Open Water Fitness Tests

[CuzzA]

As for the original question, I have to admit I hate the swim test. I have never had a student fail it. After they have swum half a lap and I can see they are going to be fine, I wish I could just call them out of the pool so we could get on to scuba instruction. For that reason, a number of instructors I know try to turn it into something of an instructional session by requiring everyone do the 300 version with MFS. Some students have little snorkeling experience, and snorkeling for 300 yards is a good learning experience for them. It is also a good time to spot and correct poor kicking technique with the fins.

I never thought about it, but yes. Do the swim test with MSF!!! Is anyone really signing up for scuba who can't swim?

 

[dmaziuk]

I never thought about it, but yes. Do the swim test with MSF!!! Is anyone really signing up for scuba who can't swim?

Yes. I had two (count 'em, not one) in my OW class. During the float test one would let go of the wall, go through the cartoon drowning motions for a few seconds, then grab the wall again. The other one looked OK for the first minute or so, but then she had to take a breath and the looks changed. The fun part is, that was after the 1st pool dive and they both did the dive just fine. I think the instructor's started doing the float test before the first pool dive after that, plus the float and swim requirement is now in large bold font on the enrollment webpage.

The other (aside from sloppy wording) reason I think the requirements as stated are silly is because you didn't need 10 minutes to see they couldn't float. And 99% of the time you only need half a lap tops to see how well someone can swim. I completely agree that a 300 m (or e.g. 15 min) snorkelling requirement would be both far more useful and realistic.

 

[TMHeimer]

I never thought about it, but yes. Do the swim test with MSF!!! Is anyone really signing up for scuba who can't swim?

Another YES. It depends at times on what you define as "swimming". But there is the odd one who actually can't survive doing a lap of the pool. Normal rational people like yourself would be as amazed as I am.

In the 10-15 courses I've assisted with it usually goes like this:
--2 are good trained swimmers who probably do laps regularly and you know it right away.
--6 or 7 have no really proper stroke but can make it through 200 yards to satisfy the standard.
--1 or 2 probably saw the LDS sign or some ad and thought "Gee, scuba would be neat".

 

[Hawkwood]

Yes. I have had two. To the point were they did not get past CW1. They barely made it through the float. The swim was a no go. They were "counselled" to take some swimming lessons and come back.

 

[Neilwood]

Another YES. It depends at times on what you define as "swimming". But there is the odd one who actually can't survive doing a lap of the pool. Normal rational people like yourself would be as amazed as I am.

In the 10-15 courses I've assisted with it usually goes like this:
--2 are good trained swimmers who probably do laps regularly and you know it right away.
--6 or 7 have no really proper stroke but can make it through 200 yards to satisfy the standard.
--1 or 2 probably saw the LDS sign or some ad and thought "Gee, scuba would be neat".

That shocks me tbh.

At the point of doing my swim test, I had only been in the pool once in the previous 3 years but I reckon I could still have done the swim test twice followed by the float test (twice as well) before even thinking about being tired.

I wonder why some folk would sign up for scuba with obviously very little confidence in the water (the 1 or 2 in your example)

 

[PhatD1ver]

For fitness, I like to try fitness piece of pizza in my mouth.


Because it couldn't have been one of the other 143 agencies that teach open water classes, right?

Well, the reality is that even if there are 143 others, nearly all of them require some level of swimming ability.

For me, my test came after my final qualification dive, everyone was on the boat and kind of acting funning then they grabbed me by the arms and legs and tossed me back in. The instructor tossed out the tow line again and told me to swim three laps around the bow of the boat and the ball on the tow line. Of course, after my second lap past the bow, they pulled the mooring line, and as soon as I got back to the ball, the boat mysteriously starts moving. And I just starting following the ball, which is now be pulled back into the boat. After a day of three dives (two of them training, one for fun), I wasn't up for a long swim back. I'm not a bad swimmer, but I'm not by any stretch in my prime. But they fun was over anyway, and they killed the engine and let me catch up with the boat.

Still, I've observed that this 'requirement' seems to be much less formal, and often more optional than I like.