To make your point more effectively, you should probably point out some specific historical examples in which scuba divers found themselves having to swim on the surface for an hour without access to any sort of flotation device (like a BCD). If people knew how commonly such a thing happens, they will be more motivated to prepare for such an emergency. I would have provided those examples for you myself, but I couldn't think of any. I'm sure you must know of some you could showcase.
John, I doubt there would be any liklihood of a scuba diver having to swim for hours without mask, fins and snorkel. .or tank....
The issue I am raising, is that almost every weak swimmer I have ever met, that tried to learn scuba diving, found themselves in an alien environment that kept them too nervous and uncomfortable, for them to learn scuba well.
Those that decided to get swimming lessons, transformed to easy learners for scuba afterwards.
With my Project Seahorse events , where we take kids in varrying degrees of swimming skill ( from unable to swim one lap, to very good swimmers)...and we teach them Finctional swimming ( how to be comfortable as long as needed), and rhen we teach snorkeling, and then freediving...
Without exception, the kids that swim comfortably, learn snorkeling and freedive skills quickly and easily....the kids that had trouble with one lap, could not really learn snorkeling until we go them to be comfortable swimming...once comfortable, all of a sudden they could try snorkel skills and succeed.
I will post 2 videos of this....
---------- Post added October 30th, 2015 at 02:13 PM ----------
[video=youtube;zNjY2KqHQ14]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNjY2KqHQ14&[/video]
You can start this 1st vid at about 1:42 into it, and get right to the kids learning part.
---------- Post added October 30th, 2015 at 02:15 PM ----------
[video=youtube;MTB5mnBpo84]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTB5mnBpo84&[/video]
It is also my contention, that the basic skills learned in snorkeling and freediving, create a powerful foundation for scuba development.
---------- Post added October 30th, 2015 at 03:04 PM ----------
If I had to swim for an hour or more, I'd be doing either an elementary back stroke or a side stroke. I find the crawl and breast strokes quite tiring.
When a expert swimming instructor works with you, there would be a huge increase in the efficiency of each stroke...what was tiring before, becomes much easier. Everything becomes easier. You feel like you are just wandering along , more like walking.
Here is a useful tangent....
Do you know a bad flyer? A person that is near panicking each time they fly?
People like this are so close to panic while flying, that if you tried to teach them something very basic on the plane flight, their learning potential would be a fraction of what it would be if they were relaxed, paying attention, and engaged in the learning process.....But when panicked, there is little engagement, and little learning.
Most non-swimmers are very close to panic when placed in the water with a scuba tank on...Poor swimmers are similar, their weakness at swimming still has them in near panic--they are NOT in control of their environment. The water does not make sense to them, their arms and legs do not do what they want from them....and they will be focused heavily on this feeling of near helplessness.
When we take a kid, and get them to be a good swimmer....then teach them to become a great snorkeler or freediver.....when they go to try a scuba class....they are at 100% engagement, they are not afraid, they know they can learn this, and they know they will be good at it...and everything they try to do in scuba skills, will make sense to them--due to their familiarity with the water.....because of the foundational swimming skills, being in the ocean is no more stressful than being in a forest, and taking a hike.