the swim?

[m0tbaillie]

I was just wondering...how come nobody ever talks about the swim portion of the PRT? I have seen a lot of threads on boards about pushups/situps/running, but never anything about the swim PRT... How difficult is it?

 

[AJB37]

I was just wondering...how come nobody ever talks about the swim portion of the PRT? I have seen a lot of threads on boards about pushups/situps/running, but never anything about the swim PRT... How difficult is it?

The swim is part of the PST, which is the physical test for SEALs, if you're not applying for specops you don't have to worry about the swim for the PRT portion of your application... I believe.

 

[VIZKRIEG]

The swim is an option on the standard Navy PRT. I don't know how common it is in the fleet, but when I was in NROTC, we had the option of doing to swim, provided we could pass the run. I was a collegiate swimmer, and can swim faster than I can run, comparably, so it just made sense for me to swim. My opinion of it is as a swimmer, so you have to take that in consideration, but I found it very easy. You have to swim 500 yards in 6:30 (or more, depending on your age, I don't believe there is a difference between male and female), which amounts to 78 seconds for a hundred yards.
Again, I can't say how easy it would be for someone who doesn't have swim practice everyday, but if you can swim well, its worth a shot.

 

[incubus852]

Dunno about anyone else, but i assume its pretty similar.

We have two PFTs per semester at our ROTC unit. The first is an inventory to determine how many PT sessions you need to attend per week and the second is an official PFT that counts for score.

On the official PFT, you can opt to swim instead of run.

There is an exception. You have to run your last official PFA prior to commissioning.

Hands down, I swam every chance I got. If I moderately applied myself, I could get the highest score on swim, whereas if I ran at a considerable pace, I could only do average.

Then again, I've swam competitively since I was 6 and the 500 was my event of choice for some time.

Basically, if you didn't swim in high school; dont swim it. It'll suck. If you were a decent high school competitive swimmer, swim it, its easy and you'll score better. I agree with viz.

The portion abj is referring to is basically an entrance exam for seals; 1.5 mile run, pushups, situps, pullups 500 yard swim, i believe in that order. In boots and utes...damn difficult.

I asked one of my LTs about doing the swim in the fleet, because i hate running...he said he usually had the opportunity to swim it. They probably have to give you the chance...but we all know thats probably not how it works.

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

The swim is available upon request for the standard PRT. There was one aircrew female in my old squadron who swam the PRT every time rather than ran it. She was the only one that I ever heard of doing it, she was a swim instructor.

 

[HH-60H]

I asked one of my LTs about doing the swim in the fleet, because i hate running...he said he usually had the opportunity to swim it. They probably have to give you the chance...but we all know thats probably not how it works.

CO's are not required to provide the opportunity to swim the PRT.

 

[cisforsmasher]

Dont forget about the options of the bike or the elliptical (aka wubatron). These tests are not originally meant for people who are awesome swimmers but for people who must avoid the high impact stress of running, old-timers with bum knees and the like. Now the navy appears to be trying to make everyone passes so as not to kick so many people out for being fat asses. "it gives an option to sailors who wish not to run." Good luck burning all those calories in 12 minutes. I would much rather be done with the pain in ten minutes of a little faster than 6:40 min mile.

here is an article about the boxer testing the wubatron.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=28103

and go figure, there is a website called navy-prt.com
http://www.navy-prt.com/elliptical-bike.html

 

[llnick2001]

If you were ever a competitive swimmer it’s pretty easy.

 

[BourneID]

I was never a competative swimmer, but I grew up in Florida, so therefore I was either always in a pool, or at the beach. I can jump in the pool every six months and pass the swim, no training needed in between. It's not an excellent, but it is a passing time.

 

[The Stoic]

On the subject, what do you have to do at OCS. There is drown proofing and what not once you get there (from what I understand), and the 12 foot jump or something. Can you expound upon these general themes?

 

[HH-60H]

I was never a competative swimmer, but I grew up in Florida, so therefore I was either always in a pool, or at the beach. I can jump in the pool every six months and pass the swim, no training needed in between. It's not an excellent, but it is a passing time.

Yeah, but you are a CIA trained assassin.