Jump off Diving Board in BCT

mikewazowski -- This is not mean to discourage you at all from trying to increase your swimming proficiency, but there are always several cadets (more than you'd think) who do not swim, and they are put in separate classes and taught to swim properly. my cadet grew up at the beach, has taken swimming lessons since she was 18 months and had regular PE swimming classes throughout grade school and high school and she still did not ace swimming and thought it, and water survival, were the hardest things she's done at USAFA. It is a very hard PE requirement for sophomores. Not sure whether hitting the pool between now and I-Day is really going to move the bar for you if you are as inexperienced as you seem to say. Use your precious little time in other ways...run in your boots, do some situps, get a tan, relax and eat alot before I-Day!
If you are not part of the class of 2018 and are just prepping for the future, then of course it's a great idea to enroll in some swimming classes, learn to swim properly and possibly even take a water safety class. Good luck!
IMHO, the benefit is getting over his fear. Back in the day, our Jr. High swimming PE instructor marched all of off us to the deep end. One by one we jumped off the board. Peer pressure made me face my fears. As it turns out, my worries were all in my head. Since then I have no fear of swimming.

We put our son in lessons at an early age and we had a pool. We also lived on a lake. He tested out of the PE swimming class at the AFA. With swimming and survival, it must help to have size 13 feet.:thumb:
 
The water survival seems to be something that is referred to with disdain and almost fear... I am an appointee for this class. I guess I'll take your guys' advice and just focus on land PT mostly.


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I wouldn't wait until sophomore year to worry about swimming. Will swimming between now and I-Day make a difference in a year? Not unless you swim during freshman year and the summer before sophomore year. So if you want to swim now, more power to you-just know if won't directly help you during basic.

From talking to upperclassmen, you do NOT want to be in basic swimming if you can help it, and I would not rely on the Academy swimming classes to teach you how to swim. 8 lessons (of regular swimming) is really just not enough for anyone to learn how to swim, and chances are if you're sent to basic swimming you won't walk out with the swimming classes with a great grade or semester PEA, even if you're a great athlete otherwise.
 
Here's my perspective. Some of the swimming might be out of date, but my experience is relevant.

I am/was not a strong swimmer at all. Always lived around water and enjoyed it, but not a good swimmer. I actually did pretty poorly on the first day of swimming 250 m timed test. Despite a horrid score, I was kept in swimming. Frankly, you have to be halfway drowning to do poor enough to be placed in basic swimming. For us, no one really regretted basic swimming. The disadvantage was that it was 16 lessons instead of 8 lessons, but they went from complete zero (blowing bubbles in the water to get comfortable, no kidding) to finishing the normal syllabus of non-basic swimming by the end. They typically got to do basic water survival instead of normal water survival, which was also a tad less stressful. I don't remember anyone regretting basic swimming at the time (2008).

My swimming experience was meh. We learned the different strokes, swam a couple 250 m (in 25 m segments) a class, and practiced the strokes. The pool was frigid, that was the most uncomfortable thing for me. The 1 mile swim wasn't pleasant - I am NOT a long distance swimmer! I took a while, but it wasn't the end of the world, no worse that a hard run. They let us jump off the platforms during class if we wanted (I never did). Goggles are allowed

I was really dreading water survival. Like, a lot. I stressed about taking it for a long time. After doing it, I had nothing to worry about. For one, I was much warmer wearing BDU (I'm old....) pants and blouse. We practiced survival swimming stuff. We had to float for 20-30 minutes on our bellies. This entailed holding your breathe while floating and then lifting your head to take a breath when you needed it. I didn't think it would be pleasant but it really wasn't that bad. I just relaxed, ran a movie in my head, and did the trained movements. No biggie. Treading water was more challenging as I wasn't particularly good at the egg beater. I probably looked like a drowning dog, but go through it. My instructor had to yell at me to relax - I was fine after I took her advice! We had to try and swim 25 m with BDUs on underwater with one breath. I actually wasn't able to do that at the time, but the downgrade was minimal. We did a jump from the 5 meter platform and several from the 3 m. I'm afraid of heights but the 3 m didn't bother me and the 5 meter was only a minor inconvenience. We were always given the chance to do the 10, but I didn't (that fear of heights). Lots of people did and loved it. On the last day during the final exam, I finally did the 10 m once and only once. It was no where near as bad as I thought and I did fine. You jump, swim under the bulkhead (about 4 feet), surface and clear.

My greatest confidence boost was on the endurance swim. We are given 20 minutes to do laps in the pool with 50 m increments. Max score was to do 16 laps (800 meters). I was in the normal class - so there were many more swimmers who were more confident and better than I was. I struggled in the swim class doing the mile swim and was concerned. Unlike swim class, we had to keep either the pants or blouse on for the swim. I kept my blouse. There was a big difference that helped me. We were told to use freestyle (the 'crawl') in normal swimming, but we could do anything for the endurance swim. I did a modified elementary survival backstroke (or whatever it was called). I managed to finish first and in only 16 minutes and I was not out of breath. Let me tell you, that made me feel good about myself!

I ended up with a B in swimming and an A- in water survival.

So, practice if you want to, but also don't get worked up about it. The curriculum may have changed somewhat in the last few years. However, I doubt it has changed much and after taking the classes, I was certainly way more concerned than I needed to be.
 
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You did 1600m in 16 minutes with a shirt on and stopping every 100m??? That's really, really, really good. You should have been on the swim team and I wouldn't classify you as not a good swimmer.
 
Whoops! Good catch, got my increments wrong (I don't swim in my day to day life at a pool). Fixed it to 25/50 m and not 50/100 m.
 
LOL, ok, because it wasn't impossible but certainly very impressive. :smile:
 
I don't mind the water, but I'm neither fast nor efficient...which is what they grade in Swimming class. Pulled a "D" in that class, then got put in Basic Water Survival. Basic Swimming was not liked due to it being twice as long, but Basic Water Survival was only 8 lessons. We got a couple minor adjustments in grading, with the biggest being no penalty for hesitating before jumping off the 10m platform. The lack of penalty was good for me, as I am scared of heights, and it took a good minute to psych myself up enough to jump. As soon as you clear the platform you realize the only difference between the 5m and 10m is that you are in the air a little longer off the 10m and get deeper in the water (GOOD thing for the scenario, as you have to swim under the bulkhead before surfacing for max points).


PIMA, I hear good things about water survival at P-Cola, but USAFA basic water survival doesn't have a beach or para-sailing!
 
I'd like to offer my experiences with aquatics at USAFA to future cadets and current underclassmen.

I knew from the get-go that I could not swim and was going to be placed in Basic Swimming. We were all required to do a diagnostic 250m regardless. I remember that I could not swim 10m without stopping. My final time was around 16+ minutes, and I did not even finish... Basic Swimming was a struggle, but the teachers gave me individual instruction that really benefited me. I had to supplement this by swimming on my own in the evenings and during the weekends to essentially teach myself how to swim. My teacher informed me that I would not be able to pass the class with my improved but still deficient 250m swim time, so I was withdrawn the last lesson and made to retake the course.

The 2nd time taking Basic Swimming, I was much better overall and earned a C-. I did not like this score, so I planned on retaking the class again after I took Basic Water Survival.

This class was a horrible experience for me as I was not comfortable jumping from the platform or swimming underwater. I eventually jumped the 10m, but I was made to retake the class.

After an entire summer passed by, I took Basic Swimming my 3rd time and earned a B. My final 250m was 4:51, and I am confident that I am a strong swimmer as I have swam 2000m without stopping.

My 2nd time taking survival was still a struggle as I could not and still can't effectively swim underwater. The teachers knew my struggle and saw that I was working hard to overcome this. On the last lesson, I successfully jumped the 10m platform, but I had to surface 3x before going underneath the bulkhead. I completed the scenario, and I passed the class with a 61%.
 
Swimming

I've been an avid swimmer for over 50 years and offer this two cent advice: You will improve dramatically simply by putting time in the pool. In other words, the learning curve is steep. I think most people can go from dog paddlling 25 yards to swimming 1000 yards freestyle non-stop within one month. Also, a swim workout can only be 15-30 minutes each day and you'll still improve. If you're a complete novice, get lessons or watch several of the 100 clips on youtube that discuss swim technique. Keys: relax. Plane through the water (i.e. be horizontal with your head and feet level) Long strokes...reach out. Shoot for 6-8 strokes per arm per 25 yards. Swimming is 80% arms...your legs are mostly for balance so don't kick like a maniac. Again, relax. Finally, learn to float on your back so you can catch your breath but keep moving. (Get googles and wear a speedo... I know the style for men is to wear baggy jams, but those are like anchors when you swim. So get over it. As soon as you see Michael Phelps competing in jams, I'll change that advice.)
 
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