Preferred Sidemount Return Swim?

[lowwall]

Not the whole thing, just the bit about turning the lower torso a bit to the side if swimming on front so that fins can catch the water better.

You want regular sidestroke then. It's not that easy finding a video because they are all about combat sidestroke. Because tacticool?

Anyway, back when I was a lifeguard, sidestroke was the standard stroke for towing victims. It's a nice stroke because it keeps positive contact and you can keep an eye on the victim and talk to them and make quick checks to see where you are going. We used a scissors kick, but with fins I'm pretty sure a flutter kick would be more efficient.

Like this. I'm not sure if the arm pull would be helpful in scuba gear.

 

[lowwall]

Not sure of what you mean by "trim" in this context as related to your legs, but what you are stating isn't accurate at all. I do a LOT of swimming on surface, using snorkel, to get to the drop down point which is usually 400 - 500 meters away from entry point. I swim face down with snorkel and kick with my fins keeping them below surface. I use a slightly modified flutter kick whereby my legs aren't straight, knees slightly bent at an angle towards the bottom. I kick nice and easy keeping the fins' blades below surface. MUCH more efficient in every way to the swim on back position. If I get tired or need to check what's on the bottom, I simply stop not move at all and wait until breathing and heart beat return to normal. (I mean total stop not even a slight arm move).

The person I was responding to was using "trim" to mean horizontal in the water. He went on to say that "turning face up will put you feet down and you're now swimming at a 45deg angle and slower, using more energy." My point was that the drag is basically the same since your legs have to drop down the same amount to do an efficient kick.

I think the confusion may come from the way many people swim backwards in scuba gear with the upper body almost upright in the water and the legs trailing behind and kicking. Yes, this is very high drag and only suited for a short swim. But if you lay out flat on your back like you are doing the backstroke and kick, you can move pretty quickly. You can also breathe as much as you want and you don't need a snorkel so you can talk to your companions.

Another thing. When it comes to surface swimming, face up or down doesn't make much difference as far as horizontal trim in sidemount, but you can't be in horizontal trim when swimming face down in back mount. The weight of the tanks forces your body into an angled position. You can get much flatter on your back.

I want to note that I'm only talking about the efficiency question here. There are certainly valid reasons for preferring to make your swims face down. Seeing what's underwater being the obvious one.

 

[Guille G]

Surface swimming with sidemount tanks sucks big time and takes up a lot of energy, in any position. Unless it is a short swim, in which case backwards tends to be the most comfortable way to keep your head above water, I stay under water and swim normally.