EXCELENT POST! generally speaking it depends.....
and comfortability is not a word <yet> but comfortableness is <according to Mr. Webster>. I personally like comfortability better.
Pete
What type of swimming ability do believe an OW diver should have?
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EXCELENT POST! generally speaking it depends.....
and comfortability is not a word <yet> but comfortableness is <according to Mr. Webster>. I personally like comfortability better.
Pete
Charlie99
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In the limited sample of swimmers and divers I know, the factor that seems to correlate best with ease of learning to dive is their comfort factor with their head being completely underwater, not their swimming ability.
An example is a nephew who really didn't do much swimming, the problem being that he is significantly negative buoyant. Of the time he did spend in a pool, a large portion was on the bottom of the pool. This made him quite comfortable being underwater on scuba.
The various agencies have swim tests as part of the preliminaries for OW cert. IMHO, the real function of those tests is not to measure raw swimming ability, but instead to verify a minimum level of overall fitness.
There are many other qualifying tests besides swimming abilty without floatation/wetsuit and without fins that would make more sense for a OW student. The ability to complete a timed surface swim in normal scuba gear including fins and tank would be a more appropriate test if you are actually trying to check swimming ability as opposed to basic fitness level.
An example is a nephew who really didn't do much swimming, the problem being that he is significantly negative buoyant. Of the time he did spend in a pool, a large portion was on the bottom of the pool. This made him quite comfortable being underwater on scuba.
The various agencies have swim tests as part of the preliminaries for OW cert. IMHO, the real function of those tests is not to measure raw swimming ability, but instead to verify a minimum level of overall fitness.
There are many other qualifying tests besides swimming abilty without floatation/wetsuit and without fins that would make more sense for a OW student. The ability to complete a timed surface swim in normal scuba gear including fins and tank would be a more appropriate test if you are actually trying to check swimming ability as opposed to basic fitness level.
Oh, I too used my hands ALOT when I first started diving and have been one to swim year 'round since I was a kid. It took some doing to break myself of that habit. I was fortunate enough to not experience someone laughing at me through their regulator as I would claw my way through the water. Of course, my daughter's mother was NOT as forgiving, she was quite attentive in pointing out the error of my ways. (Hmm, maybe that's why she's an ex?)
And yes, I STILL catch myself using my hands on occasions to make those minor corrections.
And yes, I STILL catch myself using my hands on occasions to make those minor corrections.
zeN||
Guest
You need good swimming skills as a basis for being in the water, as a basic survival skill, including endurance, not to improve your scuba technique while diving; scuba equipment may fail, get lost, need to be ditched, etc. and then at some point and to some extent it's just you and your swimming skills. I don't suggest this be legislated but leave it, as scuba in general, to the divers own personal responsibility zeN
ElectricZombie
Contributor
OW divers need decent swimming ability. This is really more of an indication of fitness than anything else.
I would say that 300 - 500 yards nonstop in a reasonable amount of time would be adequate. Treading water for 15 minutes also. I think that many people can do this fairly easily or at least with a bit of practice.
You don't have to be a great swimmer, just have a decent stroke and look comfortable in the water.
I would say that 300 - 500 yards nonstop in a reasonable amount of time would be adequate. Treading water for 15 minutes also. I think that many people can do this fairly easily or at least with a bit of practice.
You don't have to be a great swimmer, just have a decent stroke and look comfortable in the water.
CuriousMe
Guest
I suppose it's possible that the point of the swim is to determine overall fitness....but I know mine was 300 yds, (I think) any stroke, with no time limit. To me that looks like them making sure you can get from point a to point b, not your overall fitness.
When we did the swim, we had to swim around the boat 4 times (our confined water dives were boat dives). There were 5 of us in the class, 2 guys and 3 gals. The guys decided they were going to race, so off they went....we did various combinations of side and breast stroke and had a gossip fest as we went. I don't know if that event was the best indication of my overall fitness.
Peace,
Cathie
competetive swimming dosen't mean squat, period. You want to be a diver you must LEARN HOW TO DIVE. You must be proficent in snorkeling before you can become a diver. Any idiot can be taught to swim on the surface. They do that in the special olyimpcs for gods sake.
Learn how to swim on the surface. Learn to snorkel( or free dive preferably) Then learn scuba. If your not completely comfortable going down(and thats KEY) you'll never be completly comfortable as a scuba diver. I see wannabes on charters all the time. I see them post in these forums. This post has absolutely nothing to do with DIR, which is a wannabe segment of scuba diving. But, if you want to do it right, well then g******t! do it right! You must walk before you can run. Do your homework. Swim, dive, then scuba.
Jim
Learn how to swim on the surface. Learn to snorkel( or free dive preferably) Then learn scuba. If your not completely comfortable going down(and thats KEY) you'll never be completly comfortable as a scuba diver. I see wannabes on charters all the time. I see them post in these forums. This post has absolutely nothing to do with DIR, which is a wannabe segment of scuba diving. But, if you want to do it right, well then g******t! do it right! You must walk before you can run. Do your homework. Swim, dive, then scuba.
Jim
SpyderTek
Guest
With regard to "good swimmers not using their hands diving" and "poor swimmers trying to swim underwater" I think you have it reversed...
I am (was) a medal winning competitive swimmer for about 5 years [primarily the backstroke and at highschool level if that matters] and because of that experience I find I have to make a very conserted effort to NOT use my arms while diving. (For me) 99% of swimming is done with the arms. If there is any leg movement at all it is usually incidental.
I understand that this is not the typical way someone is TAUGHT to swim but think of it like typing...There is the "correct" way to type on your keyboard and then there are the record setting typists who taught themselves and use a modified hunt and peck meathod of two fingers on each hand and thier thumbs for spacebarand STILL type faster than the average secretary.
So I guess I agree with the statement that this isnt black and white and to say good swimming abilities tend to translate to good diving form is a spurious correlation.
As for the REQUIREMENT of being able to swim to dive Im still not sure which side of the fence I really sit on...
On the one hand I feel no-one should even be getting on a boat or fishing from a dock or anywhere NEAR more than 2" of water unless they can at least doggy-paddle.
On the other hand seems to me swimming and diving are not really related skills and, as illustrated by my personal example, are somewhat handicaping to each other. Imagine a diver of 5 years that doesnt know how to swim trying to "swim" to shore using only his legs and no arm movements.
Spydertek
I am (was) a medal winning competitive swimmer for about 5 years [primarily the backstroke and at highschool level if that matters] and because of that experience I find I have to make a very conserted effort to NOT use my arms while diving. (For me) 99% of swimming is done with the arms. If there is any leg movement at all it is usually incidental.
I understand that this is not the typical way someone is TAUGHT to swim but think of it like typing...There is the "correct" way to type on your keyboard and then there are the record setting typists who taught themselves and use a modified hunt and peck meathod of two fingers on each hand and thier thumbs for spacebarand STILL type faster than the average secretary.
So I guess I agree with the statement that this isnt black and white and to say good swimming abilities tend to translate to good diving form is a spurious correlation.
As for the REQUIREMENT of being able to swim to dive Im still not sure which side of the fence I really sit on...
On the one hand I feel no-one should even be getting on a boat or fishing from a dock or anywhere NEAR more than 2" of water unless they can at least doggy-paddle.
On the other hand seems to me swimming and diving are not really related skills and, as illustrated by my personal example, are somewhat handicaping to each other. Imagine a diver of 5 years that doesnt know how to swim trying to "swim" to shore using only his legs and no arm movements.
Spydertek
Gilligan
Contributor
I'm not convinced there is much correlation between swimming and scuba diving other than knowing how to properly swim. Most of the emergencies that I can think of that would arise from scuba diving that resulted in your being on the surface would require your being able to stay focused and possibly able to tread water for long periods of time, especially if for some reason your equipment was lost. I'm thinking about a case in point here on Maui in February of this year where 2 Instructors and 6 divers off a local dive boat were swept away from the Back Wall of Molokini and spent 6 hours in the open ocean before being rescued. I doubt any swimming capabilites came into play there nor could they have been of much value being quite far from land.:shades:
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