Help for a non-swimmer

Embrace the water. My dive locker is almost my second home and has been a therapy to my runs and lift sessions.

Do dive games with sandbags and shit and find a good group of guys to make a routine of it with. You'll get better trust me. I could never do a crossover without SW blackout and while I'm not hitting the 50m crossover yet I'm a shit ton better than what I used to be.

Best of luck to you..
 
Learning the CSS is also a big help, it's so much better than the plain old side stroke. Learn all the strokes though if it starts to get boring, it's a good way to mix it up and it's great exercise.
 
Figured I would just ask this here since it's swim related but if it should be somewhere else let me know. Basically I am at the pool non-stop everyday to make sure I transform into a fish. Though the issue is I get swimmers ear very easily. I went to the doc and she gave me some ear drops which helped over time but I was told to stay out of the pool until it heals, which is obviously no good to me. This is about the third time I've had the issue and have thought of just getting some ear plugs for the time being. Is this something anybody else has issues with? I need to be in the pool as much as possible but I'm not sure if ear plugs are exactly allowed at Indoc, so I don't want to train with things I can't even use.
 
Grey : Doc, my ear is bothering me after drowning 9 times in the pool, I think it's swimmer's ear.
Doc: Here's some 800mg Motrin, you're FFD, on your way now.

:D

In all seriousness, have you checked online for any possible DIY remedies?
 
Lol not trying to sound like a bitch.:D All I have seen is stuff about rubbing alcohol and white vinegar but also that it can dry out your ear to the point where again there is pain, but I'm not really worried about the pain just dealing with the infection. I'll give that a try and see how it goes. If anybody has anything they have used before let me know. Thanks.
 
Is it swimmers ear or an ear infection? If it's an infection, your doc should have given you some antibiotics. Right?
Amoxicillin cures everything.
 
Ok, so along the same lines, but for someone like me who absolutely sucks at swimming, but is very comfortable in the water - do you guys recommend taking classes at the Y (just as an example)? If so, any type of class in particular?

I took lessons as a kid, but my technique is God-awful. I'm the guy that has my head out of water the entire time and turns it side to side on every stroke. I can't get the coordination down on my own (and goggles would probably be a good start down the right path...).

I can tread water and backstroke all day - I just don't think that would necessarily be the best way to get 1500m down in <34 minutes! :)

Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated!
 
justincredubil02 said:
Ok, so along the same lines, but for someone like me who absolutely sucks at swimming, but is very comfortable in the water - do you guys recommend taking classes at the Y (just as an example)? If so, any type of class in particular?

Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated!
Click to expand...

No. Check out Master's Swimming. Should be a branch near you...

http://www.usms.org/
 
justincredubil02 said:
Ok, so along the same lines, but for someone like me who absolutely sucks at swimming, but is very comfortable in the water - do you guys recommend taking classes at the Y (just as an example)? If so, any type of class in particular?

I took lessons as a kid, but my technique is God-awful. I'm the guy that has my head out of water the entire time and turns it side to side on every stroke. I can't get the coordination down on my own (and goggles would probably be a good start down the right path...).

I can tread water and backstroke all day - I just don't think that would necessarily be the best way to get 1500m down in <34 minutes! :-)

Any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated!
Click to expand...
CSS or Freestyle?
 
I agree with all based on my limited experience. I was never a military combat swimmer but trained with allot of folks and had to pass basic SOF swim qual. annually to be retained in my line and para. I'm also a civilian master diver. I played water polo for two years in high school and found the only way to get better is force yourself to stay in the water and keep at it. I also spend allot of time in the water for fun and pleasure. You must become comfortable and continue to force yourself to practice and gain the mind-set of becoming calm and control your emotions. Incrementally force yourself to increase stress and task loading slowly. Difficulty levels must be done in steps as well as distances in open water. About four years ago I bought a device called the "Powerlung" the "Trainer" model. A close friend of mine in NAVSPECWAR recommended it and it works great, at least for me. Also form and mechanics are everything! Best of luck to you and hope you achieve your desired goal.

Here's a link bro and be safe
http://www.powerlung.com/region/us/products/trainer/

With deepest respect to all
 
justincredubil02 said:
Any stroke except back stroke - 1500m of continuous swimming, trunks and goggles only (no fins).

There's also a 25m underwater swim.
Click to expand...

What's this for? As an aside, when I went to the Basic Recon Course they wouldn't let us do the combat swimmer stroke. They said you couldn't do it with full combat equipment on so they wouldn't let us do it slick. Their course, their rules. If you want to train in water confidence, go do a pre-scuba course. If you can do the SOF drown proofing test (SOCOM in test) in a 15 foot pool then you are comfortable in the water. You are also officially a beast because that is some man shit.
 
If you're doing the swim slick (just trunks) it shouldn't be too difficult. Here's what you should start doing if you want to learn CSS

Watch YT video > try to repeat in pool > realize you suck and it's hard to get the timing down without someone watching/correcting you while you're sucking > go home
Watch YT video > try to repeat the pull & kick in your room standing up in front of the computer as you're watching video > get made fun of by room mate
Watch YT video > repeat out of water > repeat in pool and realize you don't quite suck as bad
Etcetera, etcetera...
Eventually you'll get it down, it just takes time.
Crawl, walk run...
 
Teufel said:
What's this for? As an aside, when I went to the Basic Recon Course they wouldn't let us do the combat swimmer stroke. They said you couldn't do it with full combat equipment on so they wouldn't let us do it slick. Their course, their rules. If you want to train in water confidence, go do a pre-scuba course. If you can do the SOF drown proofing test (SOCOM in test) in a 15 foot pool then you are comfortable in the water. You are also officially a beast because that is some man shit.
Click to expand...
That's just the PAST test for Special Tactics.

All the other stuff comes later. The PAST is hurdle #1
 
Do they do it in a 15 foot pool or a 12 foot pool? I want to say the official standard is 9 feet. Dive school (Air Force, Marine and EOD) does it in a 12 foot pool. Mostly because that's what they got. I don't know about the SF. If you can do the SOCOM in test in a 15 foot pool you can pass the rest of that mess like hits etc. Pre-scuba is worse than Dive school. I would rather repeat dive school than pre-scuba any day.
 
I believe it's a 12 foot pool, but I'm not sure. Drown-proofing doesn't come until later on in the pipeline. Perhaps some of the resident AFSOC folks can give some more details on the AF methods.

I know that there's a YouTube channel that could also answer your questions: aircommandos

They've got a lot of their water confidence tests uploaded for our viewing pleasure.
 

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