PADI swim test

[El Dude]

That's crazy to hear! I'm not PADI but when I did my beginning class we had to do a 500 yards swim NO mask/fins, 15 min tread, and 25 yd u/w swim. It was hard because I was not a great swimmer. I ended up questioning if I could hack the cert. Where I got my cert in NorCal a 500 yd surface swim is not uncommon, everyone has to do it, frequently. Still, allowing the use of mask/fins is insane!

 

[Guy Alcala]

When I did my NAUI OW I had to do 350yd in 9min, 25yd UW, 10min tread and a 5lb retrieve from 8' to start, all without MSF, plus another swim with MSF. I don't remember how long the MSF was, but it couldn't have been more than 500yds (just based on how much time it took).

Sounds good to me - anyone who can meet those standards is competent and comfortable in the water, and in decent aerobic condition.

Guy

 

[Diver Tim]

Question for the assembled: Why is it absurd to allow a 300yd MSF option? Has there been a negative impact on safety?

 

[Dr Wu]

The PADI swim test is designed so eveyoine can pass it. No reason to worry.

 

[Belce]

Incorrect Dr Wu, guess again

 

[Diver0001]

You can do the swim test for 200 yards without snorkel and fins or 300 yards with snorkel and fins. It is an RSTC standard. It is controversial, to say the least, and it has been widely and contentiously debated many times.

By the way, back when I learned in a resort in Mexico, I not only did not have to do any swim test, they did not even ask me if I knew how to swim. It was a standards violation then and now, but those things have been going on for quite some time.

I'll just add to this that the snorkel option isn't avaliable everywhere. In Europe, for example, you MUST swim.

R..

 

[JBert]

I just took my basic this past December

We had to do 4 lengths of the training pool (standard Olympic?) in any style, followed by a 10 min tread and a 10 min survival float in our skivvies. IMO, wetsuit/snorkle use would defeat the purpose.

 

[dl348]

Yeah, the swim test has been debated to death and I'm a big culprit. I do believe PADI should have one standard test for all. I don't think it should be "instructor's choice" as far as which one to do or whether to even mention there are 2 choices.

I don't believe it's the "instructor's choice", it's the student's option...at least it was when I took my OW class.

 

[Diver0001]

I don't believe it's the "instructor's choice", it's the student's option...at least it was when I took my OW class.

Like all things "optional" in the PADI system, it's the instructor who decides. Nowhere in the standards is it stated that if a student *cannot* finish the swimming test that you are requrired to give them the snorkel option.

You *may*, if you wish, but it is not *required* and the student (with all due respect to students) don't run your course. You do.

I work in Europe so it doesn't really apply to me, but even if I *could* give them the snorkel option, I wouldn't even inform students that this option existed. Either they can swim or I'm not comfortable training them. That's the instructor's perrogative.

R..

 

[emoreira]

When I did the pool test prior to the OWD sea checkout in SSI, we had to swim without mask, snorkel and fins for 20 minutes without touching the pool walls, both crawl and breast. Then 5 minutes static flotation.
As we were several students making the exam all together, the swim speed and distance was handled by the group.
I do not agree with Garrobo

If you are in trouble on the surface and jetison your gear your wetsuit should make you a floater.

being able to swim without equipment is a way to get confident in water. As my instructor use to say, a person must be "aquatized" to be a diver. You must be comfortable in the water, and this is only achived if you can swim and float without effort and quietly. No one will ask you to be a profesional swimmer or a race swimmer. The single goal is to be comfortable in the water without equipment that adds to your flotability.
A surplus that you can swim at least a minimun distance without equipment is that you are in a certain degree fit and carrying all the scuba gear do not impose a load that you cannot stand.