Undercurrent--"Why Divers Die"

[Cacia]

when you have to swim against a current for several minutes to get back to the boat.

point taken, but I try and not swim against current...I am really paranoid about that and getting bent. I almost never do it.

 

[mikerault]

I thought it was 200 yards no equip, 300 yards with mask, fins and snorkle...where did this 100 yards come from? The PADI OW book is 200/300 I didn't see a requierment in the SSI manual...

Mike

 

[drbill]

The mask, snorkel and fin thing that PADI now allows is not swimming. There are people who can push themselves with fins while breathing on a snorkel that can't swim at all without equipment.

In the four years I ran a dive shop I had quit a few people sign up for classes who couldn't swim. I had some who couldn't sustain themselves at all in the water and I had several who couldn't make it the 100 yards.

I agree. This is NOT a swim test. A SWIM test is unaided.

Since I am not an instructor, I'm not fully aware of the current requirements by agencies. I had heard that a real swim test was no longer required at least by some agencies. To me this is ludicrous (if true).

I don't care what stroke a person uses or how fast they swim the distance, but they should be able to complete a minimum of 100 yards without being at risk for cardiac arrest.

Now back to my donuts.

 

[Cacia]

Your waist to hip ratio is an important tool that helps you determine your overall health risk. People with more weight around their waist are at greater risk of lifestyle related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes than those with weight around their hips. It is a simple and useful measure of fat distribution.

A lot of weight distribution is hormonal too.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I thought it was 200 yards no equip, 300 yards with mask, fins and snorkle...where did this 100 yards come from? The PADI OW book is 200/300 I didn't see a requierment in the SSI manual...

Mike

You're right it's 200/300...I'm going to blame the poster I was quoting. LOL

 

[Teamcasa]

A lot of weight distribution is hormonal too.

Hormonal or genetic?

Are there not several different body shapes that are still considered normal?
Long waist with shorter legs, (like me) or long legs with short waist, like my lovely bride.
They may be tall, short, thick, skinny, pear or apple yet, if they are “in shape” they still have the genetics that determine their physical shape.

Dave

 

[Tigerman]

To go back to the mere statistics of this topic..
45% of the fatal accidents where obese people.
55% of the fatal accidents where in other words NOT obese people.
Lets assume that divers are "average joes" with the mentioned 30% being obese.

Now, lets assume 1000 dives is done (for easy math).
450 dives of 1000 is 45%
550 dives of 1000 is 550%

Lets assume 100 divers (still for easy math).
450 dives on 30 obese divers (30%) would be 15 dives per diver.
550 dives on 70 non-obese divers (60%) would be 7,86 dives per diver.

That means that (assuming each dive have the same risk factor and all dives where the same type of dive) that for obesity to be a non-factor, obese divers would have to do almost twice the ammount of dives the non-obese divers does.
Could this be the case? Probably not.

Then comes the next question; What is the distribution of "risky dives" for obese vs non-obese divers?

Now, if we can analyze all angles and find that obese divers DOES have a higher risk per dive than non-obese divers, what is the reason for it?
Is it the fact that they are obese? Probably not.
Is it the fact that they are in weaker physical condition (assuming that generally they do have a lower stamina)? Possibly.
Could it be that obese divers generally have weaker diving skills than non-obese divers? Fully possible and if this is the case;
Could it be related to obese divers being less active divers than the non-obese, therefore getting less practice? Possibly, and that would lead us down the road of;
Is less active divers running a higher risk of an incident per dive? Probably..

Enough ranting already..

 

[captain]

point taken, but I try and not swim against current...I am really paranoid about that and getting bent. I almost never do it.

We all try to avoid situations like that but sometimes it doesn't go the way we planed.

 

[Cacia]

Hormonal or genetic?

both...but men lose testosterone as they age and thats why they get apple shaped in later life. HGH...lots of hormones dictate fat distribution. Even insulin is a hormone...
insulin resistance is a biggie now. Plus..your homonal propensity is genetic to some degree.
Controlling your hormones through diet is something I like to read about. I realize it is controversial, but my eggs are in the basket.

Tigerman...read Rachel's post again. I bet she is on to something.

 

[MikeFerrara]

To go back to the mere statistics of this topic..
45% of the fatal accidents where obese people.
55% of the fatal accidents where in other words NOT obese people.
Lets assume that divers are "average joes" with the mentioned 30% being obese.

Now, lets assume 1000 dives is done (for easy math).
450 dives of 1000 is 45%
550 dives of 1000 is 550%

Lets assume 100 divers (still for easy math).
450 dives on 30 obese divers (30%) would be 15 dives per diver.
550 dives on 70 non-obese divers (60%) would be 7,86 dives per diver.

Where did the 30 and 70 come from?

If 45% of the dead divers are obese that's 45 of the 100 total.

If 55% divers are not obese of the 100 divers thats 55 divers.