Not the best swimmer...

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

"cram for exam" is the feature of test-based learning, not limited to rescues. (Hence the smiley)
Yes. Also, that's a very interesting swim video. I had no thought about how arm frontal drag affects things. As he said, you just don't think about that while swimming--too much going on. I assume that "digging deep" is not advised for any distance swim, or maybe there is a "point of no return" where it would be better for a short distance, but not any more than that? Again, I am no expert for sure.
 
@TMHeimer

Hi Tom,

You're correct, this topic has been discussed many times previously. I appreciate your view, however, my view is different. I believe DMs should have a superior performance in the swim, tread, snorkel, and diver tow. This is not so much directly related to scuba skills as it is to the ability to assist and rescue in case of emergency. In my opinion, excellent watermanship skills may contribute to a positive outcome, I doubt they would hurt.

Very best and good diving,

Craig

Hi @MEmersonC

We can disagree, but still dive together :)
Craig, I don't think we really disagree much if at all. I went on more than necessary in my post. I was just unsure of your definition of "weak". What grades on the stamina tests would you consider strong enough to be a DM? Or how else would you determine this?
 
"cram for exam" is the feature of test-based learning, not limited to rescues. (Hence the smiley)

PS where they really should teach it is OW: by the time the students master it, they've got so much chlorinated water up the nose, the mask clearing drills will be a breeze.
ABSOLUTELY ! I was a great test taker/crammer in school and grades 8-11 maintained well over a 90% average. I was a memorizer and not the smartest on the block.
I guess you could ace all these stamina tests and still suck as a DM, but you'd be in great shape.
 
Craig, I don't think we really disagree much if at all. I went on more than necessary in my post. I was just unsure of your definition of "weak". What grades on the stamina tests would you consider strong enough to be a DM? Or how else would you determine this?
Hi Tom,

I have no cutoffs, I simply believe the stronger, the better. I would not second guess the requirements of the courses.

Good diving, Craig
 
Yes. Also, that's a very interesting swim video. I had no thought about how arm frontal drag affects things. As he said, you just don't think about that while swimming--too much going on. I assume that "digging deep" is not advised for any distance swim, or maybe there is a "point of no return" where it would be better for a short distance, but not any more than that? Again, I am no expert for sure.

Never noticed that drag myself either, but from what I remember they did tell us about pushing down against water resistance on entry. If you look closely at the lady near the end, you'll see she's "stabbing in" fingers-first rather than "slapping on top" and pushing down.
 
Never noticed that drag myself either, but from what I remember they did tell us about pushing down against water resistance on entry. If you look closely at the lady near the end, you'll see she's "stabbing in" fingers-first rather than "slapping on top" and pushing down.
Yes. My brother did mention that stabbing motion as well.
 
Sorry, this is disheartening to know that DMs will be weak swimmers. This is not what I would expect of folks who are responsible for the lives of others. I have higher expectations.

While I am in some agreement with you, and I have little time for DM candidates who turn up not prepared for the swims tests (the requirements are in their crew pak, some context is useful

The GUE swim test is 300 yards.275m in 14minutes and people fret about that one.

The PADI 400 yard swim has a maximum of 12mins (earns a 2). You can get a score of 1 for over 12 mins but you'll pretty much fail your waterskills tests by not having enough points - so more stringent test

Being pragmatic, IRl what is the practical maximum to expect someone to affect a successful rescue/ (Rhetorical)

If someone is say 400m away, so 400m swim to victim, carry out say rescue breaths and them get the victim back, you're way past the general survival time for the victim? The Olympic record is (roughly) 4mins in a pool, generally we get our candidate swimming in the sea..

It's a how long is a piece of string question

Generally the water skills are there to ensure comfort in the water, and as far as I'm aware most agencies have pretty similar requirements

If I were making changes to the DM programme, I would insist on a minimum number of training hours (anyone who thinks that they can be a competent DM in 7-10 days is lying to themselves), I'd increase the passing standards for the (24) skills circuit (that might happen after the new Instructor course is fully rolled out)

But I think that the Water skills section currently achieves a pretty good balance
 
While I am in some agreement with you, and I have little time for DM candidates who turn up not prepared for the swims tests (the requirements are in their crew pak, some context is useful

The GUE swim test is 300 yards.275m in 14minutes and people fret about that one.

The PADI 400 yard swim has a maximum of 12mins (earns a 2). You can get a score of 1 for over 12 mins but you'll pretty much fail your waterskills tests by not having enough points - so more stringent test

Being pragmatic, IRl what is the practical maximum to expect someone to affect a successful rescue/ (Rhetorical)

If someone is say 400m away, so 400m swim to victim, carry out say rescue breaths and them get the victim back, you're way past the general survival time for the victim? The Olympic record is (roughly) 4mins in a pool, generally we get our candidate swimming in the sea..

It's a how long is a piece of string question

Generally the water skills are there to ensure comfort in the water, and as far as I'm aware most agencies have pretty similar requirements


If I were making changes to the DM programme, I would insist on a minimum number of training hours (anyone who thinks that they can be a competent DM in 7-10 days is lying to themselves), I'd increase the passing standards for the (24) skills circuit (that might happen after the new Instructor course is fully rolled out)

But I think that the Water skills section currently achieves a pretty good balance
I pretty much agree with all you say. As I've always posted, I'd like to see some changes to make the tests more practical--regarding DM duties & rescues. But, as you say, any of these agencies' tests can measure what kind of shape you're in.
Re your rescue scenario of someone 400m away--- You're talking about the rescuer using fins, or not? I would guess a finless rescuer swimming 400m to save a geared up diver would be a disaster waiting to happen. Giving rescue breaths, towing back 400m or even far less, etc.? Where is your power coming from without fins and occupied arms? My response would be to use your fins, assuming you are diving that day and not just an onlooker on the beach. Or to just call call 911.
Now if you're using fins, that's where the PADI 800m m/f/snorkel test comes in--and where I suggest making it 1200m but allowing arm use for increased speed (that's what you'd do for a rescue).
********
In thinking over what I posted, I suppose you could swim the 400m without fins and do your best to dump the panicked diver's weights, inflate the BCD, etc. and then begin towing him/her back. That's still much easier with fins on to give you better control once you reach the diver, and still an awful long tow back without fins.
 
Finished up the DM process, just waiting for PADI to get back to me with the final approval. In the meantime, been working on my open ocean swimming with some of the tips you all have provided and am much stronger in the water than when I first began. Thanks for the advice!
 
If you hire a swim instructor, even briefly, a little coaching can go a long way. I had to hire a swim instructor to get through scuba class. It took only a few minutes for him to analyze what I was doing wrong and get me on the path to a massive improvement with very little work.

It didn't require tons of effort, just someone who knew how to do things the right way telling me how to fix my technique. I think I paid like $100 or something for a brief class. Worth every penny.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom