What I would like to ask SBers do you know of any techniques that might help me stay submerged while swimming and holding my breath 50 ft?
I start my GUE Fundies course this weekend and I am so excited; this is a course that I have waited for nearly a year. I am 49 and wanted to make sure that I could not the required swims at a local pool. The 300 yd swim within 14 minutes was not an issue. The 50 ft submerged swim while holding my breath was. I am incredibly positive buoyant; I need nearly 20 lbs in sea water just to become neutral buoyant. When I tried the swim in the local pool I could remain submerged for only about 35-40 ft. Holding my breath was not an issue; I just kept floating to the surface.
Today I will try again with a weight belt, however, even if I succeed I have not check with my instructor yet to see if I allowed to use a weight belt for this exercise (the GUE standards do not say I can or cannot use a weight belt). The down side of the weight belt that I can see is the weight belt adds drag, the more weight the more drag. I am going to experiment with different weights and see if I can find a good balance to adding just enough weight to allow me to stay submerged for the 50 ft, but not so much as it slows me down and I surpass my breath holding capability before I reach the 50 ft mark.
The pool is 3.5 ft to 5.0 ft in depth. Another possibility is if I am allowed to take the test in a deeper end of the pool that too might allow me to start deeper, thus travel farther ( 50+ ft) before surfacing. I just do not want to rely on this possibility...nor wearing a weight belt. My preferred way is just to rapid breathe 3-4 times to expel any CO2 in my lungs and dive down and swim the 50 ft.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
~Oldbear~
I start my GUE Fundies course this weekend and I am so excited; this is a course that I have waited for nearly a year. I am 49 and wanted to make sure that I could not the required swims at a local pool. The 300 yd swim within 14 minutes was not an issue. The 50 ft submerged swim while holding my breath was. I am incredibly positive buoyant; I need nearly 20 lbs in sea water just to become neutral buoyant. When I tried the swim in the local pool I could remain submerged for only about 35-40 ft. Holding my breath was not an issue; I just kept floating to the surface.
Today I will try again with a weight belt, however, even if I succeed I have not check with my instructor yet to see if I allowed to use a weight belt for this exercise (the GUE standards do not say I can or cannot use a weight belt). The down side of the weight belt that I can see is the weight belt adds drag, the more weight the more drag. I am going to experiment with different weights and see if I can find a good balance to adding just enough weight to allow me to stay submerged for the 50 ft, but not so much as it slows me down and I surpass my breath holding capability before I reach the 50 ft mark.
The pool is 3.5 ft to 5.0 ft in depth. Another possibility is if I am allowed to take the test in a deeper end of the pool that too might allow me to start deeper, thus travel farther ( 50+ ft) before surfacing. I just do not want to rely on this possibility...nor wearing a weight belt. My preferred way is just to rapid breathe 3-4 times to expel any CO2 in my lungs and dive down and swim the 50 ft.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
~Oldbear~