Current female plebe - AMA

usmagirl118 said:
Regarding swimming, I am just like a heavy stone. Would that be a problem for me at USNA if appointed? What help is available for someone like me to pass the swim tests?
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Why not go to the Y now or other pool if individual or group swimming lessons are available to learn techniques to address this, as a lifelong skill? It will improve your self-confidence, comfort in the water and tools in your toolkit. Failing that, research YouTube videos

At USNA, those who don’t have good buoyancy, often because of lean muscle mass far outweighing fat, are called “Aqua Rocks.”

There are required swim classes and proficiency tests. Yes, there is help available if you are struggling, but do you really want to go to extra swim instruction and take up precious time that you can’t afford to spare during the ac year? Oh-dark-thirty swim squad on a cold winter day when you could have been in the rack another 45 minutes? Any time you can avoid mandatory remedial sessions in anything gives you time back.

One of our sponsor sons was a record-setting 200m and 400m sprinter, all lean muscle and a tiny body fat percentage. He was struggling so much with being a top varsity athlete, his academic load and being so miserable in his swimming, the threat of potential separation was looming at the end of his 3/c year. He voluntarily took a summer leave block in the Yard to work on it. A SEAL and former USNA varsity athlete volunteered to mentor him. Sponsor son took his varsity work ethic into the pool for three-a-days, 7 days a week, three weeks. SEAL taught him to manage his terrific aerobic capacity to retain some air in his lungs to improve buoyancy, instead of fully emptying them. He improved in confidence and skills, passing all proficiency tests and never struggling again with any remaining ones. He often said that was one of his proudest accomplishments at USNA.
 
Mine grew up without a pool in a landlocked state, a few trips to the beach and he was great at surfing and boogie boarding. Totally different than performing swimming strokes and kicks well. He survived the 1st plebe semester and passed swimming with lots of extra pool time. Turned out that stress fractures and crutches provided more swim time which may have increased his odds of passing.
If you have access to a pool get some time in prior to reporting if possible.

Don't stress about it, they will teach you to swim, even if you are an 'aqua rock'.
 
Bythebay said:
Yes, there’s a handful of plebes who have DOR thus far in the year. I’m not sure the specifics but it could be family issues, realizing USNA isn’t for them or something else. However, it’s only been about 30/1200 so the attrition rate is quite low.
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It is indeed quite low, compared to other colleges/universities.
You will lose anywhere from 125 to 200 from your class during your four years.

Class of 2018 - 1,191 --> 1,042
Class of 2019 - 1,200 --> 1,052
Class of 2020 - 1,183 --> 1,013

I think the pattern here is that they want to have around 1,000 graduates each year, so they extend approximately 1,400 offers and expect about 1,150 of those to accept.
 
usmagirl118 said:
Regarding swimming, I am just like a heavy stone. Would that be a problem for me at USNA if appointed? What help is available for someone like me to pass the swim tests?
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Definitely not a problem! There were about 5 plebes on my company who didn’t even know how to swim and they learned just fine. Over plebe summer you get a basic intro, then in the ac year you take plebe swim. In the mornings they have remedial swim in place of company workouts so you can get one-on-one help. There’s also open swim throughout the day that you can attend and get some more laps in!
 
Thankyou everyone. I do plan to learn swimming, but just juggling between heavy study load, running and gyms. I am trying to maintain my fitness level ( needed for all SA in general) and once I decide where I am appointed I will work on specific things.

Academics comes first and then general fitness related things such as running, strength training. I guess I can mixup gym and swim lesson but cannot afford both at the same time.
 
Merging a couple of the above thought streams: the prestige of the uniform and an inability to swim.

In 2/C year, you’ll be required to complete the 40-Year Swim. You jump in the pool wearing full khakis (sans shoes) and must cover as much distance as possible in 40 minutes without touching the sides or bottom. So yes, those who enter USNA not knowing how to swim will learn. And no, there’s probably not much prestige associated with soaked khakis.

DD, despite being a strong swimmer and certified lifeguard, didn’t get an A (she says there were some competitive swimmers who didn’t either). And she says it’s not the hardest thing she’s had to do as a mid.
 
I adore my aqua rock. A muscle mass issue like described. He has fattened up and increased his buoyancy 😂

Seriously, both of my guys have shared swimming stories that had us laughing last night. They both thought swimming was one of their favorite classes.

There is plenty of time to get some confidence. You could check with your high school swim coach for pointers/training. Or maybe even a swimmer would coach you. I’ve heard of both happening. My youngest took lifeguarding as his PE credit. To assist with swimming. Bonus was that I believe lifeguarding adds a few points to your WCS? 2nd bonus? He got to work as a lifeguard before plebe summer. And also at USNA during open swim.

Every problem can be an opportunity to grow, learn and change!!
 
MidCakePa said:
Merging a couple of the above thought streams: the prestige of the uniform and an inability to swim.

In 2/C year, you’ll be required to complete the 40-Year Swim. You jump in the pool wearing full khakis (sans shoes) and must cover as much distance as possible in 40 minutes without touching the sides or bottom. So yes, those who enter USNA not knowing how to swim will learn. And no, there’s probably not much prestige associated with soaked khakis.

DD, despite being a strong swimmer and certified lifeguard, didn’t get an A (she says there were some competitive swimmers who didn’t either). And she says it’s not the hardest thing she’s had to do as a mid.
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The hardest part of the 40 minute swim is the rest of the class swimming in front of and often over you. It is so much a part of the degree of difficulty that if you miss it and have to do a make up session and there are few than a set number "going" with you then the minimum number of laps to pass is increased. There was nothing like being 25 or 30 minutes into the test and having someone swim over you or kick you in the face as they swim past you.
 
My son is an aqua rock youngster. He was an ok swimmer beforehand but not fast (read inefficient). Before COVID kicked him out, he was in the MacD pool (a scary, cold place I’m told) every day with a company mate (who is a good swimmer) working on it. If you are willing to put in the time, you will have friends who will do whatever it takes to get you a “C”.
 
OldRetSWO said:
The hardest part of the 40 minute swim is the rest of the class swimming in front of and often over you.
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Try getting into a large garbage container blindfolded with 8 of your crewmates, dropping it into the water, waiting until it flips over and submerges, then trying to get out one door (its' called something like the multiplace aircraft egress trainer or something like that). Those eight bodies have a lot of arms and legs thrashing about.

Seriously, anybody going to USNA (or spending any amount of time near the water) should at least try to be comfortable in the water before they go. Sure, USNA will teach you, but its alot less stressful if you aren't afraid of the water. (It's also a great life skill regardless of going to USNA -- being able to keep yourself alive instead of sinking to the bottom makes visits to the beach and or near the water alot more pleasurable).
 
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