Passing the Swim Test

[tarponchik]

@GlassGuy808: Same here, I am heavy as an axe. For me, the hardest test was to stay afloat for 5 min with my hands behind my back.

 

[Sam Miller III]

@Kevrumbo

The La Co Life guard test @
I was unaware after all these years the LA Co Life guard test
Is the same basic test for entrance into the LA County UW instructors course !

I certainly performed it many times as all who are La Co UW Instructors have also performed the test

Thanks for search it out and sharing

Sam

 

[dmaziuk]

@GlassGuy808: Same here, I am heavy as an axe. For me, the hardest test was to stay afloat for 5 min with my hands behind my back.

I don't have much body fat but I can float on my back in a warm fresh water pool. I can also step off the edge and drop all the way to the bottom @ 12' so it's not like I'm naturally drown-proof. So I wonder how much of it is learned and how much is physiology, like having big lungs, or perhaps denser bones?

 

[tarponchik]

Could be the bones because my legs sink 1st when I try to lay on my back. I could not learn brass stroke, so I had to invent my own style of swimming. My dad could swim for miles and miles when he was young, because he could properly alternate effort and relaxation in brass stroke. I never learned that art. Though I can swim long distance e.g. in Sevastopol I used to swim to the buoy in the bay and back, and my friends in the Soviet Navy told me this buoy was 735 m (2,411 ft) off shore, but for me this was all effort, like loading 16 tons.

 

[dmaziuk]

Everyone's legs sink. If I don't hold my breath until I stop "rocking" before the next breath, and/or I am not fully relaxed, I turn legs-down just like everybody else.
Although on Pigeon Key on Roatan I could just lay down on top of the sea and hold a beer and a conversation. There must've been some local salinity anomaly there...

PS the relaxation in breaststroke is glide. It takes trim and enough speed to glide effectively. So again I wonder how much of that is learned technique.

 

[TMHeimer]

I don't have much body fat but I can float on my back in a warm fresh water pool. I can also step off the edge and drop all the way to the bottom @ 12' so it's not like I'm naturally drown-proof. So I wonder how much of it is learned and how much is physiology, like having big lungs, or perhaps denser bones?

--Is there any difference between warm or cold fresh water when it comes to buoyancy?
--My legs float in salt water. Assume you're talking about fresh water saying everyone's legs sink?

 

[GlassGuy808]

I don't have much body fat but I can float on my back in a warm fresh water pool. I can also step off the edge and drop all the way to the bottom @ 12' so it's not like I'm naturally drown-proof. So I wonder how much of it is learned and how much is physiology, like having big lungs, or perhaps denser bones?

Well it’s very interesting, I did some research and being part Portuguese we do have a denser bone structure somewhat like someone from Africa. If you notice most of the people who are swimmers in the Olympics are of the lighter skin tones. This is all so fascinating to me.

 

[dmaziuk]

--Is there any difference between warm or cold fresh water when it comes to buoyancy?
--My legs float in salt water. Assume you're talking about fresh water saying everyone's legs sink?

They keep diving wells 3-5 degrees warmer than the lap pools because it hurts less when you hit the water. Warmer: less dense: less floaty. Also, saltier: more dense: more floaty. I can't feel the difference floating on my back in the diving well vs. the lap pool: not being relaxed makes far more difference than those few degrees of temperature. As I said above, I felt surprisingly different on that beach in Roatan vs. my usual pool experience.

As for sinking legs, I think @The Chairman had it in his trim article: you're a seesaw with a longer "leg" arm and shorter "head" arm. It just normally turns you head-up, whether you're floating on your front underwater or on your back on the surface.

 

[The Chairman]

Assume you're talking about fresh water saying everyone's legs sink?

Everyone is different in what body parts are heavy or light and it changes if you wear an exposure suit, what kind and how thick. The temperature plays very tiny role, but salinity can be a huge factor. Go play in the cenotes in Mexico and feel the difference as you descend into the warm salt, from the cool fresh. It's not the temp but the halocline that causes the disparity.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Kev, Monmouth, NJ lifeguards smoked LA County in the last competition.

My old NJ surf hangs were Sandy Hook & Monmouth so I'm proud those kids did so well.

N.J. lifeguard team crowned champs in national competition