I finally was able to track down the history of the USLA 500-meter swim test for surf lifeguards without the easy button known as Dr. Sam Miller III. It was a political decision that was a compromise between the American Red Cross 500-yard swim in their Advanced Lifesaving course and a 600-yard swim test performed by lifeguards from the National Park Service at Gateway National Recreational Area in Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
Gateway lifeguards implemented research by Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Dr. Cooper had been hired to create fitness standards for the military. He discovered a correlation between VO2 max and time/speed/distance. The 1.5-mile run in 12 minutes or less is one example of his research on military fitness standards. The Gateway lifeguards had to complete the 600-yard swim in less than 10 minutes. They were the first lifeguard agency to implement a fitness test based on scientific research.
Until that point, swim tests were arbitrary. A conference on aquatics safety was held at Texas A&M in Galveston in 1980. The following entities were in attendance:
• American Camping Association
• American National Red Cross
• Boy Scouts of America
• Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics
• Girl Scouts of the United States of America
• National Center for Disease Control
• National Park Service
• National Safety Council
• National YMCA
• United States Coast Guard
• United States Lifesaving Association
One of the goals of the conference was to develop a timed swim standard for lifeguards. They decided to keep the Red Cross 500-yard distance and convert it to metric because they thought the USA was going to adopt the metric system in the near future. That gave them a 500-meter distance, which was also seen as a compromise between the Red Cross's 500-yard swim and Gateway's 600-yard swim at 550 yards. But they kept Gateway's "in less than 10 minutes" time limit for the test. They expected all agencies to adopt the new standard, but by 1984 only the United States Lifesaving Association adopted the new standard for surf lifeguards.
When I took the Red Cross Advanced Lifesaving/WSI course in college in 1988, we had to swim 500 yards in 10 minutes or less. The Red Cross has since dropped that standard to the no time limit it had before the 1980 conference for waterfront lifeguards and pool lifeguards only have to swim 300 yards but must demonstrate basic strokes.
Now that I know that history, my next question is "Where did the RSTC 200-yard swim test and 10-minute water tread/survival float come from?"
I'm thinking that it must have its roots in the United States Navy's swim test for sailors. In Advanced Lifesaving, the first skills we learned were how to tread water and inflate clothing for flotation as the US Navy teaches. They no longer teach this as part of the American Red Cross Lifeguard Training course. I think it is a shame they stopped teaching "lifesaving" vs. "lifeguarding" because lifesaving prepared you for situations outside the work environment when you might not have equipment.
My thought is that the RSTC's basic watermanship must be based upon the Navy due to the short swim distance.
Does anyone know the origin of the minimum swim test for open water divers?
For you US Navy veterans, how did the Navy teach/test you for swimming and how did they determine what swim rating to give you?
Gateway lifeguards implemented research by Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Dr. Cooper had been hired to create fitness standards for the military. He discovered a correlation between VO2 max and time/speed/distance. The 1.5-mile run in 12 minutes or less is one example of his research on military fitness standards. The Gateway lifeguards had to complete the 600-yard swim in less than 10 minutes. They were the first lifeguard agency to implement a fitness test based on scientific research.
Until that point, swim tests were arbitrary. A conference on aquatics safety was held at Texas A&M in Galveston in 1980. The following entities were in attendance:
• American Camping Association
• American National Red Cross
• Boy Scouts of America
• Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics
• Girl Scouts of the United States of America
• National Center for Disease Control
• National Park Service
• National Safety Council
• National YMCA
• United States Coast Guard
• United States Lifesaving Association
One of the goals of the conference was to develop a timed swim standard for lifeguards. They decided to keep the Red Cross 500-yard distance and convert it to metric because they thought the USA was going to adopt the metric system in the near future. That gave them a 500-meter distance, which was also seen as a compromise between the Red Cross's 500-yard swim and Gateway's 600-yard swim at 550 yards. But they kept Gateway's "in less than 10 minutes" time limit for the test. They expected all agencies to adopt the new standard, but by 1984 only the United States Lifesaving Association adopted the new standard for surf lifeguards.
When I took the Red Cross Advanced Lifesaving/WSI course in college in 1988, we had to swim 500 yards in 10 minutes or less. The Red Cross has since dropped that standard to the no time limit it had before the 1980 conference for waterfront lifeguards and pool lifeguards only have to swim 300 yards but must demonstrate basic strokes.
Now that I know that history, my next question is "Where did the RSTC 200-yard swim test and 10-minute water tread/survival float come from?"
I'm thinking that it must have its roots in the United States Navy's swim test for sailors. In Advanced Lifesaving, the first skills we learned were how to tread water and inflate clothing for flotation as the US Navy teaches. They no longer teach this as part of the American Red Cross Lifeguard Training course. I think it is a shame they stopped teaching "lifesaving" vs. "lifeguarding" because lifesaving prepared you for situations outside the work environment when you might not have equipment.
My thought is that the RSTC's basic watermanship must be based upon the Navy due to the short swim distance.
Does anyone know the origin of the minimum swim test for open water divers?
For you US Navy veterans, how did the Navy teach/test you for swimming and how did they determine what swim rating to give you?
