Swimming at USNA

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apollo0628

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Hey everyone! I had a question concerning USNA and there emphasis on swimming. I’m attending plebe summer in a couple weeks and I’m worried about my ability to swim and how that might affect how my summer goes. I’m a 6’3, 170 lb male who is not the best swimmer. I struggle to float and struggle to swim a lap. I just recently started taking lessons and I am making process, but I still fear this won’t be enough. How important is swimming at the Academy? Any information, encouragement, and wisdom is useful.
 
My son wasn’t a good swimmer. They will teach you.

Keep practicing as much as you can before I day but don’t worry about it.
 
You will be fine. Keep working on it. It will be something you have to work on after Plebe Summer. Plebe Summer swimming isn’t difficult. It’s a lot of basics. To be honest PS swimming was kind of nice as the water was cool and your body gets pretty exhausted from all the PT.
 
You will have plenty of opportunity to learn. Get comfortable in the water ... particularly if you are thinking Aviation. The first several weeks of Flight Training (Aviation Indoctrination back in the day) for both Pilots and NFO's was heavy on water survival , and the Navy has been very creative in creating devices teach you how to avoid drowning when your plane or helo goes into the drink. They are a lot more fun if you are comfortable in the water.
 
Seems few mids are great at everything and swimming may be that “thing” you’ll need to put in extra time during your 4 years. That is my DS’s case - lots and lots of pool time instead of other stuff. Navy will make you into a confident and proficient swimmer.
 
DS could boogie board with the best of them, but being from a landlocked state (despite what the Great George Strait would have you believe) he couldn't swim the required 'official' strokes-- breaststroke, Australian crawl etc. Getting in the pool during plebe summer was a relief, great for tired muscles. USNA will not let you drown, and they will teach you to be a confident and proficient swimmer. Yes, it may mean extra time in the pool, which places demands on the remaining hours in your day; but you will be okay.

My son, partway through the plebe first semester called me, he said, "mom, if we couldn't swim I would think we would be more motivated to keep a boat afloat". Cracked me up.
 
Plebe Summer swim doesn’t count for anything so don’t worry too much about it. The plebe swim class is graded and moves pretty quickly so it’s tough on beginners. As it is typically offered in the spring, I’d recommend getting pool time in throughout your fall semester, even if only once a week (You’ll be pretty busy). There are times when remedial sessions are offered and times when a pool is open to the Brigade where you could practice on your own.
 
If you are a good swimmer and get recruited for the academy as a swimmer do you get to skip the plebe summer swim courses?
 
Swimmerwannabeplebe2029 said:
If you are a good swimmer and get recruited for the academy as a swimmer do you get to skip the plebe summer swim courses?
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What a great opportunity to be in the pool with classmates and help those who are less skilled…and enjoy yet another all for one, one for all, bonding experience as a class.
 
Capt MJ said:
What a great opportunity to be in the pool with classmates and help those who are less skilled…and enjoy yet another all for one, one for all, bonding experience as a class.
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If you're good at swimming, you can validate the classes, and should. One of the hardest parts about the swim classes is that the pool is so crowded that you're banging into people. Fewer people in the pool actually makes it easier
 
gonavy14 said:
If you're good at swimming, you can validate the classes, and should. One of the hardest parts about the swim classes is that the pool is so crowded that you're banging into people. Fewer people in the pool actually makes it easier
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Thank you for bringing that up. I needed a tongue-in-cheek Irony Font! I should have mentioned the validation myself.

Here’s some good primary source info for the OP.
 
I probably am not remembering this correctly ... but I thought everyone takes plebe swimming.

The validation is to get out of the academic year swim classes. No matter if you validate any year or not, you aren’t alone.
 
My daughter never ever had formal swim lessons . She could 'swim' but not well enough to be safe. She learned a lot during Plebe summer and enjoyed Plebe swim in the fall. She is what people refer to as an 'aquarock' - but is really proficient now.
 
Both my grandsons started swim lessons before they could walk. Freaked me out to see them under water then pop up and figure out how to get on their back. Wife and I were at six year olds baseball game tonight and four old showed up after swim team practice. Asked him what he did. I learned to do super hero arms and straight robot legs. Sounds fun I said.
 
Also, FWIW, my experience has been (and reaffirmed anecdotally by classmates) that if you can pass USNA swimming (which every graduate eventually does) then you'll be prepared for follow-on swimming training (conventional warfare... special warfare communities require a lot of extra pool work). The classes you take are more or less the flight school swim curriculum: underwater swims, tower jump, stroke testing, swimming a long distance in a uniform.

The Navy swim curriculum makes you uncomfortable in the water by design, but it made me confident and competent in survival swimming. I'm not a huge fan of treading in flight gear, but I can do it if I must.
 
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