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In-Depth API Swim Question

S

SevenFootElephants

New Member
I’ve looked everywhere for an answer to this, and I haven’t found an answer yet. In regards to the swim qualifications, how kind do you need to tread with and without hands in the water? Also, how long is required for the dead man float?
 
Not exactly sure what you mean by "kind", but here's some insight.

You build up from treading in your shorts to flight suit, boots, and gloves, and lastly all decked out iirc. You use a modified frogkick, but anything to keep you afloat is fine. The only time I had to tread without using my hands was when we were doing the trouser inflation. You hold your folded up trousers over your head for like minute or so (90 seconds?) unless someone jacks up and you gotta do it all over again. As for the float, it goes from 2min tread/5min float to 2 min/6min in flight suit, gloves, and boots, to 2min/7min(?) in full gear plus helmet. Floating is a lot easier than treading once you relax. The hard part for most is putting your face in the water and holding it there for a few seconds after you're gassed from the tread.

Not too bad. If you're worried, go to open swim or opt for remedial swim the first day. No shame and it really prepares you for the API swim portion.


Hope this helps.
 
I meant to ask, “how long do you need to tread”, rather than, “how kind” hahaha.

I have another question, if you don’t mind answering. Some of the discussion boards have said “frog kick only” while treading, and others have said “whatever you need to do to pass.” What was it like for you when you went through? I can tread fairly easy using the scissor motion, but I can’t get enough force with the frog kick. I’m just curious is all. I’ll prepare for both
 
SevenFootElephants said:
I meant to ask, “how long do you need to tread”, rather than, “how kind” hahaha.

I have another question, if you don’t mind answering. Some of the discussion boards have said “frog kick only” while treading, and others have said “whatever you need to do to pass.” What was it like for you when you went through? I can tread fairly easy using the scissor motion, but I can’t get enough force with the frog kick. I’m just curious is all. I’ll prepare for both
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I’m probably the worst swimmer in this forum that has wings. I can’t frog kick for beans. I’ve gone 17 years with swim instructors yelling at me to frog kick and I’m still here. If they aren’t throwing you a lifesaver, you’re doing fine. If they do, you’ll try again. Work on the different strokes, but you don’t have to be an Olympic swimmer to make it through. Not even close.
 
I always found frog-kicking with boots to be a worthless endeavor, so I would always use a slow scissor kick. Then again, I also found that rolling on my back to rest worked well, but accorting to NSTC, you'll immediately die if you ever think about doing that in the ocean. It's funny how when I've actually done that in open-ocean swimming, I managed to live.
 
SevenFootElephants said:
I was talking about the frog kick for treading water.
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Are you confusing frog kick (breaststroke) with eggbeater for treading water? I've never heard of someone using frog kick to tread water with consistently. I can see using it for a short period when you can't use your hands but you can also tread with no hands with eggbeater. I can't imagine trying to tread water with scissor kick (freestyle kick).
 
They told us to use the frog kick for the tread but I don't remember them actually checking to see if we were using it in the pool. Most people do fine with the 2 min tread part, I noticed most people struggle with the 6-7 min float more. Use the butterfly clap for the float if you're a sinker.
 
Christian said:
They told us to use the frog kick for the tread but I don't remember them actually checking to see if we were using it in the pool. Most people do fine with the 2 min tread part, I noticed most people struggle with the 6-7 min float more. Use the butterfly clap for the float if you're a sinker.
Click to expand...
Is frog kick different from eggbeater?
 
Check out chapter seven for information regarding the treading portion. It seems like different kicks are okay but aren't taught because of difficulty to master. I was taught the modified frogkick and it works for me. But then others do the eggbeater and it works just fine, too. I have yet to see someone successfully do the scissor kick. Usually it drags them down when they have boots on, but hey, it might work for you.

https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/ce..._manager/files/swim/netc_1552/netc1552 16.pdf
 
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