What basic skills are needed for class and certification?

[suddha]

I posted a few weeks ago regarding opening my eyes UW and got a lot of helpful responses that re-assured me that a) it is a common issue and b) it isn't really something to worry about. Since then I have trained myself to conquer this fear and I am now able to open my eyes fairly comfortably!

I am still not sure when I'll be taking my classroom/pool/OW sessions but it is my New Year's resolution to get certified in 2007.

I want to be prepared with certain rudimentary skills before getting into a pool or OW session and I am having trouble finding a good listing of what physical skills one needs to take the classes and get certified. I have heard from various diver friends a few things that have me concerned and I am wondering how I can best prepare so my experience is a good one. For example, I have heard that you must be able to swim a certain distance (width of a pool) underwater while holding your breath. I also have heard that you must be able to hold your breath during an emergency ascent (from ~25 feet).

I am swimming 4 days a week in a pool this winter and want to practice some of these skills so I've been timing my breath holds and trying to swim underwater for longer distances. Alas, I think I am not doing so well. My static breath holds are only 30-35 seconds and I can hardly swim halfway across the width of a 7 lane pool. These skills, along with opening eyes underwater, clearing a mask, etc. are a bit intimidating. Can anyone tell me what skills I can work on in the pool to prepare me for the classes and OW sessions?

As some background about me: I am a fairly athletic 36 yr old male and can swim 1000m comfortably using various strokes.

Thank you very much for your guidance and encouragement!

 

[fisherdvm]

WHOAAAAAAA..... Holding your breath??

You never want to hold your breath with scuba diving... It is an absolute no, no....

Holding your breath even with a short ascent means exploding your ear drums, your lung, and getting air embolis to your brain, causing hemorrhage, and a stroke.

I never remembered any requirement on breath holding at any stages of my OW training...

Breath holding is a reflex that we must conquer when diving, so we remember to keep our epiglottis open when we have an emergency ascent... To keep us from blowing out our little lungs' alveli. The way how we do it is by blowing continously, or as one member stated it, whistling as we ascend..

Did I forget something??

 

[Walter]

You'll be ahead of the game if you master the skills in this post.

I have heard that you must be able to swim a certain distance (width of a pool) underwater while holding your breath.

That depends, some agencies require an underwater swim (YMCA, for example) others don't (PADI, for example).

I also have heard that you must be able to hold your breath during an emergency ascent (from ~25 feet).

Nope. That would KILL you.

 

[WVDiver]

http://www.learn-in-asia.com/downloads/PADI%20Open%20Water%20Course%20and%20Scuba%20Diver.pdf

http://www.learn-in-asia.com/padi_open_water_course.htm

Here it is in a nut shell. I hope this helps. Once you have had a chance to review this you will be able to ask more specific questions. Other agencies may differ some but for the most part these are the basics.

 

[suddha]

Thanks for the quick responses. This forum is so great.

Sorry - correction - I didn't mean "hold your breath". I meant ability to ascend from a certain depth without breathing from the tank (as if you've run out of air). I understand the reasons for not holding breath but my concern is that I will need to have the lung capacity to not breathe during this sort of exercise. The friend who told me this said he was taught to emit a high pitched hum, as if mimicing a mosquito. This helps you exhale slowly.

I'll check out the links and documents posted. You guys are great. Thanks again.

 

[String]

Correct, you need to be able to "not breathe-in" as opposed to breath hold. You need to exhale slowly and constantly.

Its the "Bolt and Pray" method. A dated last resort method for getting out of your self-created monsterous screw-up.

Some agencies require it (PADI), some dont (BSAC).

Entry level training whilst similar between agencies is not identical between them.

 

[fisherdvm]

......but my concern is that I will need to have the lung capacity to not breathe during this sort of exercise.

Lung capacity is not an issue here.

As you have dense pressurized air in your lung, it will expand and double in volume each 33 ft...

Irregarless of how large or how little your lung is, that air will still double at 33ft, quadruple at 66, and 8 times at 100ft.

Your goal, if ascending freely from 100ft, is to get rid of 7/8 of that excess air...

Having "extra" lung capacity will not help you.

My understanding is, if you ran out of air, you keep your regulator in your mouth, and continue to breath normally as you start your controlled ascend. As you get closer to the surface, the "empty" tank would have pressurized (just like your lungs) and you can get 2 or 3 more breaths before you reach the surface. The normal breathing pattern you continue will keep your glottis open.

Now if you threw your regulator out of your mouth on your emergency ascend, then whistling or blowing bubbles out of your mouth will be needed to keep the glottis open.

 

[String]

The 3 nice breaths before going is a farce. If you're out of air the first time you'll notice usually is a click and nothing arrives. Certainly with modern balanced regulators you get little if any notice of being out of gas.

Plus rather than taking 3 breaths then bolting why not start to ascend while still breathing. It means you'll be shallower when you eventually run out.

 

[spectrum]

suddha

What would be helpful wouldd be to select you instructor and discuss the specific requirements. They vary from agency to agency and right or wrong even from instructor to instructor. There are some that require a level of underwater breathold swimming and other programs won't even touch on it. Knowing what's ahead will let you focus your efforts and relieve some anxiousness.

Note that any breatholding is done without scuba gear. They are parts of the swim and skin-diving portions of your class.

Doing some of your pool time in mask/fins/snorkel will do you a lot of good while focusing the workout on your lower body.

Keep in mind that even skin-diving in a pool requires some skill. Diving down to 12 feet is enough to require clearing most ears a time or two. Read up on the valsalva maneuver for openers. Better still, pick that instructor and buy your text book. As you get better at skin-diving your will be growing your comfort in and under the water. It's all good stuff.

Honestly with your apparent swimming ability and logical time spent in the water you should be good to go. What cannot be predicted is how anyone will react to things like breathing through a regulator. For obvious reasons you will need to deal with anything like this that surfaces as it happens. Remember that this is an adaptation, be patient with yourself and don't let anyone rush you if you hit an uncomfortable topic.

Pete

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Sounds like you're good to go to me. Appears like you've already tackled the most common issues, such as not being able to breath in through your mouth only and not your nose and opening your eyes underwater, and especially both together. These are basic skills acquired by any swimmer or skin diver. I'd say find a good instructor, talk to them about their expectations and where you're at and then go from there. Most importantly ... do it!