RSTC Swim Test and US Navy Swim Test Questions

[TravelGas]

This was a very interesting discussion, with lots of knowleable people contributing.

Back to my comments about the kids no longer wanting to be lifeguards, the kids being more lazy today and less athletic and the dire shortage of LG. In an effort to put more bodies in the chair after the mass beach closures of Summer 2022 and by lowering the standards even further, the City of Long Beach NY has now lowered their testing standards yet again, by cutting the rehire swim from 200 yards to 100 yards and at a much slower pace and shortening the run that was once 2 miles, to one mile and effective this week, now only a 1/2 mile. How safe do you feel ?

 

[ntlhui]

Does anyone know the origin of the minimum swim test for open water divers?

I only know some of this history, but I will relay what I know and maybe someone else can fill in the missing gaps.

Recreational scuba training has its roots at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego, dating back to 1950 with Conrad Limbaugh and Andreas Rechnitzer. In 1953, the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation sent personnel to SIO for diver training. These personnel then developed the LA Underwater Instructors Program, which is the oldest scuba certification program in the US. (https://scripps.ucsd.edu/scidive/history-scripps-scientific-diving-program).

I believe almost every single US training agency can trace its roots back to this, though I'm not 100% sure.

The current SIO swim test is as follows:

In confined water, participants must:

1. Swim underwater without fins for a distance of 25 yards without surfacing;
2. Swim 400 yards in less than 12 minutes without swim aids;
3. Tread water for 10 minutes, or 2 minutes without the use of hands, without swim aids; and
4. Without the use of swim aids, transport a person of equal size a distance of 25 yards in the water.

In open water participants should:

• Swim to the end of the Scripps Pier (~1,000’) and back, including a successful surface dive to the bottom (~18'-20').

See https://scripps.ucsd.edu/scidive/authorization-training

From what I remember Rich Walsh, Assistant Dive Safety Officer, SIO telling us, this was originally based on having to ditch gear out at the La Jolla Kelp beds and swimming all the way back to shore. I think there have been expansions on it since to acknowledge further developments in what we as scientific divers at SIO need to accomplish.

 

[captain]

I try to maintain a fitness level such that at any moment I could stand up from this couch and complete an international distance triathlon which is 1.5K swim, 40K cycle, 10K run (I now sub in the elliptical). I was semi-pro for a short time in the late 80s. My times I shoot for now are 30 minutes for the swim, 90 minutes for the cycling and 60 minutes for the run. These are very mediocre times and thanks to a cycling crash some years ago (while training) that busted my leg badly my run times will never be good again and now thanks to a woman who felt her cell phone and vacuous life was more important than my well being and blew a double stop sign hitting me and ripping most of my right shoulder tendon from the bone I have not been able to swim until the last few weeks, nearly a year. It took me three weeks to get back to a very tepid mile taking me nearly an hour. A year ago, if I really wanted to, I could still get under 20 minutes for a swimmers mile. My normal cruising speed for up to three miles is 30 minutes to a mile.

I try not to worry myself with lifeguard (I was a WSI) requirements of what a Navy Seal can do. Instead I want to maintain a fitness level sufficient to have a good quality life and continue to do the things I enjoy as long as possible.

A combined workout I like do like one a week is to cycle 12 miles to the Y, swim my mile and then cycle home 12 miles and then take a nap and coffee and then do 30 minutes on the elliptical. I am 68, and yes, I want my nap .

James

Hi James, I have 11 more years than you. I try my best to stay in shape, weight lifting and elliptical three days a week. Because I am trying to preserve what little meniscus I have in my left knee I stopped the running several years ago. Looking at an L4/L5 fusion in September. I need to get back in the water, maybe next year. You still in Kansas?

 

[Nemrod]

Hi James, I have 11 more years than you. I try my best to stay in shape, weight lifting and elliptical three days a week. Because I am trying to preserve what little meniscus I have in my left knee I stopped the running several years ago. Looking at an L4/L5 fusion in September. I need to get back in the water, maybe next year. You still in Kansas?

Hi James, I have 11 more years than you. I try my best to stay in shape, weight lifting and elliptical three days a week. Because I am trying to preserve what little meniscus I have in my left knee I stopped the running several years ago. Looking at an L4/L5 fusion in September. I need to get back in the water, maybe next year. You still in Kansas?

Yes Captain, howdy, still out on the grass plains of Kansas . Heading to Red Sea in a few days. Trying to catch up on diving and other minor adventures now that the Pandemonium has subsided.

I hope for the back surgery to go well. There is a Zoom meeting weekly for the LH "Vintage" group, mostly just a few guys who like to talk regulators and dh stuff or trip planning or BS.

 

[tursiops]

The current SIO swim test is as follows:

In confined water, participants must:

1. Swim underwater without fins for a distance of 25 yards without surfacing;
2. Swim 400 yards in less than 12 minutes without swim aids;
3. Tread water for 10 minutes, or 2 minutes without the use of hands, without swim aids; and
4. Without the use of swim aids, transport a person of equal size a distance of 25 yards in the water.

These are the AAUS requirements for science divers; nothing special about SIO.

 

[ntlhui]

These are the AAUS requirements for science divers; nothing special about SIO.

No, but since we can trace the history of dive training back to SIO, there probably is something to be said about why those decisions were made and how they have influenced those that have followed. That said, I cannot directly speak for the history of those decisions.

Note that AAUS standards were developed from the original SIO dive training standards, not the other way around. That being said, there are most certainly external factors that drove that development, so it isn't solely SIO's decisions and working environments driving that.