PADI 200m swim test question

[Henryville]

Will you have goggles on you when you are stranded in open water?

No, though they might have a mask, as others have said. Nor will they be sharing a lane with other swimmers who might appreciate not being rammed into. The swim test is for determining fitness and watermanship. Wearing goggles won't change either one.

 

[Blackwood]

Well ignoring that you'd have a mask...

Don't ignore it, that was my point!

Wear your mask, not something you likely won't have with you.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Don't ignore it, that was my point!

Wear your mask, not something you likely won't have with you.

Then why not wear your wetsuit, BC and fins as well?

And why do it in a clear pool with no waves or current?

Personally I find the swim test to be a pointless exercise of no value what so ever. But if you're going to have a short, pathetically slow swim in a pool, then allowing goggles is hardly a concession. People wear goggles when swimming in pools.

 

[Blackwood]

Then why not wear your wetsuit, BC and fins as well?

And why do it in a clear pool with no waves or current?

Personally I find the swim test to be a pointless exercise of no value what so ever. But if you're going to have a short, pathetically slow swim in a pool, then allowing goggles is hardly a concession. People wear goggles when swimming in pools.

Really, I assume it's meant to demonstrate some sort of comfort in the water, not to simulate an emergency swim (hence the short distance).

I did mine in swim goggles, but then I also swim in the ocean in swim goggles.

 

[simmonsjr]

Personally, I'd say "you really don't need them", but I still don't see how it hurts the training in any way.

Most people don't need googles, but there are some whose eyes are extra sensitive to chlorine. And you are right; whether you wear nothing, only your mask, or goggles is going to have zero impact on how you complete the exercise. You are going to be swimming this differently than if you were wearing fins anyway.

In the end though, it's going to come down to the instructor's discretion; call them up in advance and find out if they will allow it.

Jason

 

[GrandpaScuba]

I can't speak for PADI. I'm an SSI instructor. Our standards state 200m "without swim aids". I interpret this to mean anything that actually helps you float or propel yourself. So, if any of my students need standard swim goggles (not scuba mask) I have no problem with letting them use them. My eyes get really irritated by the chlorine, too.

 

[Diver0001]

Really, I assume it's meant to demonstrate some sort of comfort in the water, not to simulate an emergency swim (hence the short distance).

I did mine in swim goggles, but then I also swim in the ocean in swim goggles.

It's not a diving skill that's being demonstrated. The only purpose of the swimming test is to prove that you can, in fact, acutally swim.

Obviously if you can't swim, you're not going to learn it with 200 metres of doing whatever it is you would have to do to get to the other side without any instruction. If you want to learn the *skill* of swimming you have to take swimming lessons, not diving lessons.

In response to something else that was said, the 300m MSF swim is out of the standards. Everyone has to swim it now.

R..

 

[iztok]

In response to something else that was said, the 300m MSF swim is out of the standards. Everyone has to swim it now.

I just did PADI OW last month and I could still do 300m MSF.

 

[Thalassamania]

I have no problem with people using swim goggles, or even a diving mask, for a swim test.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Will you have goggles on you when you are stranded in open water?

Yes, they're clipped off to the bungee in my right pocket using a stainless steel, marine-grade bolt snap.