Yes that is exactly what I’m describing. Good form, being streamlined, and reading the cave all help, but getting through the first 400-500 of Hart when it’s flowing hard is more difficult for a woman with less upper body strength. I’ve done support at Twin D’s when the flow was *way* up so I’m not trying to say it’s insurmountable, just that men have a bit of an advantage with their standard strength. And, Ginnie (where the OP was diving) has some passages with extremely high flow/current. Newer cave divers often struggle with the flow in the gallery (first big room after the entrance) - while it does require some work, I can go up in the ceiling and can pull and glide all the way to the lips without even kicking. But once I get to the cornflakes, I sure wish I had a little more upper body strength!
Regarding gas consumption - and you saw this with the OP - the higher flow the cave, the larger the delta of gas used between entrance / exit. Assuming no decompression (to make it easier) if someone swims to thirds in a high flow cave, they typically end the dive with much more than 1/3 of the tank, bc much of that second (exit) third wasn’t used. The flow also can change depending on which passage you are in.
