The Pool…
This is where the real learning starts for the student. Sure, they have a bunch of academics in their head, but this is where we start applying their book smarts and start turning that into being a safe and confident diver!
First Pool Session…
As I pointed out in my first post in this thread, this starts with the swim test. 200 yard swim, followed by a 10 minute tread/float and then you have to make 20 ft under water on one breath. Debra started out her swim with her first lap underwater. Impressive. She had no problems with any of it.
After her completion of the test, we took our masks into the shallow end of the pool. We started with mask clearing in an unconventional manner. She put her mask in the pool and then put her face in the pool to don it. With the mask filled with water, she stands upright and we talk for a bit. At some point I cracked a lame joke, and she laughs. Now, most people laugh a bit out of their noses, and Debra is no exception. Most of her mask is clear, and she has learned an important concept! It doesn’t take much to clear her mask. Once she gets it right ABOVE the water, we move to doing it right at the surface. She had a hard time with looking up just a bit (so the water drains), but soon she is doing GREAT.
I find this one of the most intimidating skills that has to be mastered by the new student. AFTER they have mastered it, I point this out, congratulate them, and tell that the rest will be easier. After this, we went into two different kicks: the flutter and the frog. She had a slight tendency to "bicycle" kick with the flutter. Heck, she's an avid cyclist! She was not at all comfortable with the frog. We have time to develop those during the class.
We then continue with snorkel clearing (two ways), donning of the BC on the surface, proper weighting, two ways of reg retrieval, doffing and donning of the BC at depth, mask removal at depth, sharing air as either the recipient or donor, buddy breathing, and the list goes on. Debra masters each skill and we move on to the next. The best thing about a private or semi-private class is that we aren’t wasting anyone else’s time when we hit a snag. We moved on only when Debra was comfortable moving on. We ended the session with a leisurely swim around the pool on Scuba. We spent about three and a half hours on this session.
Second Pool Session…
I have to admit that I was amazed when an instructor down in the Keys told me I was spending TOO MUCH TIME with Debra in the pool. Apparently, they spend only a couple of hours for an entire class all in one pool session. Wow. Call me pedantic! The second pool session is needed for muscle memory to kick in! It was obvious that Debra was far more comfortable in the second session! We geared up at the car and walked up the steps to the pool, and she did her first (and only) Giant Stride Entry. Since it’s an industry standard, I teach it, but I don’t like it.
Underwater, we quickly got to work. She went through all of her skills that we had mastered the day before. There were a few hiccups, but we got through them and now it was on to safety and rescue. She learned how (and when) to do an ESA (Emergency Swimming Ascent), how to relieve cramps, how to tow her buddy (several ways), how to deal with a panicked diver on the surface and how to retrieve a non-breathing diver from the bottom. Her learning had accelerated from the previous day, and we had all of this down in less than an hour.
Then we added some skills. We did a horizontal buddy breath swim, with her mask off. She then recovered her mask (while buddy breathing) and took her fin off only to swim to the other end. She did great! She repeated some more skills, especially the retrieval of the non-breathing diver, and then we were ready for Open Water! This was fun!
Let's hope that Debra fills in with her reactions to some of these skills.