400m swim for DM

[SparticleBrane]

Hmm...last time I had to do any swimming in an allotted time, it was 450 in 10 minutes, and right after that we had to kick 900 (skin diving gear--mask/fins/snorkel/booties/wetsuit/weightbelt) in 18 minutes and I'm not exactly someone in the best of shape.
Swimming 400m should be a cinch. Just pace yourself...the worst thing to do is start off doing 30-second laps, then end doing 2-minute laps. On my last swim, a 450 is 9 laps (18 lengths), so I paced myself to do a lap ~once every minute.

 

[AXL72]

brane, your times sound as though you had fins. Is that right?

900 meter in wetsuit without fins might be impossible in 18 minutes.


shoot...if you had fins and just trunks...u can do 400 meters in like 5 minutes!

 

[SparticleBrane]

No fins for the swim 450 swim, but fins for the 900 kick. If I recall, I did the 450 swim in ~9:24 and the 900 kick in ~17:00. Not spectacularly fast for either one, but there's no point in expending extra energy killing yourself if you can get it done with less energy.

 

[Hoosier]

I did a swimming excercise even yesterday evening. My lap time is 14 min for 400 meter. I can see that the lap time is getting quicker every week. I still have a sore right elbow though (elbow surgery before). It is a big improvement to me after having a surgery. I am also losing about 10lb.

The most difficult test for me is a floating........... My belly doesn't help me that much.. LOL~~~

 

[Bismark]

Swim three times a week for 30 minutes and in 3 weeks you will have no problem. That is really all it takes. If you can get a lesson at the start, all the better. Slow and steady. Don't race out of the blocks.

 

[verybaddiver]

hmm any half decent swimmer should be able to swim 400metres in well under 8 minutes, that's 2 minutes/ 100.........
But then again how useful is freestyle to an actual diver?????
i'd do about 4:30 but i hardly swim anymore, so maybe 5:10

 

[riguerin]

hmm any half decent swimmer should be able to swim 400metres in well under 8 minutes, that's 2 minutes/ 100.........
But then again how useful is freestyle to an actual diver?????
i'd do about 4:30 but i hardly swim anymore, so maybe 5:10

Excellent point. I didn't train for my DM swimming test (some 13+ yrs ago and 10 lbs lighter).

I was never a competitive swimmer growing up, but I was always strong and confident swimmer who spent numerous hours per week in the ocean .... I still do. The 400 m was not really a problem ... not easy but not hard. In fact, every one in my DM course finished the distance swim test within the alloted time period.

The water skill that most struggled with was the 15 min water tread with hands above water for last 2 mins. This is were having single digit % body fat sucks

 

[daniel f aleman]

It's about ability, stamina, and the confidence that you can do it. I related a story on this board where I had to haul in a distressed diver on the surface (we dropped our rigs) several hundred meters in a chop, he floated on his back, I took us to shore. IT WAS A KILLER swim, but we made it.

Just work your way up: swim three laps the first week and add one lap the next week and another lap the following week until you are swimming 500 meters - that'll do it.

 

[josh]

use your legs on the turns at the walls

dont try to be an olympic swimmer and do the fancy summersault turns....grab the edge with both hands....bring your legs to the wall (BENT!!) and kick off...

Up to your instructor, but I for one would make you do it again if you used that technique. Kicks of the wall and holding the edge are not allowed. Aint no walls and turns in the open water mate which is what you are showing your ability in relation to.
-j-

 

[josh]

But then again how useful is freestyle to an actual diver?????

Hmm. So there you are on the boat/shore having a well earned break after your dive and you see a distressed diver in the water 200 meters away, starting to drown. So you *leap* into action and yell - "Hold on, just let me get my gear on and I'll be there in five minutes..."
-j-