• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Swimming

Status
Not open for further replies.
RENEGADE

RENEGADE

Registered User
I have read that SNA's have to be able to swim well. For survival training and whatever else. I know that I need some serious help with technique and endurance swimming. Is there anybody that had a similar experience?

And I'd like to know about the swim qualifications for flight training.(such as what the max time is for the mile swim or however far it is)

Thanks
 
rare21

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
just wanted to you to know that i didnt know a darn thing about swimming before i went to API and I passed. If you cant swim i'd definetly learn (makes the stress a lot less) but the Navy has great ways to pass you if you cant do certain events. As a bad swimmer my mile time was 79 minutes and 52 seconds...but i passed and thats all that counts. Just letting you know no matter how bad a swimmer you are you can pass if you dont give up.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Great gouge Patmack. I get guys asking exactly what is required now and I can't say since I know things change. For instance, I surprised that the tread water/drown proof is so short. Back in the day ('79), in addition to the other treading exercises, we had to tread water with our hands out of the water for three minutes, followed by ten minutes treading water and then 17 minutes drown proofing for a total of 30 minutes. We didn't do that exercise in gear though. If I'm not mistaken we did the mile swim in trunks. That was a break.
 
R

RobNLa

Registered User
If you want some help check out the book Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin. It helped me out. It shows you that swimming has much more to do with form than fitness. The author also has a web site (www.totalimmersion.com) with info on workshops and such.

Wink - Did you have to walk uphill in the snow to get to the pool? Just kidding, Rob
 
S

schmuckatelli

*********
RobNLa is definitely right about form over fitness, especially when it comes to "survival" swimming since the whole idea is to be as efficient as possible in order to conserve energy. I did the mile swim at API in about 30 minutes but I am not very fast when it comes to running.
 
G

goplay234

Hummer NFO
None
Can you match up the WS numbers to the corresponding times that we would have to go through them during flight school? Thanks.
 
lowflier03

lowflier03

So no $hit there I was
pilot
You will do the mile swim on Wednesday of your third week of API. You do 4 days of swimming a week, plus one of cardio/running while in API. After that comes the dunkers and other survival type stuff. The first few WS classes they just have you practice the basics, and then do the WS 1-3 tests all in one day. Its no biggie. Though we did have a compressed week thanks to the holiday weekend, but thats the general setup that a few of my friends have done and that I am doing. I do the mile this Wednesday.
 
T

twnupe3

Registered User
Some body types sink like rocks, ie . . . mine. Anyone, have any advice/techniques for the float. I can do everything but FLOAT! The deadman, turn your body into a seven technique = ROCK for me. Please break down the technique in dummy language, b/c I will try it.
 
E

Enishi1983

Solid Snake
gasp, a mile in 30 mins?!!!!!!!!!! i swim 1/4 in like 930's right now... damn!!!

anyway, about the floating techs... i need help as well. i can do the deadman, but not the back float. my legs have no buoyancy, so i failed the 2/c swim test in nrotc.
 
lowflier03

lowflier03

So no $hit there I was
pilot
You dont have to float on your back for this, and in the mile swim you are not allowed to use the backstroke. Also the float is only 3 minutes long. There are remediation sessions for people that have trouble with it. It is actually easier to do the floating with the gear on, as the helmet holds your head up. If you have trouble sinking when floating on your stomach, then lightly kick your feet when you are floating to help keep you near the surface.
 
S

schmuckatelli

*********
One trick that might help with the float is to not exhale until right before you lift your head to take a breath (or at least exhale very slowly). This way the air in your lungs will help to keep your upper body more buoyant.

Enishi1983, if you work on an efficient swimming technique you could probably also swim a mile in 30 minutes or so. To do 72 laps in 30 min. that is 25 sec. per 25, definitely doable since it is not unreasonable to sprint a 50 in 30 seconds. The bad part about API is that they just divide the class alphabetically and put about 10 people per lane so it sucks when you have to continually go around the slow people. I don't know why they don't tell people to divide themselves up into slow, medium, and fast groups and then put them into different lanes accordingly. Obviously that would make way too much sense.
 
E

Enishi1983

Solid Snake
for WS-9, what about the boots, do you wear that too? and what do ppl wear usually under their flight suit? the same old white t-shirt and undies?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top