Non-swimmer

[Alex777]

Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's nuts to contemplate diving unless you are a reasonably competent swimmer. Unfortunately, it seems that some agencies have convinced themselves that swimming is an unnecessary skill. Don't buy it.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

If you are going to be even near to the water you should be able to swim.

If you are going to be in or under the water, MUST be able to swim.

A non-swimmer who scuba dives will be 100% dependant on his/her buddy to save them if anything goes wrong, including simply falling into the water, which does happen.

Have your friend learn to swim first.

 

[goldenbear01]

hi grounded...are you funning with us? or are you seriously going to recommend a non-swimming friend of yours that she should participate in a dive?

if you're question was intended seriously, then i'd recommend that your friend learn to swim before she does the discover scuba course. once she learns how to swim and is comfortable in the water, you could then expose her to the amazing world that exists underwater. but until she learns to swim, diving should be entirely out of the question for her.

that said, if she's your "frienemy" then maybe you could recommend she dive without first learning to swim.

 

[scubamickey]

How is she going to kick if she doesn't know how to swim? I am not a strong swimmer and as a result my husband had to teach me how to flutter kick and frog kick. Thank goodness he did or I might still be diving in that weird semi upright position so often seen among divers and bicycling my way around the reefs.

 

[Seanpaul]

In the resort I have taught DSD the hotel requires the swim test, 8 lengths of the pool, approx. 150 meters. They do it for their protection even though PADI doesn't require it. If the cruise ship/scuba shop doesn't require it for their own protection they are foolish and asking for trouble.

 

[sixgears]

My wife kept asking me the same question. I told her, agency requirements not withstanding, I REQUIRE IT specially if she was going to buddy-up with me. Don't get me wrong she does know how to swim a little but even that wasn't good enough for me nor her. She's at the YMCA right now taking swimming lessons which will make her a bit more confident in the water and as a dive buddy.

IMO anyone who is going to be in ANY aquatic setting should know how to swim.

 

[Pearldiver07]

Most have a snorkel requirement instead of the swim now. I remember wearing a wetsuit for my snorkeling session and I floated like a cork.

If your instructor didn't make sure you were NEUTRALLY buoyant, he/she didn't meet standards.

PADI does allow for wearing neoprene, understanding that some confined water (including naturally fed springs) may be too cold to comfortably swim without a suit. But in a call to their training section, I was told that the individual must be neutrally buoyant.

I require that a student be able to remain motionless on the surface, and when fully exhaling they begin to sink. If they can't, then it's time to add lead. I can then say that their buoyancy is close enough to neutral that their breath control allows them to be positive/negative.

Everyone, I'm sure that the instructor here thought he/she was doing the right thing, but this would be a case of not understanding what the standard is.

 

[NancyLynn]

I seem to recall that PADI offers a certification less than open water that allows the individual to dive only on tours with a divemaster.

Does anyone know if this certification requires a swim test?

"Are you nuts?" comes to mind. Followed by: Ahh...http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/234548-diver-indicted-2003-gbr-mishap.html

A word of advice: Friends don't let friends dive without basic swimming skills.

My daughter was a non-swimmer when we thought about getting her certified, but was very comfortable in the water. In a month, going to the pool once or twice a week, I had taught her enough swimming skills that she easily managed the 300 yard swim (without fins or snorkel) + the 15 minute treading water required by the YMCA. She's not going to win gold medals at any swim meets, but before she started diving lessons she was a reasonably competent swimmer.

If your friend is comfortable enough in the water to contemplate diving, spend a little extra time and take some swimming lessons - I used to teach swimming to adults - it is a skill that can be picked up fairly easily as long as there is already water comfort. (And if there isn't water comfort, we're back to my original thought.)

Depends where in the world. Europe [the swim requirement] is mandatory, other places it can be replaced by a snorkel test instead (which in my view is a very bad idea).

At least according to PADI, it doesn't require any swimming test/competency.

My daughter took the course - no test or questions about swimming at all. She had already completed virtually all of the YMCA course when we went on a dive vacation. The resort course was a way to allow me to be comfortable with her diving a little on our trip, since her instructor's (and my) assessment was that her pool diving skills weren't quite up to the "hurry up and get in the water" pace that typifies a lot of drift diving. This way since she was only Discover Scuba "certified" she got personal attention and a much slower-paced entry. Then she came home and finished up her OW certification in the local quarry.

Personally, I think the resort courses are very risky and would not have allowed my daughter (or encouraged a friend) to dive with only resort course training. (By the time she took the resort course, my daughter had already had more classroom time and more pool time in her Y course than I had by the time I completed the PADI OW course.)

On a side note - your bug is driving me buggy. I keep batting at it to get it off my screen - then when I finally get myself trained not to bat at it, real bugs start landing on my screen and I forget that I really can get rid of them. (Since I've been running my computer in the dark I've been attracting a LOT of real bugs.)

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Some friends of ours took a resort course in Jamaica. They had to swim so many laps of the pool without touching bottom or grabbing the sides. Two people were asked to leave the class because they could not complete the task. They were taken to 55 feet on their dive but had not been told that's how deep they would be going; not a place I would want to see a non-swimmer when they check that depth gauge their first time. Our friends were glad we had gotten together for an 8-hour Discover Scuba at the local quarry before they went on vacation. They commented they saw several people having different problems such as a constantly flooding mask and starting to freak out on their trip.

Everything won't necessarily be perfect even on those "easy" sorts of dives. Why take the chance of scaring her away from the sport forever? Swimming lessons shouldn't be hard to find in your area and even if you have to hire a private swim coach for a few days the peace of mind is worth it. She doesn't have to be an olympic caliber swimmer, she simply needs to have enough skills, enough faith in those skills and comfort in the water to perform a self-rescue.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[String]

At least according to PADI, it doesn't require any swimming test/competency.

Actually it does, see the "teaching in the EN area countries" file on the padi members website. Local laws override agency standards and in europe local law is it must be a swim (not snorkel) test and has to be completed before entering any open water.