Swimming Skills Assessment

[Portjackson]

I grew up in the water, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, lakes and rivers in sunny California. At 8, I got involved with AAU swimming continuing till I was 21. At 15, I got a special letter to authorize me to teach Red Cross Swim classes. At 16, I began working as a lifeguard at a local pool and assisted with high school swim classes. At 17, I started working as an open water lifeguard and made All American on the high school team. At 18 I was given a full scholarship for swimming and made varsity my freshman year. At 19, I won the Northern California Open Water Lifeguard High Point Trophy.

Nowadays I get a good two to three mile swim at the YMCA dodging senior citizens about two to three times a week. Then in the summers I do a few two mile lake swims. I am not as fast as I used to be, but I am pretty comfortable in the water.

I agree with Cousteau that the standards have become very relaxed. I now see divers with an OWS certificate becoming public safety divers and it scares me.

Swimming skills have a direct relation to level of comfort in the water. That being said, your diving should reflect your comfort level. Diving tended by DMs in calm, flat, tropical water during a bright sunny day probably does not require a high degree of swimming skills. Whereas diving in four to six foot swells, with 20 knot winds and a knot+ current in the Pacific Northwest during the winter would require more than an average level of swimming competency.

My swim workouts reflect the diving I do, more than the competitive training I used to do. This includes more emphasis on kicking with fins to build up leg muscles and to build up a greater tolerance to lactic acid. I also end my workout with several underwater distance breath hold swims to build up lung capacity and CO2 tolerance.

 

[Full Circle]

I think a diver is who doesn't participate in a swimming fitness regimen is doing themselves and their buddy a disservice and narrows their margin of error for safety and even survival.

We routinely have to drag divers back to the boat or pull up anchor to go get them in conditions I consider mild to benign (less than 1/4 knot current and 1-3 foot seas). I believe the only way to condition yourself for swimming is by swimming.

 

[TMHeimer]

I grew up in the My swim workouts reflect the diving I do, more than the competitive training I used to do. This includes more emphasis on kicking with fins to build up leg muscles and to build up a greater tolerance to lactic acid. I also end my workout with several underwater distance breath hold swims to build up lung capacity and CO2 tolerance.

I admire your workout routine. Very practical for diving--use of fins, building leg muscles, breath hold swims (with fins?). Not exactly "regular" swimming, though.

 

[TMHeimer]

I think a diver is who doesn't participate in a swimming fitness regimen is doing themselves and their buddy a disservice and narrows their margin of error for safety and even survival.

We routinely have to drag divers back to the boat or pull up anchor to go get them in conditions I consider mild to benign (less than 1/4 knot current and 1-3 foot seas). I believe the only way to condition yourself for swimming is by swimming.

If these divers are in full dive gear, of course including fins, it would seem they are generally in awful physical shape, period. I hadn't actually done any formal swimming for decades (ane hadn't yet trained for DM tests), and when I started diving (at 51), had absolutely no trouble with long surface swims in full gear. My swimming technique sucked.

RE: "Only way to condition yourself for SWIMMING is SWIMMING". --Agree completely.
Kicking with fins and full gear on isn't swimming. It's strength.

 

[cmdrcody]

I think that the propensity of advanced swimmers to be found in the water doing something (I surf, SUP, kayak, free dive, snorkel, swim, water ski, wake surf, life guard and scuba dive) is rather likely as a result from their general affinity for the water so I would guess its easy to postulate that the majority of scuba divers would be above average as a norm. However, between the accessibility of NAUI and PADI courses and the ease with which one can be assessed for safe basic diving I also think those less adept in the water are drawn to it because of the equipment, safety and skills now involved and taught. I started diving in the 1970's and basically strapped on a mask, fins and a tank and got after it. I was lucky because my bottom depth was shallow enough that I didn't BAR-traumatize myself!

 

[MJJ]

"Only way to condition yourself for SWIMMING is SWIMMING".

May I point out that NO contemporary athlete, in any discipline, would be competitive amongst their peers without weight training. It is not enough any more to train hard in your discipline.

 

[Full Circle]

May I point out that NO contemporary athlete, in any discipline, would be competitive amongst their peers without weight training. It is not enough any more to train hard in your discipline.

Forgive me but I'm only referring to recreational divers and not competitive athletes.

 

[Full Circle]

If these divers are in full dive gear, of course including fins, it would seem they are generally in awful physical shape, period. I hadn't actually done any formal swimming for decades (ane hadn't yet trained for DM tests), and when I started diving (at 51), had absolutely no trouble with long surface swims in full gear. My swimming technique sucked.

RE: "Only way to condition yourself for SWIMMING is SWIMMING". --Agree completely.
Kicking with fins and full gear on isn't swimming. It's strength.

When I get in the pool I use my mask and fins. Twice a week I swim 3000+ meters doing all sorts of different strokes. One that I use to help build strength is called the "tombstone" (the float board looks like a tombstone) where I hold it in front of me to create the most amount of resistance and push it through the water. Another is swimming on my back and holding my arms at 90 degrees to create drag. I also pull my gear bag behind me to simulate, even if remotely, a tired diver pull. By doing all of this I feel more confident in my abilities to take care of myself and others in the water. (BTW I happen to be 51 now, congrats on getting into the sport no matter what age you are)

 

[TMHeimer]

May I point out that NO contemporary athlete, in any discipline, would be competitive amongst their peers without weight training. It is not enough any more to train hard in your discipline.

A tad off topic, but interesting point. Maybe that's why today's NBA players look so different from the 1970 Knicks.

 

[G9]

I swim (freestyle) 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) in the pool in 30 minutes. I do this twice per week when I am at home. I think this keeps me feeling very familiar with being in the water, which has to be an aide to diving.
It does give some fitness too, but I think other activities help equally with fitness for diving swimming. I run, hike, cave, also. These build strong leg muscles and overall aerobic and muscular fitness. I think they are just as good a way to stay fit for diving as swimming is. The "being fit" bit is what is important, I think, rather than how you do that.

Of course I am assuming a basic level of swimming competence.