i'm gunna be certified by padi in two weeks another question plz

[scubiedoo]

i saw the poll about average swimmers having no problems with rec diving and that's what i'm planning to do... but the poll doesn't give opinions so let me know what you think.

i'm an average swimmer, never took lessons, learnt on my own and can hold pretty well when it comes to swimming. The only thing is i'm so afraid the course, because you got to swim 10 laps of the pool (there and back) and 5 minutes to tread water... any suggestions and can this be done? so neervouss!!

 

[FLArmyBrat]

I consider myself an average swimmer. No formal training and hardly ever swim on the surface. I swim sort of like a frog under the water. The swim test worried me too.

I found that I did 3/4 of mine as a modified backstroke. I guess the key is to find the stroke that is comfortable for you and just do it. Remember its not a speed test, just one to make sure you can hold your own if it will take a while for the boat to come get you.

As for the tread test, we all stayed in a group and had a nice "get to know you" chat. The time passed very quickly. Shannon just laid on his back and took a nap! LOL He is very comfortable in the water if you can't tell!

Just relax and you'll do fine!!

Laurel
:froggy:

 

[ScubaRon]

As part of my dive training I routinely had to swim 1 mile or more and thread water for 20 minutes.

In my opinion it is not so important for a diver to be a strong swimmer, but it is important that you feel comfortable in the water. When diving you generally just float in the water (once you master your buoyancy skills...) and move slowly, powered by your fins. There is very little swimming skill needed for this and theoretically someone who doesn't know how to swim probably still could dive. Most of dive training is about what to do if something goes wrong. Swimming skills fall in this same category: you could lose your fins and if that happens it is important that you know how to swim without them. Your BC might leak or rip and staying afloat on the surface without it suddenly becomes an important skill.

In Europe swimming 10 laps and threading water for 5 minutes is generally taught to 6 or 7 year old children, so there is no reason why you cannot learn that. My recommendation is that you practise this in a pool or so. The nice thing about the diving courses are that the technique (or lack thereof) doesn't matter.
ScubaRon

 

[El Buzo Loco]

I did more of a float than a tread and it worked for me.

 

[eod]

Just take it slow. The distance isn't very intimidating, especially if it isn't to do it as fast as possible. The main problem I can see is that you can get a cramp, but if you take it slow there won't be any problems.

About the treading part, just sit there and relax. You really are about neutral in the water so you don't have to struggle to stay at the surface.

Good luck!

 

[pjdc1]

I have to agree.

The swim is not an Olympic event; you wont get a metal for finishing it fast. take it easy.

as for the float, I laid on my back and used a light fixture in
the ceiling as my point of reference, and just floated.

You'll do fine.

 

[scubiedoo]

the swimming, i have one or two weeks to proactice down at my pool, so i have to crank that heart rate up! hehe. It's the fact that they don't let you stop to take a breath and do the next lap that bothers me.

You can actually float instead of tread water? awsome i didn't know that. So i can do a starfish, just relaxing and letting the time go by! that seems fun

i'm pretty comfortable on water, i guess it's just the physical aspect of it that i have to deal with


you guys are great
thx so much

 

[scubiedoo]

just standard forward swim is alright with me. I can't do backstroke, never learnt it. I can do it for maybe 30 seconds, but that's all.

So just a forward freestyle swim seems to work for me. The frog like style is relaxing as well, but i start to loose my technique and it just dies down for me.

 

[learn-scuba]

Scubiedoo --

When you do your swim it is not a time event... unless the instructor is being demanding, you can take as long as you need to in order to complete it and use whatever stroke, or strokes, you prefer. So you can swim on your back for part, swim on your side for part, do the breast stroke or whatever trips your trigger. You don't have to be able to swim a track meet... just the distance.

And, yes, you can just float for the tread part.

 

[mer]

If I'm hearing you right, you can do front crawl but may get winded after a while and can do breaststroke but your form breaks down after a while. Correct?
My advice to you:
- Alternate between front crawl and breakstroke
- Do the breakstroke with your head above water if you need to breath more, then go into front crawl.
- Keep the pace very slow. If you are comfortable with floating in the water then this shouldn't be too hard.
- Work the glide portion of the breakstroke. Let the momentum work for you. In other words, don't rush into the next arm/leg cycle. Glide after your pull and kick.

Above is the stop gap solution. I would really invest in learning some sort of backstroke. Since it sounds like you are comfortable with floating on your back, start by just doing a gentle flutter kick. Then add arms when you master the kicking portion. Maybe a Y or Scuba/swim center in your area has adult clinics to work on your strokes.

Your mileage may vary but I feel that being confident with your swimming means you'll be more confident in diving. Also, backstroke float while kicking to propell yourself somewhere, I feel is a very important self-rescue technique for SCUBA (especially if your navigation takes a while to get its seas legs).

Hope this helps and welcome to the sport!

-meredith