What skills to practice?

[Eric M]

SCUBA DIVING IS NOT SWIMMING!

Opinions will and I'm surprised as CMAS guy, you would discount the importance of swimming! Both of my kids are poor swimmer, yet the're OW certified and yet I'm at unease every-time they go diving. So maybe this is a personal quest for me, but if swimming could be a deciding factor between loosing a life or live, I'll preach swimming till my end. That's all I know, partner!

 

[TMHeimer]

Swimming is a life skill, not a scuba one. It is a sport with good technique required to do properly. You'll never use it scuba diving unless the boat sinks with all your equipment. Swimming has nothing to do with wearing fins, though you can really move with fins and a good forward stroke. Though you'll never actually "swim" on scuba, you would be crazy (IMHO) to take a scuba course without being able to swim--properly. So how many times have I seen poor swimmers taking the OW course?--Maybe 75% of all students in all the courses I assisted with for 4 years. Always will be a mystery to me.