Boyscout smarter than us?

[Darnold9999]

At scouting age I too could not float. Tread water, swim a mile or whatever - no problem, but I could easily sit and stay on the bottom of a swimming pool with lungs full of air. Training has/had nothing to do with it. I was heavier than water and so if I stopped moving I sank below the surface.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I did the mile swim as well every year and then froze my wet butt off running for the warm showers.

I also got kicked out of boyscouts because my parents were too busy to attend meetings. No clue why they needed to attend the meetings but it affected me. F THE BOYSCOUTS.

Sorry you have such a bad opinion of the Boy Scouts. Parents don't need to attend meetings ever. Boy Scouts encourage the scouts to learn to do things on their own. I wouldn't take this experience and use it to form an opinion against the whole organization just because your troop may have had bad leadership. That happens unfortunately. Some troops have leaders that are excellent and are there 100% for the boys while other leaders are only there to get awards for themselves and don't understand that the purpose of scouting is for the youths, not the adults.

There are some things in the BSA that I don't agree with and never have but I know that scouting is very good for the right kid. Find a good troop and give it another shot as an adult.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

At scouting age I too could not float. Tread water, swim a mile or whatever - no problem, but I could easily sit and stay on the bottom of a swimming pool with lungs full of air. Training has/had nothing to do with it. I was heavier than water and so if I stopped moving I sank below the surface.

Training has a lot to do with it. It's not just about having lungs full of air, it's also about body position and mindset. Kids get in the water all the time and throw themselves backwards quickly and gives their body about 0.5 second to level out and then get frustrated that they can't float. You have to be calm, position your body correctly (usually back arched, legs relaxed, head back, arms above your head) and take a deep breath. I've had to work with kids for a week straight everyday to get it but they always work it out in the end.

I'm not saying that every single person can float no matter what. I'm simply saying that usually when people say that they cannot float, it's because they haven't learned how to do it properly.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Are you sure about these requirements? I believe, for my NAUI cert, we had a 300 yard swim (unlimited time, any stroke, so long as it was non-stop) followed by 5 minutes treading water and 3 minutes floating. Perhaps my instructor was that much more strict...

Quoted from the NAUI Standards and Policies for Scuba Diver Course:
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-Demonstrate novice level swim stroke proficiency in any of the following strokes: crawl, side, breast, elementary back stroke or back stroke. Classic stroke combinations are not necessary to meet this requirement as long as forward progress is achieved, e.g. no particular kick or arm action is necessarily required and a lack of either is also acceptable. Students shall complete at least 15 continuous stroke cycles while being evaluated by an instructor. A stroke cycle is considered to be either arm or leg action or a combination thereof resulting in forward movement until repeated.
-Survival swim for 10 minutes

Skin Diving:
Swim a distance of 450 yards nonstop, breathing from snorkel.
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[BlueC5Kitten]

Quoted from the NAUI Standards and Policies for Scuba Diver Course:

Thanks for the info...guess my instructor wanted to be sure we could properly swim...or perhaps he was confusing his Instructor certifications? He is NAUI, PADI and SSI...so who knows.

Fine by me though...

 

[Darnold9999]

NatureDiver - don't doubt that some who think they can't float can with training. However, there is a certain (very low) percent of the population that is negatively boyant. How can you possibly make something float that is heavier than water? Full lungs, is as boyant as you can get - if you sink below the surface at that point no amount of training will make you float.

 

[ronbeau]

The boyscout require the following, which seems to be higher than the minimum by many c-agencies (NAUI 15 forward strokes, PADI/SSI 300 yrd snorkel).

...

Has NAUI actually lowered their standards that much? I was required to do 10 lengths of a 25 yard pool with no time limit for my NAUI OW.

NAUI has also relented and now allows 10 year olds to be certified. PADI allowed 10 year olds at least as far back as 2004. An age of 12 is plenty young enough.

 

[Blackwood]

Have you ever had real instruction in how to float? You'd be amazed at how many scouts have come to me convinced that they physically cannot float and learned how to float to pass that test.

My swimteam coach was unable to get me to float.

Beyond that, no.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

NatureDiver - don't doubt that some who think they can't float can with training. However, there is a certain (very low) percent of the population that is negatively boyant. How can you possibly make something float that is heavier than water? Full lungs, is as boyant as you can get - if you sink below the surface at that point no amount of training will make you float.

No, I don't doubt that some people can't float no matter what. Like I said, usually when I hear someone say this, it's because they have never been taught how to do it properly.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Has NAUI actually lowered their standards that much? I was required to do 10 lengths of a 25 yard pool with no time limit for my NAUI OW.

NAUI has also relented and now allows 10 year olds to be certified. PADI allowed 10 year olds at least as far back as 2004. An age of 12 is plenty young enough.

Even though it is only entry-level certification, I agree that the swimming requirement should be higher and so my students swim further than the minimum. OW divers should still show that they can swim a good distance because they may have to swim back to the boat one day or help someone out on the surface.

I don't agree with the lowering of the age requirement. It used to be 12-14 for Junior cert. and 15 for full cert. and I agreed with that.