NAUI underwater swim test question?

[Jim Lapenta]

NO! If fins were allowed then standards were violated. The only aid someone may wear is swim goggles. Spark, keep trying to relax and practice. I'm betting that while you listened to the advice about breathing and exhaling you still tried to power thru the swim. It is not uncommon for people to not get it the first time or even the second. What is important with the swim is technique. Also, those deep breaths are not the kind that you take so that you feel your lungs will burst. The best way I can describe it I inhale for roughly a 1001-1007 count. then exhale the same amount. One more inhale and exhale. Then the third and as you are diving under exhale 1001, 1002 and stroke. This will also help you stay down. If you can swim on the bottom it is much easier in the beginning. When you feel yourself floating up exhale just a tad thru your nose or mouth but do not stop swimming especially for people with a little extra bioprene. The pressure plus exhaling will help you stay under. It usually takes me about 5 -6 good smooth strokes while kicking before I feel the urge to surface and breathe. At this point I exhale another 1001, 1002 count. 3 more strokes with kicks and I'm way beyond the 50 ft.

Now what you need to do is set some goals. Try for 12 meters next. Make two attempts and stop. Evaluate your stroke. I can't emphasize how important it is for them to be smooth and not jerk or rushed. Think of a stroke and glide, stroke and glide. kick as you are bringing your arms back to the postion for the next stroke. Not hard kicking just smooth and clean with small movements from the hip. If you don't make the 50 then just swim for a few minutes and relax. Beating yourself up for not making it will only make it harder as you are likely to tense up and work harder. This builds up more CO2 that you want to avoid. This is new and it is not a race. Small steps with some progress is better than giant leaps that end with you falling on your back and making none.

One more thing- while you are breathing, visualize the swim in your mind. Slow, smooth, and relaxed. be one with the water grashopper.

 

[g1138]

Just stay relaxed, keep practicing and listen to what Jim is saying.
Try taking less than a full breath. Chances are you're a little stressed, and borderline fidgety when you're doing the underwater swim. All this plus a lungful of air makes you really floaty.

Keep your head pointing slightly towards your feet so you're swimming in a slight slant downward. This should help you stay under. Your strokes should be powerful enough to allow you to glide downward and forward between your stroke and glide periods.

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

Well, I think I'm in trouble. I tried at the local pool this afternoon. No kickoff, good breathing, and the best I could do was maybe 10 meters. Fighting my own buoyancy seems to be a huge issue. If I float on the surface face down, keeping arms and legs in the water, I can do the 15m without too much of a problem. But trying to do it even a few feet below the surface and I just end up out of breath too early or floating up to the top and not completely submerged.

I am really upset about this. I went from 350+ pounds down to 270lbs today and scuba is something I've always wanted to do. I've had saltwater fish tanks since I was twelve. I think I am going to go feel like a loser for a bit and then maybe talk to the dive shop about it. Maybe I can get rescheduled for a later class and give myself time to work on it. Here I am trying to enjoy not being quite such a fatass anymore and it still bites me in the ass.

Spark, the instructor can properly weight you if you are having difficulty staying submerged. That should help you as a big guy. However, whoever mentioned mind over matter before is completely spot on. 1:30 breathhold time with no previous training. You rock! You can do this! Relax. Big fan stroke in the arms. Frog kick in the leg. Little hyperventiliation. Big deep belly breath. Your instructor will guide you. Positive thoughts. Picture yourself doing it.

 

[SparkE79]

Thank you Jim and g1138 and Jill for all the support. I think I am just wanting to be able to dive so badly that having trouble with this is freaking me out, and that's probably making it even harder. I did find the following video:

How to Swim Underwater | eHow.com

I noticed this guy just absolutely glides through the water. It seems once I finish my arm stroke (breast stroke style) my glide is very limited, and I honestly don't feel like I'm getting anything out of my kick at all. Maybe I need to work on form as much as I do the whole mental thing. Whatever it takes. Heck, I don't care if I have to shave from head to toe and wear a speedo, I am going to knock this thing out. The shaving and the speedo thing are kind of a last resort though

Thanks again guys, I'll post an update tomorrow.

 

[thirdcoastdiver]

I did the the underwater swim for my NAUI OW in January. I am 59 years old and a little overweight. I thought it would be nearly impossible, turned out to be one of the easier requirements to meet for NAUI certification. Follow the previous recommendations and use good techniques and try to conserve your oxygen as much as possible. Your instructors goal is to help you be successful, so don't get stressed, relax and enjoy the experience. It will be easier to complete the requirement if you are relaxed. Let us know how you do.

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

I think that video is way too advanced.

I think you should be watching this:
Girls Swimming Under Water - YouTube

 

[g1138]

Good luck tomorrow SparkE79

The video you linked is how I perform the test. The method in Jill's video works too. Although I don't think you and I would look as graceful if we tried that.

Try different methods, who knows something completely unorthodox may work for you.

 

[ReefHugger]

If you can hold your breath for a minute 30 seconds, then this swim is very much doable.

From your last post, I believe that you are now unto what I suspected - technique!

First off, if you are fighting to stay down, you are generating a lot of CO2. I don't know what depth pool you are using, but you might have to go deeper (just remember to equalise your ears). The deeper you go, the easier it is to stay down.

The next area that commonly generates a lot of CO2, is getting under. Done right and its no fuss, no bother and with your height you could get to 8-9ft without any effort (remember ears). This is why I normally do duck diving before requiring the uw swim. Perfect the duck dive, it's really quite easy.

Just like to also add my bit to much of the good advice that you have already gotten. Relax, smooth and easy strokes and glide. If you can pick up 1 ft of glide per stroke cycle (even 8-9"), it adds up. Also, per your post, develop the breast stroke leg squeeze, it is really very powerful. Again, technique.

Do everything to reduce the production of CO2, stay calm and easy. Frantic does not work.

In a couple weeks, you'll look back at this and wonder what the fuss was about.

 

[smorneau]

NO! If fins were allowed then standards were violated. QUOTE]
I am not surprised that this standard was violated. As I am finding out, allot of standards were violated.

 

[SparkE79]

UPDATE!!!

OK, so I got myself to the pool at 5:30am this morning. This was my third outing to try this. I spent the next 40 minutes doing very relaxed attempts with probably 2 minutes between them, so I figure I made about 20 attempts tops. Of those, five would meet the NAUI 15m/50foot requirement. Of those five, one was about 5 feet short of the entire 25m length of the pool and one was the entire 25m length of the pool. Let me repeat that:

I MADE THE ENTIRE 25m LENGTH OF THE POOL!!!! No kickoff, one breath, just swim trunks.

Now, a few attempts were barely beyond the 15 foot flags. The fact I made 25m/(82 feet) with one attempt and only 15 feet on another attempt tells me this is absolutely not about physical conditioning, just like you guys said. With the advice given here I was easily able to do this *so long as I followed the advice*. It was all in the technique and staying calm. I think the big factors were keeping my head down, getting as deep as possible in the ~5 foot deep lanes, gliding, letting puffs of air out along the way, and more than anything staying calm. Keeping my head down made it soooo much easier to stay submerged. No more "fighting buoyancy" at all hardly. There was a little, but nothing like before. Also for some reason I was able to glide a lot easier today (maybe because I had my head down).

I will be back at the pool every day for the next two weeks until I can knock this one out with authority. Thank you everyone for the help! And special thanks to Jill for that youtube video