Can people really get scuba certified without knowing how to swim?

[ScubaSteve1962]

I don't think my SCUBA instructor is allowing the option of the snorkel and fins, otherwise that would have been my 1st choice, but I will have to see if he can make an exception. Hopefully I will overcome this problem, it's just time and money having to repeat if I fail,which I haven't got at the moment, Cheers for the advice, I'll take it into consideration

If he doesn't it may be at his discretion, but I would contact PADI to find out because it's an option. Most instructors don't charge extra because you didn't pass, they're usually willing to work with you until you pass or you give up. Did you do okay with your other skills?

 

[rharris27]

Yes I was fine with all my other skills. My instructor had no problem with my SCUBA techniques, my swimming underwater and techniques such as buddy-toeing and survival situations were fine and I even got compliments from the instructor. It is just the swimming elements which I failed on.

 

[Dive the World]

Some amount of swimming is needed.

I wasn't the best of swimmers when I got certified - but after getting certified I did take lessons for about a month.

Still not the best of swimmer but a lot more comfortable and relaxed on the surface and even might try a bit of free diving.

Need to know how to swim a bit - especially if you will be spending a lot of time in the water.

 

[RJP]

I have recently failed the PADI swimming requirements on the course, I am really annoyed because I CAN swim. The requirements are 8 lengths (400m) and tread water for 10 minutes. I managed 4 lengths before my body caught up with me, and I lasted 4 minutes treading water.

FYI - the PADI requirment is 200m, not 800m

From PADI website:
-----------------------
Waterskills: Before completing the PADI Open Water Diver course, your instructor will have you demonstrate basic waterskill comfort by having you:

• swim 200 metres/yards (or 300 metres/yards in mask, fins and snorkel). There is no time limit for this, and you may use any swimming strokes you want.
• float and tread water for 10 minutes, again using any methods that you want.

-----------------------

Chances are pretty good that the pool you're swimming in is 25m, so 8 lengths would be 200m, not 800m. Even if it were an Olympic size pool (50m length) 8 lengths would only be 400m. I will bet a month's salary that the pool in question is NOT 100m in length.

200m is not an unreasonable distance to expect someone to swim. It would not be uncommon in a diving situation to have to swim 200m back to a boat or back to shore. If you can't swim 200m, you might want to think about whether diving is for you. (I'm more worried about not being able to tread for more than 4 min.) That said, if you can swim 100m... you can swim 200m. Take your time, do backstroke, breast stroke, whatever. Doggie-paddle if you like. There's no time limit. As for the tread, I see most OW students working way too hard at it. Breathe at the top of your lungs (half-breaths), lean way back, stretch your arms way out to your sides, kick as infrequently as necessary, and just worry about keeping your mouth and nose out of the water. No human is NEGATIVELY buoyant - it's just not possible as the body is made up predominantly of water (neutrally buoyant) so between that and your lungs you should be able to manage. I'll bet the same month's salary you can do it.

Ray

 

[rharris27]

Some amount of swimming is needed.

I wasn't the best of swimmers when I got certified - but after getting certified I did take lessons for about a month.

Still not the best of swimmer but a lot more comfortable and relaxed on the surface and even might try a bit of free diving.

Need to know how to swim a bit - especially if you will be spending a lot of time in the water.

I can swim, as I explained in my original post, I did 4 lengths non stop but then because of lack of practice out from swimming for about 4 years my body caught up and I had to stop. I just feel that the requirement should be to 'show you can swim' rather than the amount of lengths you can do, because let's face it, not everyone who can swim has the stamina to swim 8 full lengths non stop, and as a OW course you should only be required to swim 18 metres (which would prove you can swim this distance to surface if anything happened) as you are only certified 18m once passed on the OW course

---------- Post Merged at 07:42 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:36 AM ----------

FYI - the PADI requirment is 200m, not 800m

From PADI website:
-----------------------
Waterskills: Before completing the PADI Open Water Diver course, your instructor will have you demonstrate basic waterskill comfort by having you:

• swim 200 metres/yards (or 300 metres/yards in mask, fins and snorkel). There is no time limit for this, and you may use any swimming strokes you want.
• float and tread water for 10 minutes, again using any methods that you want.

-----------------------

Chances are pretty good that the pool you're swimming in is 25m, so 8 lengths would be 200m, not 800m. Even if it were an Olympic size pool (50m length) 8 lengths would only be 400m. I will bet a month's salary that the pool in question is NOT 100m in length.

200m is not an unreasonable distance to expect someone to swim. It would not be uncommon in a diving situation to have to swim 200m back to a boat or back to shore. If you can't swim 200m, you might want to think about whether diving is for you. That said, if you can swim 100m... you can swim 200m. Take your time, do backstroke, breast stroke, whatever. Doggie-paddle if you like. There's no time limit. I'll bet the same month's salary you can do it.

Ray

I asked my instructor if I could do backstroke as I could just pace myself with ease and he said no, I'll be fine. :/ otherwise I know I would have strolled through pacing myself with backstroke

 

[RJP]

as a OW course you should only be required to swim 18 metres (which would prove you can swim this distance to surface if anything happened) as you are only certified 18m once passed on the OW course

It's not about the need to swim to the surface, that's easy between buoyant gear, etc you will almost never need to swim to the surface unaided. It's about the need to swim ACROSS the surface. As I mentioned in my post above, you could EASILY get into a situation where you end up surfacing more than 18m from your exit point (boat or shore) and you will need to be able to swim that distance.

---------- Post Merged at 08:52 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:44 AM ----------

I asked my instructor if I could do backstroke as I could just pace myself with ease and he said no, I'll be fine. :/ otherwise I know I would have strolled through pacing myself with backstroke

Your instructor is exceeding the PADI standards by telling you that you can't do backstroke. Here's a link to the requirements on the PADI website.

http://www.padi.com/scuba/scuba-diving-guide/start-scuba-diving/scuba-certification-faq/default.aspx

They clearly say "You may use any swimming strokes you want."

Print the requirements off and show them to him, and then ask him why his requirements are different than those in the PADI Instructors Manual. (They are also in your OW Manual, so you can just show him that as reference.) I can see an instructor not letting someone slide by doing a doggie-paddle and barely making it the full 200m, but not allowing backstroke? They guy is either a jerk/sadist or more likely doesn't understand the requirements.

 

[rharris27]

It's not about the need to swim to the surface, that's easy between buoyant gear, etc you will almost never need to swim to the surface unaided. It's about the need to swim ACROSS the surface. As I mentioned in my post above, you could EASILY get into a situation where you end up surfacing more than 18m from your exit point (boat or shore) and you will need to be able to swim that distance.

I understand, and at this moment in time I know in myself I could easily swim 100m, it's just the requirements, were a push to far for my body, especially since I have not swam properly in over 4 years. My biggest fear is that I won't be able to pass the course in the time limit I have, because of this regulation, which I feel distance should not be an option, just that the instructor needs to see you have adapt capabilities to swim (which I do have). With time and practice i could re-train my body to do this with ease, but time is of the essence as my instructor wants me to do it in a few days time on our next session.

 

[RJP]

I understand, and at this moment in time I know in myself I could easily swim 100m, it's just the requirements, were a push to far for my body, especially since I have not swam properly in over 4 years. My biggest fear is that I won't be able to pass the course in the time limit I have, because of this regulation, which I feel distance should not be an option, just that the instructor needs to see you have adapt capabilities to swim (which I do have). With time and practice i could re-train my body to do this with ease, but time is of the essence as my instructor wants me to do it in a few days time on our next session.

Dude, you're not thinking this through. You say you can swim 100m. Great. What happens if you surface 200m from the boat, and can only swim half-way back? This problem is further compounded by the fact that you can't tread water for more than 4min. Probably less after swimming 100m, at which point, as you say above, your "body caught up with you." You'd be in an awful lot of trouble at that point, no?

The requirements are not there to set an impediment to getting certified. The requirements are there to ensure that you can safely execute a dive once you're certified. Your instructor needs to certify that he believes you can do this. If you can't pass the swim requirements, how can you expect the instructor to sign off on your certification.

You might need to face the fact that you're not currently in good enough shape to get certified. Though, you should be able to get your instructor to allow backstroke and you'll probably be fine. Don't get all caught up in "time is of the essence" as you're just putting more pressure on yourself than is warranted. Call the shop/instructor today and get them to agree to allowing backstroke. If they say "no" ask them for the phone number for their PADI regional representative...

 

[nimoh]

I understand, and at this moment in time I know in myself I could easily swim 100m, it's just the requirements, were a push to far for my body, especially since I have not swam properly in over 4 years. My biggest fear is that I won't be able to pass the course in the time limit I have, because of this regulation, which I feel distance should not be an option, just that the instructor needs to see you have adapt capabilities to swim (which I do have). With time and practice i could re-train my body to do this with ease, but time is of the essence as my instructor wants me to do it in a few days time on our next session.

There is no real necessity to prove that you can swim, the ability to swim is not really needed in diving unless things go wrong and you have to swim to an exit point. In that case, distance is more important than speed. I think this is why in OW, the 200m swim has no time limit. Basically, you are swimming 200m to prove that you can swim a fair distance.

Now combine this with the ability to float or tread water with minimal effort. You could swim 200m, then rest and tread for 10 minutes, swim another 200m, etc. Doing this, if you are stuck out somewhere, and can see land, you can probably make it there. Obviously, a lot would have to go wrong to be in this situation, personally, I would probably not ditch my buoyant gear and swim for it.

The treading water is probably more of an issue. In the case of a BC failure, you may be at the surface waiting for a boat and having to support yourself, although the buddy system helps with this.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Dude, you're not thinking this through. You say you can swim 100m. Great. What happens if you surface 200m from the boat, and can only swim half-way back? This problem is further compounded by the fact that you can't tread water for more than 4min. Probably less after swimming 100m, at which point, as you say above, your "body caught up with you." You'd be in an awful lot of trouble at that point, no?

The requirements are not there to set an impediment to getting certified. The requirements are there to ensure that you can safely execute a dive once you're certified. Your instructor needs to certify that he believes you can do this. If you can't pass the swim requirements, how can you expect the instructor to sign off on your certification.

You might need to face the fact that you're not currently in good enough shape to get certified. Though, you should be able to get your instructor to allow backstroke and you'll probably be fine. Don't get all caught up in "time is of the essence" as you're just putting more pressure on yourself than is warranted. Call the shop/instructor today and get them to agree to allowing backstroke. If they say "no" ask them for the phone number for their PADI regional representative...

Question for you, I surface, start my swim back to the boat, Why would I need to tread? did I ditch my gear somewhere? My BCD is inflated and keeping me on the surface, I'm not using air if I have my snorkel. And also with the constraints of the gear, I more than likely won't be using any stroke that I used to pass the swim test, I'll just be using my legs with my fins.