to get ready

[horsemen]

We need to know the name of your certifying agency to give you more details. PADI, SSI, NAUI, etc. Most of them require a swim test to gauge your comfortability in the water, which will include some or all of the following:

it will be PADi

Unaided, untimed swim: This is usually anywhere from 200 - 500 yards/meters, or about 8-12 pool lengths. You can't use any aids such as snorkle, fins, or wetsuit but sometimes they allow goggles or a mask. It's untimed and you can use any stroke or combination usually.

can you stop but stay above water or is that non stop i know i can do that if i can switch over to my back and do it a lil ways i sux at top water swimng

Underwater swim: This seems to be fairly rare, and you more than likely won't have to use it. It's usually a fairly short distance like 50 - 75 feet.

i can do most pools under water a few yrs ago i could do a 30 foot pool 3 times with out comng up but i not in that good of shape anymore but i sure a week at the pool i could get that back up

 

[Kriterian]

it will be PADi

PADI is a 200 meter unaided swim or 300 meter snorkle, and a 10 minute water tread.

can you stop but stay above water or is that non stop i know i can do that if i can switch over to my back and do it a lil ways i sux at top water swimng

You can switch strokes, or even swim under the water if you want.

i can do most pools under water a few yrs ago i could do a 30 foot pool 3 times with out comng up but i not in that good of shape anymore but i sure a week at the pool i could get that back up

You don't have to worry about the underwater swim, it's not required. Just head to a pool and do some laps until you can do the 200 meters comfortably. You can practice treading water if you have access to a pool with a deep end.

 

[horsemen]

oo if i can swim under water i am fine with the 200 meter swim and yes i have access to a pool one of the perks of living on a military base

 

[divenut2001]

I'd actually recommend against doing anything with tables before the class. Once you have someone run through how to use them, they're very easy, logical, and straight-forward. What makes them difficult for some is trying to learn them on their own and coming into class with pre-conceived notions on how to use them that are wrong. This happened to a number of students in my OW class. The instructor then had to put more effort into correcting them.. they had to un-learn the wrong way to re-learn the right way of using them.

Of course, I haven't seen the Table Tutor kidspot mentions below so that may be an easy way to learn. But if you're just looking at the tables to try to figure them out or relying solely on the book, I'd just spend more time reading up on other skills. Just my 2 cents.

The RDPs that I got with my PADI OW manual came with a seperate little booklet that took you thru it step by step. It was very easy. But had I tried to figure it out with the brief info given in the OW manual itself, I would have never got it. I knew how to read and understand the RDP and calculate NDLs accurately "before" my class ever started.

 

[horsemen]

[i got the Table Tutor from scubatoys and the math seems very eazy