I failed the pool test!

[Kevfin]

I'd be curious too if you were in any type of exposure suit. However, based on your size and weight, even with a 7mm you'd probably be cold.
I have done skills wearing a 7mm hooded wetsuit in my unheated pool (51 at best) and it's a biting cold. Even with my size and weight it gets cold pretty fast.
Also, from what you describe you became hypothermic while in the pool and remained that way throughout the class. What kind of instructor wouldn't have noticed that?
I do not understand your instructors reasoning for this. Was he new? Is this his standard teaching method? From the way you tell it something is wrong and I too would worry about how he would conduct the OW portion of your training.

 

[Kingpatzer]

I don't understand why 53F pool temps were a surprise to the OP. Therefore, I don't understand why other arrangements were not made with the instructor before the pool work commenced. "How cold is the pool? 53F? Ok, I'll need a thick wetsuit then.". The instructor should not do all the thinking.

This is an OW course. The instructor should do all the thinking around issues of safety. Exposure protection in 50 degree water is a safety issue.

 

[rollerboi]

I can tolerate the cold but don't like it. Melbourne water temps get down to 8-9C (<50F) in winter. I dived in september in a heavy wetsuit configuration and the 13C water was not pleasant at all. Not sure what perceptions others have of Melbourne's climate, but you can dive a DS here all year round, just changing the undergarments.

[SIZE=+1]53 degrees Fahrenheit = 11.6666667 degrees Celsius[/SIZE]
I have to disagree on what you think reasonable expectation is. When my wife and I took our OW's, we didn't think to ask if the pool would be cold. We assumed that the teaching facility would ensure that we learn in appropriate conditions and warn us otherwise.

As it turns out, we did our pool work in an indoor community pool; my wife became very chilled. The instructor let her borrow a wetsuit for the remainder of the time.

Granted, it wasn't for the actual swim test, but I think 11°C with no exposure protection is more than a ridiculous expectation - it can be a health-threatening one. The longer you and the other students were in the water doing skills, the greater your exposure and risk of hypothermia.

If the pool was that cold, the instructor should have had everyone return to the dive shop and grab a wetsuit of some degree before continuing instruction. I would strongly encourage you to re-evaluate your commitment to this particular instructor and/or shop. A heated pool changes the circumstances, but not the attitude of the instructor.

 

[shoredivr]

I don't understand why 53F pool temps were a surprise to the OP. Therefore, I don't understand why other arrangements were not made with the instructor before the pool work commenced. "How cold is the pool? 53F? Ok, I'll need a thick wetsuit then.". The instructor should not do all the thinking.

I can tolerate the cold but don't like it. Melbourne water temps get down to 8-9C (<50F) in winter. I dived in september in a heavy wetsuit configuration and the 13C water was not pleasant at all. Not sure what perceptions others have of Melbourne's climate, but you can dive a DS here all year round, just changing the undergarments.

Ok, you beat me to the Melbourne water temps: I was down there in Oz winter, prepared to dive Port Philip Bay in appropriate exposure protection, but too much wind/swells. Darn, missed the weedys.

Yes, noted that water temps are equivalent to winter in California, but still, tell me, would you want to do a swim like this without a wetsuit? Why should an OW student be expected to understand all the parameters of what exposure protection is needed? Why should they know what thickness of wetsuit is needed, if the student knows about wetsuits at all?

A good adult education teacher gives the parameters beforehand, and doesn't assume that a new student has this information....you know what "assume" does for you and me.

I'm done, fork please.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

I am somewhat confused with the information given on this situation. Maybe the OP can clarify.

If this is a PADI course then on CW dive #2 the student is suppose to demonstrate proficiency with surface swimming and a snorkel regulator exchange while keeping their face submerged. Usually, students that have no snorkeling experience will be identified here as clearing the snorkel of water is the most difficult part of the exercise. Was this exercise omitted by the instructor?

Another poster mention correctly that a wetsuit may be used for the pool test portion of the course provided the student is weighted to be neutrally bouyant. The test is suppose to provide the instructor with a level of confidence that the student can maintain themselves in water. In my opinion the student did not demostrate this capability and it seems the main reason was that no exposure protection was considered.

It seems the instructor has done the right thing and allowed for a retest and this will be in a heated pool. I would strongly suggest that the OP seek help prior to the test to develop the basic snorkeling skills either from the instructor or otherwise. The goal of the instructor is not to fail the student and its seems this instructor is of this mindset since they have scheduled a retest.

Reporting the instructor to the agency without more first hand knowledge and answers to some of the other questions does not make sense to me.

 

[RJP]

I don't understand why 53F pool temps were a surprise to the OP. Therefore, I don't understand why other arrangements were not made with the instructor before the pool work commenced. "How cold is the pool? 53F? Ok, I'll need a thick wetsuit then.". The instructor should not do all the thinking.

I don't think you're being fair here.

Yes, I suppose the OP could have asked what the temp was going to be, but given everything one needs to absorb in OW class unless the instructor told him "the water temp will be an issue" it's sort of a pretty fair assumption that "the water temp will not be an issue." At a minimum I don't think a student should need to ask "Oh, by the way, will the water be so cold that it could kill a healthy normal adult in under an hour."

One of the most important things I learned in my DM program (all internships with actual students over a 12mo period) is that for the most part student divers "don't even know enough to know what they don't know."

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If people get certed as vacation divers, these expectations should be set upfront between student and instructor. The conditions in which the student then gets certed should be chosen appropriately. Given it is winter in California at the moment, some initial discussions should have been held between student and instructor along the lines of "It's an outdoor pool? How cold is it? Will I be cold? What sort of wetsuit/exposure protection will I need?".

I don't understand why 53F pool temps were a surprise to the OP. Therefore, I don't understand why other arrangements were not made with the instructor before the pool work commenced. "How cold is the pool? 53F? Ok, I'll need a thick wetsuit then.". The instructor should not do all the thinking.

Actually, in this case the instructor SHOULD do all the thinking ... at least in terms of letting his students know up front what to expect. If he isn't doing that, then I would counsel the OP to drop the class now and find another instructor ... this one isn't likely to provide decent instruction even if he were to make it through the swim test.

I'm rather surprised that a scuba instructor would even consider using an unheated outdoor pool in winter ... much less without making certain that the students are prepared with proper exposure protection. Water that cold can, and will, induce hypothermia rather quickly ... and no student can be expected to learn anything when they're concentrating on not freezing to death.

It is an instructor's responsiblity to provide instruction in a safe environment, and one that accommodates the learning process ... doing pool work in water that cold with brand new students who have no exposure protection fails that criteria.

At a minimum, he should've not only made sure the students knew that exposure protection was needed, but insisted on it before allowing them into the water. More reasonably, he should've been using an indoor pool this time of year ... or one that was heated to a reasonable temperature.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I agree with the many others that are supporting the OP in this situation.

The instructor should have prepared the students for the class. The instructor FAILED not the students.

If the instructor works for a shop I would suggest you go to the owner/manager of the shop and explain what happened and ask them to correct the problem or give you a refund.

Please post the outcome and stick with finishing your class. Sounds like you are very determined to get certified.

 

[Web Monkey]

That sucked! Today we were scheduled to do ALL our pool work and come back to the office to do our final tests (written). It was myself, a coworker, and another guy.

We get there and the first thing the instructor says was "get in the water and do

I hope you didn't pay much, since you didn't get much in return.

One day in the pool isn't nearly enough and if the class had been done properly you would have been taught that 53 degrees is squarely in drysuit territory, or maybe a really thick wetsuit. There's no way you should have been let in the pool without the proper exposure protection.

A reasonable class will have at least a few pool sessions spread out over several classes. A good class can have 7 or more.

Given the limited pool time, I'd guess that class time was equally limited and you've been cheated out of the knowledge that you need to dive safely and have fun.

Personally, I'd be looking for a new instructor and possibly a refund.

Terry

 

[spectrum]

TwistedGray

Your instructor is a knuckle head, find another one. This event should have never happened. It is a course and should have allowed for skin-diving instruction and practice. Jumping into 53F for a quick vigorous swim is one thing. Spending time learning adaptive behavior is quite another.

You did not fail and were wise to put it of till another time.

Pete