10 Minute Water Tread

[liuk3]

For our OW class, we had to float for 10 minutes and then immediately tread water for 5 minutes with no wetsuit. The last 20 seconds of treading water were done with hands out of the water.

My two cents would be to try to minimize the motion needed to stay afloat while treading water. Try to pace yourself and stay as relaxed and calm as possible. I also just kept thinking that the harder they are on me in training, the better prepared I would be.

 

[LowVizWiz]

The key is to do it in a pool shallow enough!
The deepest end of the pool when I did my test was barely 5' I'm 6'5" and sink like a rock. Threading water was nearly impossible for me in that pool not to mention that I can't float. Yet I'm very comfortable in the water with a wetsuit on.

I think timed swims with or without a suit are a better indicator of someone fitness or comfort level in the water, but then again, I'm biased.

As a side note, there used to be a water skill requirement for the Police dept. and Fire dept. that required applicants to float while performing other skills. This test virtually eliminated a large group of african-american participants who like me are unable to float due to bone and muscle density. The test was eventually removed!

Wys.

 

[String]

I never had to tread any water, just a few laps around the pool done in a wet suit and some people (not me) wore fins.

I didnt learn how to swim until sometime after I was certified. I figured if I knew how to swim, I wouldn't neccessarily need a tank of air strapped to my back everytime I jumped into the water.

Does SSI really have NO waterskills assessments at all before training a diver ?!

 

[diverdown247]

Here's my personal favorite: The US Coast Guard safety float.

Lay on your back in the water, feet crossed, arms crossed over your chest(if you can float on your back effortlessly). Use your arms to keep you up/moving around (eggbeater or sculling motion) as needed. This method conserves the most energy possible, since treading water is meant to be a self-rescue skill.

BUT, you do need to ask your instructor if you can do this type of float for the class.

 

[nymbus]

I always tell students that they will pass so long as:
1. They stay as close to one place as possible (no swimming around the pool)
And (most importantly
2. I don't need to jump in and pull them off the bottom.

 

[ReefHound]

Q for the instructors - is one allowed to wear their mask? Also, can the student track the elapsed time?

 

[Saltair]

I just tagged along through my wife's PADI OW course. I am not sure "floating" was an option I think you actually had to tread water upright. As stated many times here the trick to this is to keep low in the water. Only expose what is required to breath. Reading this thread has been a little troublsome for me. Are there a lot of divers out there who actually cannot swim?

 

[dandruff]

10minutes only? pfff thats EASY!! (i played competitive waterpolo in school)

seriously my best advice is would be to 1) relax 2) use your arms effectively, they can take a HUGE load of your legs. scull sideways, sideways inwards and out, and not straight up and down vertically.

i wouldnt recommend learning the eggbeater kick unless you are fully committed to doing so. you should be fine just doing it the normal way.


******BEGIN RANT********

i really think that dive agencies should impose stricter swimming tests. i only have OW certification but have done a decent-ish number of dives (60+). i just really feel quite indignant that divers who have only done 15 or so dives, cant control their buoyancy properly or have difficulty clearing their masks can be branded "advanced divers".

i dont see how a few hours in the classroom can build the water-confidence and skills that my thousands of hours training in the pool (waterpolo, swimming and underwater hockey) has built in me over time.

bah! id challenge any of those smarmy "advanced divers" to a swim race, any distance! or a breath-hold comp! or treading water endurance comp! and id own them! yes i would! :light:

****** RANT OVER ******

hahhahah

 

[magnetic]

If you can't tread water for 10 minutes and swim 200 yards, due only to fitness, then you seriously need to consider excersise. Even the overweight 60 year old recovering from cancer lady was able to muster enough junk to tread water for 10 min.

The dive masters get a pretty good test though, 15 min, and hands out or the water for the last 2.

 

[scubabrn]

over 25 years ago we learned a tecnique called "drown proofing". We had to do it for 12 minutes in PE. I know that I didn't do it completly right, but I used the techique enough to pass.