Passing the Swim Test

[Bubblesong]

So how long in minutes should it take to finish the 200 or other reasonable swim test?
I was in pool today just practicing the different kicks for twenty minutes and it is pretty tiring, even without fins to increase resistance.
To clarify, hotel pool not set up for laps, plus kids present, so my method is to hold hands against stairs or rails while kicking forward.

 

[TMHeimer]

So how long in minutes should it take to finish the 200 or other reasonable swim test?
I was in pool today just practicing the different kicks for twenty minutes and it is pretty tiring, even without fins to increase resistance.
To clarify, hotel pool not set up for laps, plus kids present, so my method is to hold hands against stairs or rails while kicking forward.

It should take about the time it takes for the instructor to go to the locker room and get into his/her wetsuit. While I am assigned to count the number of laps 8-10 students are doing all at the same time. Interesting. I guess that's a job for Sheldon Cooper. Maybe that's an indication of how serious the test is taken? Honestly, everybody passes except the guy who really just basically dies in the water and stops forward motion.

 

[JohnnyC]

I think it’s a very important skill to have for a multitude of reasons. Just look at the progress @Marie13 has made over the last year in her diving, in part due to her swimming regimen.

My DM swim test wasn’t fantastic, but it was much better than others simply because I had the foundational swimming skills from spending lots of time in the pool as a kid. It was a major boon when I did my rescue course having to do a surface swim while providing CPR to the victim in current.

 

[Akimbo]

It was pretty normal in the area I grew up for kids to take Red Cross swimming courses... vintage 1950s. That was great with me since Sea Hunt already had me hooked for life.

 

[Schwob]

I much like the thought and the swim instruction link and will check it out, but, I wonder:
What's up with the Crawl part?

If I chose to swim a 400 yard or a mile, or ... in "any old stroke" instead of 200 yard Crawl, would I fail?

When you surface swim in Scuba gear, even if you lost your fins, do you crawl? And stay with and observe your buddy?

When you push or tow someone in during a rescue, rescue breath or not you have your tank and BCD / BP&W off, but do crawl?

When there is an 6, ... 8' or + sea, do you crawl?

When you navigate through surf back onto a rocky shore needing to avoid "hard, sharp, stationary obstacles" do you crawl?

When you swim anywhere on the surface with boat / dinghy traffic for whatever reason, maybe with float or SMB in tow, do you crawl? Or do you swim in a more "seeing way"?

When for some reason you feel like looking around for pectoral fins while surface swimming, do you.....

...

 

[TMHeimer]

Schwob, Yes, I agree with all you say. Fins on----not swimming. Rescue Course---not swimming. Pretty much anything to do with scuba---not swimming. Doing laps in pool in bathing suit only---swimming. Using fins (and mask/snorkel)--recommended to have these ready at all times by the Rescue Course--then using the crawl, arm strokes and all--to get to a person in need of rescuing---swimming (WITH fins--this may be the only scuba--related need for swimming the crawl or any stroke). Interesting to see how FAST you can go doing the crawl WITH fins....A DM course test for that makes sense to me--not 800 yards with mask/fins/snorkel and NOT allowed to use arms. Lots of old stuff on this on the Going Pro sub forum (from about 2010 or so?).

 

[dmaziuk]

So how long in minutes should it take to finish the 200 or other reasonable swim test?

Record speeds are around a 100 a minute for front crawl. If you can go half as fast you're a strong swimmer.

I think for a recreational scuba diver, being able to stay afloat and moving for 20 minutes is much more useful than being able to swim 200 metres. I can see how rescue/DM'ing could involve towing an unconscious victim, that's where swimming proficiency becomes important. OTOH trim and propulsion works the same on the surface as it does underwater, so proper trim and kick techniques are definitely useful...

 

[TMHeimer]

dmaziuk, I agree about the float being more important. If you're talking about some rare incident like the boat (and all floatation devices, fins) sinks, floating ability is probably the best thing to know. Unless you are in a remote area (which granted is entirely possible), someone 200 yards away on a shore you may try to swim to would probably see or hear you and get help. Being unable to float with my hands out in the fresh water pool, I heard about drown--proofing, which worked and got me a "5" on the DM float test. That is what I would have to do if my boat sunk in the middle of Lake Erie. You could do that for quite a while, but obviously not forever. That may be another reason to always know where your fins are. You could cover a lot more ground with fins on rather than doing a perfect crawl without them.

 

[dmaziuk]

What's up with the Crawl part?

There's a theory that men tend to do bench presses and stuff a lot and end up with (relatively) overdeveloped shoulders and underdeveloped legs. So then they suck at breaststroke 'cause that's 80% legs. Of the remaining three "proper" styles, bat takes much more than just shoulders, so that's out. Which leaves you with front crawl and back crawl. So Crawl it is.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've heard that 75% of your power with the crawl comes from the arms. That was one of my problems on the DM swim--too much kicking for too little return while knocking yourself out. Also, a key seems to be not raising arms out of water too far and "digging deep" in the water to get the most power.