HELP!!! I'm a bad swimmer!!!

sea_anemone · May 20, 2007

I have only dived 16 times and my last one was 6 years ago. I am now planning to follow my dreams of diving A LOT, I'm considering taking all the PADI scuba classes up to instructor. My only concern is that I'm not a good swimmer at all. I can only do breast stroke and I'm really slow. And I know that you need to swim a certain distance under a certain amount of time in order to become a dive master. So, I'm worried about that and I also need to feel more confident in the water.
I'm wondering if you can give me any tips on how to become a better swimmer, besides swimming. About 3 months ago I began going to the gym about 3 times a week and it would be good to know which areas of the body I should work out to help me become a stronger swimmer. Any ideas?
And how important is swimming really in scuba diving???

abitton · May 20, 2007

Maybe you should consider enrolling in swimming lessons?

Although you don't really swim while diving, it may just be a good skill to have in case of an emergency...

Good luck!

Alex

Walter · May 20, 2007

It's crucial for your confidence in the water. Confidence in the water is essential as the first step in preventing panic. Panic can easily kill a diver. Read Total Immersion and take swimming lessons. Don't assume you'll become an instructor. It's way too early to make that decision.

pwl · May 20, 2007

using the correct stroke makes a *huge* difference in how well you swim on the surface - i know, since i never learned to do freestyle properly & used up vast amounts of energy doing my DM unassisted swim test (ie - no fins, etc). i've enrolled in swim classes to get my stroke corrected.

i'd suggest the best exercise you can do to strengthen your swimming is... swimming - it's a whole-of-body thing

enrol in stroke correction classes & swim as often as you can. if you'd like a target, aim for 300m in less than 14 minutes, then try for 400m nonstop in less than 12 minutes.

you should also be very used to the taste of salt water

almitywife · May 21, 2007

PLEASE do not further your instructor training until you are more confident. we already have enough bad instructors in the water... we need good ones so please aim for this!

swimming lessons, swimming training and stroke correction will give you the confidence you need - and GOOD ON YOU for recognizing what you need to work on to become a better diver!

goodluck

sea_anemone · May 21, 2007

Thanks guys! You've given me something to think about. Even if I never become an instructor, I do want to scuba dive a lot in my life so I do want to feel confident in the water and I'll have to do something about the swimming problem. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

almitywife · May 21, 2007

SA..... "figure it out eventually" = getting in the water now and practising so as the ad says, just do it!

story time... my hubby has a good greek mother who cant swim, so being a typical good greek mother she gave her children a fear of water rather than risk them going into the water

my hubby taught himself to swim in his late 20's and in his 30's he decided to take up diving, something he always wished he had done much ealier in his life

when it came time for him to do his dive masters he had to complete the swim/time skill and could never do it so he spent some time with a stroke correction instructor that gave him advice to increase his speed and complete his dms's

create that confidence you want to be a better diver.... life's too short so go for it!

cheers

HarveyO · May 21, 2007

Ditto on Swim Lessons. I've been reently working with a coach trying to improve enough to take GUE Fundies, and I'm way more relaxed on the surface.

RoyN · May 24, 2007

Just do what I do...keep trying and trying and soon you'll become a good swimmer and diver. I started out as a bad swimmer, but what kept me going was I wanted to do it, became obessed to doing it correctly and now I'm doing things right. Its all in the brains.

Well, also in the heart too.

fisherdvm · May 24, 2007

Hey, I was a terrible swimmer, until 6 months ago. I had so much back problem from last year, I decided on a gentler exercise.

I started working on endurance in the pool using snorkel and mask. The started working on my breathing and stop using the snorkel about 3 weeks into my training. Signed up for about 4 swim lessons to work on my breast stroke.

I just did over 1 mile (84 lenghts of a 20 yard pool) yesterday, and regularly swim 3/4 mile several times a week. 6 months ago, I could barely do 20 yards with the crawl and barely 10 yards with the breast stroke.

You can teach an old dog a new trick, and I am 43.

HELP!!! I'm a bad swimmer!!!

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