Swimming

[Soggy_Diver]

I think that being an experienced swimmer brings some bonus skills with it that support diving.

Maybe one is really fluent airway control. In choppy conditions, if an experienced swimmer gets slapped in the face with a wave, even on an inhale, they can often just automatically pause their inhale for a fraction of a second, and they don't choke. That comes from doing hundreds of cycles of swimming strokes with breath control, sometimes with waves or splashing. Weak swimmers have to really concentrate on managing the chop, and if they get slapped with a wave, they are more likely to choke.

Water related fitness is another. A swimming coach pointed out to me a couple of years ago that fitness for swimming and other aquatic activities is different from fitness for land-based activities, in that it builds stamina for breathing control and repeatedly inhaling against water pressure. One thing that makes swimming so fatiguing for inexperienced swimmers is inexperience with breath control and repeatedly inhaling against water pressure. I noticed the effect of this in rescue class, where the experienced swimmers were operating with some spare gas in the tank, while the weak swimmers were working to the limits of their fitness.

Just some anecodotal observations.

 

[lulubelle]

I think anybody who dives should be able to tread water, and to make a simple swim. After all, one walks out on docks to board boats, and falling can happen; one can fall off a boat, as well.

I am not a good swimmer, in that I don't like the freestyle and swim sidestroke and slowly, but I can swim a long distance that way without tiring. I think my swimming skills are adequate for the diving I do, and I've passed the swim tests for GUE Cave 1 and 2 (the latter by the skin of my teeth) so somebody else agrees with me.

You don't have to be able to set Olympic records, but safety really requires you be able to swim to dive.

A couple of points you make are very important to dwell on TS and M. Your swimming skills are adequate for the diving you do. But would someone who is "not a swimmer" but who has a fresh C card have similar wisdom to know what boundaries they should set on their own diving? Maybe. Maybe not. I've seen good swimming skills get people out of a world of hurt at the surface here in NC.

I guess I see it as something quite critical for diving in environments with currents, waves, chop, surge, etc. And I don't feel that the swimming requirements for OW certification are adequate to assess readiness to dive in some ocean environments. I would think that the safest approach for this woman would be to take swim lessons first.

To your point, you don't have to have an Olympic record. My brother held a world record for a period of time, and has an Olympic Gold medal, in swimming. He just got his OW last year. While I would put my money on him for being able to power through any water conditions he encounters, he is still a new diver, who is still learning, and I teach him a lot about diving. He actually had to work a bit to let go of his tendency to power through water when he is on his dive. He can save that for rough conditions.