Question about swimming ability

[Walter]

You should be a decent swimmer, PadI needs to toughen their standards, it would go miles and miles to improving the divers they turn out.

True, but that doesn't seem to be one of their goals.

 

[Ice9]

Gosh! You're allowed to float? My DI made all of us tread water! Tried to cheat by just lying back and got ticked off

Well, we weren't expressly allowed to float, but being as buoyant as me, its hard not to. Basically, I didn't need to work very hard at that water-treading

 

[SeaGurl]

I was very nervous about the swim test also. I hadn't swam a long distance in years, but I'm very comfortable in water. I thought I would have to front crawl the whole thing which I tried doing 8 laps in my gym's pool and could only make it to 4 laps tops before I had to stop. In fact my anxiety about it was so high I was thinking about not taking the class because of it. When I found out I could use any stroke I wanted (thanks to all the other scared newbies on scubaboard before me who asked) I wound up doing front crawl,sidestroke, and backstroke. The treading water oddly enough was the most tiring thing for me, probabaly because I was bored and watching the clock the entire time. For the last minute I indulged myself with a float flat on my back.

 

[SNorman]

You should be a decent swimmer, PadI needs to toughen their standards, it would go miles and miles to improving the divers they turn out. Your in and about the water, you need to be able to swim confidently, not olympic, but confident. N

How exactly should they toughen their standards?

 

[Walter]

How exactly should they toughen their standards?

A few ways that come to mind..........

1. Stop certifying 10 & 11 year olds.

2. Eliminate the non certification SCUBA programs for kids even younger.

3. Require a 300 yd swim (no snorkel option)

4. Require a 50 ft underwater swim

5. Teach frog, scissor and dolphin kicks in addition to the flutter.

6. Require mask clearing to be mastered before SCUBA is introduced.

7. Require mask removal, replacement and clearing while skin diving.

8. Require recovery and clearing of mask and snorkel from the pool bottom w/o SCUBA

9. Require skills to be mastered in mid water.

10. Require a full doff & don without assistance.

11. Require rescue of simulated panicked diver on the surface.

12. Require rescue of simulated unconscious victim from the bottom.

13. Require buddy breathing.

14. Teach the panic cycle and how to break it.

15. Require horizontal body position while on SCUBA.

16. Require divers to swim without using their hands.

There are probably more, but that would be a good start.

 

[greg27]

i once saw a woman try taking the ow class that couldnt swim at all , she didnt speak much english and was very skinny so she was negativly bouyant when asked to tread water she very calmly walked down the bottom of the pool till the water was over her head stood there a moment and raised a hand out of the water the instuctor walked over to the side of the pool and lifted her up by her hand and said 'can you swim' her reply was 'a leet bit' evidently she was under the impression that with tanks swimming would be unnecassary

 

[ScubaBond007]

A few ways that c1. ome to mind..........

.1 stop certifying 10 & 11 year olds.

2. Eliminate the non certification SCUBA programs for kids even younger.

3. Require a 300 yd swim (no snorkel option)

4. Require a 50 ft underwater swim

5. Teach frog, scissor and dolphin kicks in addition to the flutter.

6. Require mask clearing to be mastered before SCUBA is introduced.

7. Require mask removal, replacement and clearing while skin diving.

8. Require recovery and clearing of mask and snorkel from the pool bottom w/o SCUBA

9. Require skills to be mastered in mid water.

10. Require a full doff & don without assistance.

11. Require rescue of simulated panicked diver on the surface.

12. Require rescue of simulated unconscious victim from the bottom.

13. Require buddy breathing.

14. Teach the panic cycle and how to break it.

15. Require horizontal body position while on SCUBA.

16. Require divers to swim without using their hands.

There are probably more, but that would be a good start.

why stop certifying 10 & 11 yr olds??

 

[Auspicious Spear]

why stop certifying 10 & 11 yr olds??

No kidding, atleast my 10yr old can swim..lol


Atleast i can count on my son rescueing me if something would go wrong...


Na i would rather rely on a fresh one who cant swim but can scuba...LOL...not

 

[greg27]

walter posted about increasing the requirments for ow class i dont think thats necessary and would frighten off alot of people what should be stressed though is ow is an introductory course and any one serious about diving should plan on advancing there training to the level of rescue diver . what should also be stressed [and ive NEVER heard an instructor mention this] is the need to practice those basic skills such as mask removal and replacement. switch to your back up reg. and sharing air,and hose recovery. ive been divng regularly for 17 years and i still practice these skills once in a while. doing these things once in class years ago is not enough!

 

[SNorman]

A few ways that come to mind..........

1. Stop certifying 10 & 11 year olds.

2. Eliminate the non certification SCUBA programs for kids even younger.

3. Require a 300 yd swim (no snorkel option)

4. Require a 50 ft underwater swim

5. Teach frog, scissor and dolphin kicks in addition to the flutter.

6. Require mask clearing to be mastered before SCUBA is introduced.

7. Require mask removal, replacement and clearing while skin diving.

8. Require recovery and clearing of mask and snorkel from the pool bottom w/o SCUBA

9. Require skills to be mastered in mid water.

10. Require a full doff & don without assistance.

11. Require rescue of simulated panicked diver on the surface.

12. Require rescue of simulated unconscious victim from the bottom.

13. Require buddy breathing.

14. Teach the panic cycle and how to break it.

15. Require horizontal body position while on SCUBA.

16. Require divers to swim without using their hands.

There are probably more, but that would be a good start.

Could you explain how exactly those standards would produce better scuba divers? First of all, most of the critical items you listed we already did. Swim without hands? The second thing we did in the class, after treading water for 10 minutes, was a 300 meter swim (mask/snorkel) without using hands. We were taught why not to use our hands, and they reminded us not to use hands while swimming on scuba. It's right in the PADI textbook, and everything in the textbook was also in the class.

For the doff and don without assistance, maybe I misunderstand the exact meaning, do you mean in the water? We removed & replaced our scuba equipment underwater and at the surface with no assistance.

I'm wondering how exactly skin diving skills will make you a much better scuba diver. So let's say we require everyone to clear their mask underwater without scuba, how much better of a diver will they be now?