Plebe Summer Swimming

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NavyMom2027

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My DD is an incoming USNA Plebe. She has basic swimming abilities and has spent a few days at the pool over the past couple of weeks to better prepare for USNA swimming. According to the PTR, "Upon reporting for Plebe Summer, you should be able to swim a minimum of 100 yards utilizing any stroke and tread water for 15 minutes. Failure to complete these tasks will result in assignment to the swim remedial program." DD can swim 200 meters freestyle in under 4 minutes with no difficulty but the 15 minute water-treading requirement seems a lot more challenging for her; at this point she can only tread water in a "vertical" position for maybe 4-5 minutes at a time. Are they allowed to float on their back at any time during the 15 minute water-treading test, to rest, or do they have to tread water in a "vertical" position the entire 15 minutes? We are new to the military and academy life, so I would appreciate any help!
 
I wouldn't put it past some Plebes to deliberately fail the water-treading test so that they could be in the pool more, during Plebe Summer. ;)

My guess (and that's all it is) is that it's not a big deal. She should not stress about it. Anyone administering this sort of test will know in the first 5 minutes if someone can tread water for 15 minutes or not. It will be easier than she thinks, especially when you have 100 of your new bestest buddies in the pool with you.
 
She will be placed where she should be. No worries. I had an ‘aqua rock’ and he passed.

She won’t be the only one, wherever she ends up.
 
Capt MJ said:
Aqua Rock: Those rumored to be able to walk across the bottom of a pool faster than they can swim on the surface, due to buoyancy, swimming skills, etc. Aqua rocks can get through!
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One of my roommates has had the nickname "Rock" for almost 50 years. Despite all of the USNA swimming coaches/instructors claims
that it could not be true, "Rock" consistently proved that some folks just can not float on top of the water and WILL sink to the bottom.
 
NavyMom2027 said:
My DD is an incoming USNA Plebe. She has basic swimming abilities and has spent a few days at the pool over the past couple of weeks to better prepare for USNA swimming. According to the PTR, "Upon reporting for Plebe Summer, you should be able to swim a minimum of 100 yards utilizing any stroke and tread water for 15 minutes. Failure to complete these tasks will result in assignment to the swim remedial program." DD can swim 200 meters freestyle in under 4 minutes with no difficulty but the 15 minute water-treading requirement seems a lot more challenging for her; at this point she can only tread water in a "vertical" position for maybe 4-5 minutes at a time. Are they allowed to float on their back at any time during the 15 minute water-treading test, to rest, or do they have to tread water in a "vertical" position the entire 15 minutes? We are new to the military and academy life, so I would appreciate any help!
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It's not that big of a deal if you can't swim well. Everyone fails at something and everyone is good at something.

There is no consequence if you fail the plebe summer swim test. It's a benchmark basically.

To answer your question, the 20 minute test is 5 minutes dead man float (face in water but you can breathe as you need to) and 15 minutes do whatever you want. I personally took a nap and reflected on my "why."

This is just one small aspect of plebe summer. She will fail and succeed at many different things, she just needs to put out for her classmates, do her best and have fun! My biggest piece of advice of focus on running, not much swimming. There are weekly ish classes but it's not a huge deal.

If it's any consolation, I got a D+ in plebe swim during the Academic Year and I'm still happily here!
 
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