Swimming requirement

[mksmith713]

Doesn't matter how you get it done...as long as you cover the distance.
I remember back when my wife and I did our OW together, rather than bust out and get it done, I took it slow, did a little breast stroke, a little side stroke just to keep a nice pace with her.
Not once did I freestyle.
We started together and we finished together.

 

[lavachickie]

I can't add much to what's already been said, other than to also say that this comes up a lot for people considering taking a course. It was asked last night at a club meeting by a couple who are considering signing up for their OW class. "Do I have to be a good swimmer?" was the question, and the response from the table was, "Pfffft.... no. Look around."

To be honest... that kinda bugged me.

Do you have to be a world class competitive swimmer to pass the swimming requirement for certification? Most certainly not! You have to be comfortable in the water. You have to have a certain level of endurance and general muscular fitness as swimming works all the major joints and muscle groups. Most importantly, you have to have the knowledge of your abilities to be able to properly pace yourself.

I'm a big girl (trust me, probably in the top 1% of women diving, in terms of BMI). I'm a desk jockey during the day, and am clocking in pretty low on the frequency and intensity of workouts (gym a few times a week to do treadmill, walking the dog, hiking easy to moderate trails). I did the swim test with no problems, switched my stroke on each lap, and took a few deep breaths afterwards and was over it. But I didn't start it like it was a race. I leisurely but consistently swam. I've never had lessons, but feel that more practice and a lesson or two would make me a much more efficient swimmer.

Your swimming skills, or lack thereof, is one element you will consider when you look at a dive and assess whether it is at or above your skills level. Current, surf, if you're being picked up on the spot or will have to swim for pickup -- all those things require stronger swimming skills.

I know I'm going to work on mine to make them stronger. I would hope that anyone worried about their ability to perform or their actual performance in a short distance pool swim will do the same. You might be swimming for your life, or that of your buddy, someday. And waves, current, fatique and all the other things "the real world" will throw at you will make that pool swim look like nothing.

 

[Mike Boswell]

All statistics to the contrary.

Read the descriptions of dive fatalities in the DAN reports and see what percentage can be assigned to panic.

Hi John,

At your suggestion I re-read the DAN 2008 Report. They discuss many issues and they analyze fatalities in terms of various categories. We can learn a lot from this. It is clear, for example, that a high proportion of fatalities involve overweight divers, older divers, and divers with underlying medical problems.

However, DAN is very clear about the limitations of their data. They explain that the reports DAN receives usually give objective data such as Joe Diver's age, weight, sex, cause of death, etc. - but they often do not give subjective data such as why Joe might have spit out his regulator and bolted for the surface.

Thus, I would tend to take DAN's reports as a good measure of "What killed Joe" (i.e. "AGE"), but if you ask me "Why did Joe Die?" (i.e. "I dunno, he just totally freaked out!") I would be more inclined to ask the divers who were with him. The citation I quoted is from a book by very experienced divers, written for divers. IMHO, they would know the real root causes of most diver accidents best.

 

[Roy McKinney]

Being nervous can have something to do with it. Any kind of test can be a little unsettling, escpecially a physical test. That will cause your muscles to tense, your chest can get tight and restrict your breathing. That could be why some do just fine the second time around. RELAX and enjoy the swim.

http://www.darkfingloves.com

 

[DCBC]

Based on what you have experienced, how much of a problem will I have?

Getting swimming lessons will improve your swimming skill and improve confidence. It's not a matter of speed, so slow and consistent is fine. Once you are more comfortable in the water, everything will fall into place.

Keep up the good work. Persistence may not be everything, but it comes awfully close. Good luck.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I don't float, the only way I can swim is to beat the water into submission. When I certified about 2 years ago, there was a swim with mask/snorkel/fins and a 10 minute treading water. My dive instructor had to stay with me one-on-one during the treading water while the assistant took care of everyone else. If I can scuba, anyone can.

Hello Fatterboy,

One of the great things about Scubaboard is that people here have very different diving backgrounds and experiences, and they base their ideas on those experiences. I have never dived in a quarry or a lake, and I have never done cave diving or wreck diving or tech diving, for example. Someone who has done these things will have a different outlook than I do, and I can learn a lot from them.

Most of my diving has been ocean diving from shore or small boats. Lots of times this involves long swims in currents, surge, waves, choppy water, rip tides, kelp, and so forth. In my experience, people who are not strong, confident swimmers can have real problems.

 

[Darcey]

How good are you at the backstroke? Perhaps that may help you if you get gassed by 50yds. I did my 200 on my back so I could breath (er...huff and puff...it's been awhile since I was on the high school swim team!) the entire time instead of having to turn my face and hold my breath etc. while doing freestyle. Also, hitting the gym or just getting out and getting some excercise can and will help you not get so gassed.

I'm facing another (and am putting it off as long as possible) swimming test for Divemaster but this time it's 400yds. and another 800yds for a mask/shorkel swim and both are timed. Needless to say, I'm planning on doing the backstroke again for the 400yd swim. Not only was it my strongest and fastest stroke when I was on the swim team it's also great because you can continue breathing as normal which I feel helps a lot.:cool2:

 

[scubadada]

Sorry, I have no interest in being buddied with an essential nonswimmer on any dive I do . You never know when the conditions will require reasonable swimming skills above or below water on any particular dive. Diving requires a reasonable swimming skill and confidence in the water. All these hints on how to pass the swimming test do nothing to boost my confidence.

I am extremely confident I can save myself. I am reasonably confident that I can save you too. I have no confidence that you can assist me.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Mike Ange]

All statistics to the contrary.

Read the descriptions of dive fatalities in the DAN reports and see what percentage can be assigned to panic.

In response this was already addressed effectively by Mike Boswell and I agree with him but of course being a writer I have to elaborate a bit.

The DAN data is invaluable for what it does and it does present a very significant body of useable and useful statistics. But as my stats professor in college use to say - stats are like a woman's bathing suit - if you do not research the rest of the picture what they fail to reveal can be much more interesting than what they show!

There is a significant distance between

50 something year old diver had a heart attack while completing a dive to 63 fsw. The diver was in . . .

and

50 year old diver stepped into a 1.5 knot current, lacked the endurance to reach the tag line and struggled to get back to the boat in a heightened state of anxiety. Being unable to reach the line or the boat he lost control ripped off his mask, spit out his reg and began choking on sea water before becoming unresponsive.

The rest of the story is where I find the most useful information for training my students and where I justify my "Panic" assertion.

 

[Kingpatzer]

I don't particularly care for swimming requirements in pools, regardless of distance, as swimming in the oceans wearing flotation and fins is simply fundamentally different and in my view the swimming tests test nothing of value.

That said, being comfortable and confident in the water is a good thing. And doing what you can to improve your comfort just makes for being a smart scuba diver.