Swimming Skills Assessment

[MRadke]

Just comfort with water on their face? THAT is wrong. Good diving doesn't come from getting in the safety of a bathtub and splashing water on your face. It comes from being in the water and enjoying it and being the master of yourself in the water. Sure, you dont necessarily need to be a marathon swimmer now, but the experience of being that comfortable shapes the way you approach the water and activities within it.

Being wary and uncomfortable in the water is a huge stumbling block to training great divers and is the reason so much damn time is spent on mask removal drills instead of diving. If you have to ask "do you need to be a good swimmer to be a diver?" you shouldnt be a diver yet, because people who are comfortable enough in the water to be a competent diver never have that question cross their mind. Just my opinion.

What you're saying may be your reality, but it isn't everyones.

I've already stated that I am not a great swimmer, but I have great trust in my equipment and an understanding of how it works. My wife, on the other hand, is a great swimmer, was a lifeguard as a teenager, and hasn't been able to get past the claustrophobic feeling she gets being on the regulator.

By the way, I'm kind of afraid of hights too, but have no issues rappelling down cliffs or operating a tower ladder. Again, it comes down to training with the equipment and having faith in it working, and understanding it well enough to troubleshoot when it doesn't.

 

[Buoyant1]

I've had a pool, or access to a pool all my life. I was never afraid of water, and can tread water for a LONG time, and swim enough to get me from point A to point B..but nothing even close to being a fitness swimmer or competitive swimmer. I had NO difficulty doing the swim tests for my OW, and is I would ever decide to go further, would probably pass those tests as well.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I didn't see a choice that fit me on the poll, so I didn't answer it. I love being in the water, grew up on/in it (mostly at the surface), and am a decent swimmer. But I don't regularly swim for exercise (1.5 hour round trip drive to nearest pool; open water nearby not suitable due to jellyfish).

Actually, looking over the choices again I suppose I should pick "Average swimmer; learned as a child but only swim occasionally." But.... that doesn't really feel like a fit either as I will swim any time I get the chance, and I love being on the surface of the water.

That being said, the whole "you dont need to be a good swimmer to be a diver" is just absolute BS! Being a good swimmer, far from what is listed as average in the poll, is what gives you the comfort in the water to deal with problems that might arise and the comfort and fortitude not to bolt in an emergency.

I don't necessarily agree with this. My usual dive buddy is not a very strong swimmer (certainly much "worse" than I am), but I'm pretty sure he would do better than I would in a problem/emergency underwater. Why? He's a calm, methodical type when faced with any problem, and he knows he can hold his breath for a looong time. But.... he's really not a very good swimmer, and had to slowly and painfully semi-dog-paddle his way through the OW swim test, which for me was just a fun, relaxing swim.

This is not to say that I'm a panic bomb, and of course the more training and drills I do the more I hope to improve; but just that out of the two of us, I'm pretty sure he'd be calmer in an emergency underwater now -- and yet he is a much worse swimmer than I am.

Blue Sparkle

 

[seaducer]

The poll results will show that an alarming number of cyber-divers are willing to lie about their abilities.

Nothing new there.....

R..

Probably. I should have voted the next one down but I am also lying to myself right now

Im still in shape im still in shape im still in shape

 

[TMHeimer]

I was on the HS swim team for about 2-3 weeks until I made JV basketball and chose that. That was 1970. Both my brothers are somewhat competitive swimmers, especially the 68 year old. Until working at it and finally getting a 3 on the DM swim test, I hadn't swam AT ALL in 39 years. Swimming laps just bores me to death (all I see is the bottom of a pool, not much better viewing in the ocean)--I'd rather walk or run, or do the exercise bike with the TV on. Diving, on the other hand is great. To each his own.

 

[seaducer]

Swimming laps just bores me to death--I'd rather walk or run, or do the exercise bike with the TV on. Diving, on the other hand is great. To each his own.

Yeah, for sure. I got an Otterbox and waterproof headphones and solved most of that problem. I also enjoyed the time to think.

I don't know how much lap swimming really helps though. I have always been a strong swimmer, but I grew up playing in the ocean all summer long. Surfing, snorkeling, playing in the waves, whatever. I think when I am diving if I need to draw on swimming to stay comfortable that is the type of swimming I rely on. Laps in the pool not so much as I can't swim that way with my gear on. The only thing that helps with is water on the face.

More than just comfortable, I think you need to be competent in the water. How you measure that I don't know, I guess if you are you feel it, if you are not you know it as well.

I do not understand people who are uncomfortable in the water and still dive. Just too easy to fix that issue and, well, anxiety is really no fun at all and causes a lot of little troubles to turn into big ones.

 

[jupitermermaid]

I have always been an avid swimmer. Belonged to the AAU when I was 11-13, then continued on to become a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor in my early 20's. Now I use swimming as a fitness tool to keep me in shape. Where for some it doesn't appear that diving and swimming skills have much commonality, just the position of the body and how you manuever it makes a big difference in bouyancy issues. I try to swim a mile or more each day in the pool just to keep fit, but am also aware that inertial lag and other issues that can mess up your swimming routine can also cause problems at depth. There are so many things that can go wrong in diving that you need to be able to compensate with swimming skills.....loss of fins and/or mask, being on topside of the boat and a diver on the surface in distress while the DM is still underwater with the nitrox group, or any unexpected events where being comfortable swimming without scuba gear can prevent or solve problems in the water. I'm not saying everyone should be olympic quality swimmers, but good swimming skills can make a big difference in efficiency in diving and comfortabilty in taking control of problems that can arise at depth and/or at the surface.

 

[pjhansman]

Being wary and uncomfortable in the water is a huge stumbling block to training great divers and is the reason so much damn time is spent on mask removal drills instead of diving. If you have to ask "do you need to be a good swimmer to be a diver?" you shouldnt be a diver yet, because people who are comfortable enough in the water to be a competent diver never have that question cross their mind. Just my opinion.

Not quite sure I understand.....you automatically equate lack of swimming skills with "Being wary and uncomfortable in the water". Why?

I sink like a stone in fresh water, making swimming a very tiring and difficult activity. But I know my limits and I am very comfortable in, and especially under, the water. Interestingly enough, my wife is a certified swim instructor and life guard, yet she struggles going underwater on every dive.

 

[Bob DBF]

I didn't see a choice that fit me on the poll, so I didn't answer it. I love being in the water, grew up on/in it (mostly at the surface), and am a decent swimmer. But I don't regularly swim for exercise (1.5 hour round trip drive to nearest pool; open water nearby not suitable due to jellyfish).

I have to agree with Ms Sparkle on this one. The poll choices seem to be:

strong swimmer - professional or semi professional swimmer
fitness swimmer - competitive or workout swimmer
average swimmer - learned to swim, doesn't swim much anymore. (move below weak)
weak swimmer - can swim, not confident (actually a good definition on the poll)

It seems that the definitions are based upon job descriptions rather than water skills used to make a determination of your skill level. As a lifeguard do you just count the cert. or is anyone counted if they dragged someone out of the water that didn't belong there anymore, or is a certain number of rescues that count as a cert.?

I agree that solid water skills are a big plus when learning SCUBA. It was especially important when I learned to dive because the BC was not used. What was more important to me was free diving (not the competitive stuff that some do now) and having a brother who would, on occasion, try to drown me. Learning that running out of air in the water was a time to think, plan, and execute has done well for me over the years.

Accurate knowledge of, and confidence in, your water skills is far more important than selecting a rating.
"A man's got to know his limitations." Harry Calahan


Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Divedoggie]

I think being a strong swimmer is still important. The background or foundation as a swimmer is more important than training or competing currently. Some level of fitness is important, too.

Fairly recently my buddy and I had a problem that we were working through and as we solved the problem we drifted past the mooring line which resulted in fighting a strong current to get back to the mooring line. It was a night dive, no other boats around, and the current was flowing out to sea.
My buddy is very fit, but just an average swimmer. I had to essentially propel the two of us back to the line, which was quite an overexersion. We ended up taking a 5 minute safety stop while I just hung there, heart racing and blowing hard. I really put myself at risk for DCS or worse, but the alternative was to be adrift at night... If my buddy had stronger swimming skills and swimming insticts, it would have been a fairly easy little sprint over to the mooring line.

My buddy is an incredibly relaxed diver with near perfect buoyancy skills, and 99.9% of the time she uses a modified frog kick.
She never had been in a situation where she needed to put the hammer down, get streamlined, use a powerful flutter kick and move quickly and efficiently through the water, and it didn't come instinctively when the urgent situation arose.