snorkel, fins, (and maybe some whalesharks to watch, and a boat to pick me up when I'm done), and I'm perfectly happy in deep water, miles from the nearest land. Give me a full tank, a working regulator, and a BCD, and I don't
think I'm panicking or in bad trim:
Granted, this makes me a gear-dependent diver, so I am
less comfortable and
less safe than someone who
knows he can swim miles to shore, in rough water, against a current, towing his injured buddy, etc. It's great to have the advantage of being a strong swimmer. But is not being a strong swimmer really a show-stopper for most people who want to learn to dive?
Anyone else following the thread who isn't a strong swimmer?