signed up for OW-questions

[GrierHPharmD]

Great job, LiteHedded! Sounds like you've got the right attitude to begin dive training. With your positive, proactive sort of approach, you'll find that you get much, much more out of dive training.

It's a little hard to get used to at first that dive training isn't very competitive. This is a different kind of sport than you may be used to. People tend to work together more than against each other, and that's one of the many things that I love about diving.

As far as the swims go, don't sweat them too much. They're mainly to assess your comfort level in the water.

I'm 43 and in only moderate shape (well, basically round-shaped!), and I completed my divemaster swims last year without too much trouble. They're much longer and much more demanding, as well as timed. (800 yard snorkel, 400 yard swim with just trunks and goggles, 100 yard tow of another diver in full gear, 10 minute float with the last 2 with hands out of the water.) And you know what - even those weren't too bad. The key was doing just what you're doing now - getting moderate practice on a regular basis.

Best of luck in your OW course. Be sure to keep us informed as to your progress,
Grier

 

[surfsidedav]

Good deal. The swim was the hardest part for the PADI course for me too. When the instructor said to jump in and swim I just looked at him said why, I thought this was scuba class, not life gaurd class. Oh well. I believe I saw it in the OW manual that you can also use mask and fins and snorkel 300 yards, which may be better than swimming 200. Mostly what I saw duing the swim were people showing that they could float for 200 yards, not swim. And we did a short underwater swim without a mask, but you still had your gear on.

 

[LiteHedded]

I've wanted to learn to dive since I was a kid. I wanted to be a professional underwater photographer or a marine biologist at one time.
(then I found out there's more money in computers )

i know it's not competitive but I just wanna be in good enough shape to finish the thing
I'm doing 16 laps in my pool now without stopping.
class starts saturday and I can't wait

 

[jakubson]

I've wanted to learn to dive since I was a kid. I wanted to be a professional underwater photographer or a marine biologist at one time.
(then I found out there's more money in computers )

i know it's not competitive but I just wanna be in good enough shape to finish the thing
I'm doing 16 laps in my pool now without stopping.
class starts saturday and I can't wait

Good for you! You'll find that not only do you enjoy the class better, you'll enjoy LIFE better.

I started diving in 1979, but during the 90's I allowed myself to get WAY out of shape. So I stopped diving for 6 years. But the lure of diving was so great, that at the ripe young age of 44 I got myself back into shape. You'll find that diving is a great motivator for keeping in reasonable shape (you don't need to be a huge jock, just be reasonably healthy).

 

[LiteHedded]

just finished my last pool session
I ended up finishing the surface swim first. go figure lol
pretty awesome this scuba stuff is
next weekend are the open water dives!

 

[Kriterian]

pretty awesome this scuba stuff is!

Sound like Yoda, you do.

Congrats on finishing the pool session. If you enjoyed that then you'll definitely enjoy your check out dives. Although, you'll have to deal with the evil fish that swim in your naughty places to distract you from passing your skills. I had a two inch bream terrorize me on my check out dives. I was without a knife, so I had to fend him off by removing my regulators and blowing bubbles at him.

Keep up the good work!

 

[LuvDaOcean]

Congrats!

I've been reading this thread for a while now and rooting for you. That's fantastic that the "dreaded" pool swim ended up being so much fun. Good for you!

I start my classes tonight. I hope I do as well as you did!

 

[LiteHedded]

well I wouldn't call it fun lol
but if I hadn't started swimming a couple of weeks before the class it would've been a lot less fun!
sucks I have to wait a whole week before I get to breathe underwater again
I would've thought an entire weekend in the pool would've soured me on it but I can't wait to get on the reef!

 

[LiteHedded]

just for those following my saga...
I finished my open water dives yesterday and I'm certified now!
it was great. saw a couple of pretty massive turtles, a big tarpon, LOTS of puffer fish (they're bigger than I thought) and a green moray.
fun stuff
thanks for all the help

 

[PugetDiver]

just finished my last pool session
I ended up finishing the surface swim first. go figure lol
pretty awesome this scuba stuff is
next weekend are the open water dives!

I am pretty out of shape (5-10 205lbs) but I am a very good swimmer. I finished right behind my nephew who is on the swim team at school (2nd out of 8). I found that 2 of the guys in my class that were in tremendous shape didn't know how to swim very well at all. During the water "tread" phase of our instruction (in the pool), the instructor passed around a 10 pound weight of which the 2 athletes couldn't hold without panicking. Made me feel real good about my "Fat ***" self