Military Swim Test - When, Where, and How- Merged

[DEagle]

Well this is kinda emberesing...i am in good shape and i wana join recruits but i dont know how to swim...actually my biggest fear is water...last year i jumped of bridge with my friends but i had life jacket on....i just wana know whut distance am i suposed to swim and is it really necessary for me to know how to swim really good?
thanks

 

[Pikache]

There is a swim test which you have to do.

It consists of jumping off a 5m diving board with life jacket on, then swim to the end. About 50m.

Second part is jumping in the water from the end of the pool, tread water for two minutes, then swim to the other end.

I didn‘t swam for like 8 years and had trouble. Luckily I was able to use flipper board thingy.

My advice is to take some swimming lessons.

I hate swimming.

 

[Bert]

I remember being about 12 yers old and not knowing how to swim. I stuck out with the little kids in the baby end of the beach in 3 feet of water max. I took swimming lessons during a summer but could not get over the fear of jumping into the water or not having my feet on the
bottom. In another sense, I was a great swimmer in three feet of water.

During the same summer, a friend of mine bugged the crap out of me and forced me in ridicule to swim 100 feet out to a raft in the river. I‘d say the depth would be about 15 feet between the beach and the raft.

If I could swim in 3 feet of water why not 15? Nice to say yet it was something that scared the crap out of me at the time.

I gathered my courage and followed him out to the raft in spite of my fear. And I did it. Swam back to shore.

During that summer, swimming opened up a new experience for me. I started distance crawls and diving down to about 12 feet. I‘d put on a pair of goggles and check out the rock formations, vegetation, and all the other gross stuff at the bottom of that part of the river. Well, somebody said there was gold down there. It was also the same summer I noticed girls had a$$ but thats another story.

Swimming lessons will sure help if you don‘t know how to swim. But if you kinda do know how to swim, then its just the fear you have to conquer, not necessarily the mechanics of swimming. A ballon will float in 3 feet of water or in the middle of the ocean.

 

[ZeeL4J8c2]

I want to join but i cant swim. I guess i can always learn but how important is it? Is their anyways around it

 

[Tyrnagog]

Yes you have to swim during basic.

According to the website:

"During Basic Training, you must also meet the military swim standard. This test involves jumping from a 3 meter board wearing a life jacket, then swimming 50 meters. You must also somersault into the water without a life jacket, tread water for two minutes, then swim 20 meters. If you cannot swim now, you are advised to take a basic swimming course before proceeding
to training."

 

[klumanth]

As noted, it is strongly advised that you take swimming lessons before BT. However, you can still pass BT without succesfully completing the swim test. Of course, depending on your course staff, you may catch some flak for not being able to do it.

 

[Zoomie]

Take note, this is the standard for recruit courses run out of St-Jean (ie Regular Force). In the present PRes BMQ, there is no requirement for a swim test. It is an optional EO that may be included if time permits.

 

[OLD SCHOOL]

how about stripping down to shorts in -30 c to cross a river with full combat load during your pathfinder course. Bet you could swim fast

 

[Fader]

Aww the swim test; the most memorable moment of actual training off basic; One guy "supposidly" didn‘t know how to swim, so halfway through his test, he "supposidly" started going under... meaning the hot blonde life guard had to jump in, drag the guy to the side, then take off her wet, white T-shirt and dry off in front of us... a truly classic moment in military training, as it gained that fellow the respect and admiration of the entire course.

 

[PTE Gruending]

I never had a swimtest on my PRES BMQ. Although my unit did go to the pool this year and do the test as well as some other stuff. (Prolly some of the most fun I had training the whole year, we were allowed to dive from the high boards as much as we wanted.) Also learned how to make a 2-man boat out of a ruck and bivy-bag, and do some water crossing.

 

[Arty]

As a part of BMQ, one is supposed to be able to dive from 10m board. I have never dived into a swimming pool from that height. I have some fear. How deep I will go? how much I have to control my breath? Is it going to hurt if I enter water at a wrong angle?

Has anyone has similar experience? How did you overcome your fear? I am thinking about taking some diving lesson so that my initial fear is gone.....
BTW...I do not have height fobia and I know how to swim...

 

[Cycophant]

If you have a large swimming facility anywhere near by that offers a similiar experience (a 10m diving board), it would obviously be more than worthwhile to go visit.

I suppose I‘m lucky - we have a fairly good swimming facility here, built for the Canada Summer Games last year. There‘s various heights of boards, 10m being one of the smaller ones. Though obviously the experience varies from person to person, if you can swim and aren‘t terribly afraid of a little height, you‘ll be fine. It‘s not all that bad at all, and even if you land wrong, it‘ll only sting for a few minutes

 

[GrahamD]

10m is as high as the diving platforms go. There isn‘t any olympic regulation platforms higher than that. The towers where you see multiple diving boards and platforms are actually, 1m, 3m, 5m, and 10m.
Yes if you hit the water wrong from 10m it will hurt extremely badly, so don‘t go trying it on your own. When I was young, there was a fatality at one of the local pools in Victoria (the Crystal pool) when a young induvidual screwed up diving from that height and ended up belly-flopping.

I haven‘t heard anywhere about diving from a 10m platform being part of basic training. I heard you had to "jump" into the water from a certain height, and have to swim 20 meters. And also that you have to do a somersault into the water (I belive from 3m). If you belly-flop or land on your back from 3m, its going to sting pretty good, but it‘s unlikely that you would ever sustain serious injury.

Anyway you may want to look at those swimming requirements agin, I‘m pretty sure there will be no diving from 10m.

 

[GrahamD]

Ok here I just checked on the official site:

Swimming - During Basic Training, you must also meet the military swim standard. This test involves jumping from a 3 metre board wearing a life jacket, then swimming 50 metres. You must also somersault into the water without a life jacket, tread water for two minutes, then swim 20 metres. If you cannot swim now, you are advised to take a basic swimming course before proceeding on training

 

[Cycophant]

I have a strange feeling there was a mixup between Imperial and Metric measurements, here. 3m is fairly close to 10 feet (9.84 feet), so that very well could explain the problem.

That‘s the problem I fell into above. I was thinking of feet, not meters. You‘re right though - 10 meters is awfully high. Not something I could see them doing in Basic. Espescially to the poor souls who may not know how to swim well.

Thanks for the clarification, Graham.

 

[danco]

When I did the high diving board you got to use a life jacket. You didn‘t really dive, just step off and fall into the water feet first.

 

[mic911]

Yeah the diving board is nothing to be afraid of. You just step off it with your life jacket on. You go under water for a second and then the jacket pulls you back up to the surface. I‘m a horrible swimmer and still did fine. You doin‘t even HAVE to pass the swim test in basic, so you shouldn‘t feel pressured. If you fail, they‘ll put you down as a non-swimmer and then you just take swim lessons after basic when you get to your unit.

 

[dalredane]

although you do NOT have to dive, you only jump......and with that...you don‘t go under far...maybe 2-3 feet or so for a couple of seconds with a lifejacket, or even without one...it is not a high distance.

Learning how to dive might be something you want to learn. Practice in a deep pool, not some friends backyard pool or local swimming hole where a head injury might be lurking below the surface....

Start on a small board and work your way up. Clasp your hands together and straighten your arms above your head....when you jump...point your hands and your head to where you want to go and the body will follow. It‘s really easy once you‘ve done it a few times.

Once you are good, you can adjust the entry to do a shallow or deeper dive.

Having your hands enter the water before your head breaks the water tension and you don‘t really feel anything.....if you went head first...you would get an incredible headache and/or knocked out if it was quite a high dive....like 10m.

I will vouch for that Crystal Pool story in Victoria....I heard about it too....bellyflop off the "tower" ....had to drain the pool.

I wondered if that was really a story reported in the local papers or whether it was a Victoria urban legend??

 

[tabernac]

1. Don't go to your local pool and ask a life guard "teach me to swim"
2. Go to your local pool and APPLY for swimming lessons. Your community YMCA should offer adult classes.
3. Practice makes perfect.

 

[Bert]

This is something to talk to your CFRC recruiter about.  CF policies change from time to time and its better to get it from the authority.

During the second week of BMQ (at least for reg force), the recruits go for a fitness assessment.  Its alot like the application process fitness
test, shuttle run, sit-ups, push-ups but with a swimming evalutation.  To pass the assessment, the recruit must successfully perform at least the
minimum requirements of the test (#of push-ups, # of sit-ups, VO2 calculation per age category, and tread water, make your way accross
the pool, and a feet first dive with life jacket on).

In my platoon, there were a number of recruits that either did not know how to swim or could swim very poorly.  They "failed" the first
fitness test and were directed to take a re-test in week seven.  Of those recruits, a few passed the re-test but some still could not
pass the swim test.  They were marked as "non-swimmers" and they'll get instruction at the training or gaining unit later.  So the swim
evaluation was not a BMQ/course pass or fail.

No matter what MOC or what element you go into, you'll have to know how to swim.  PT is mandatory and you'll find yourself in a pool,
a lake, an ocean at some point and the skills needed for swimming are important.  If you got the time, its in your best interest to learn
at least the basics of swimming before or after BMQ, treading water, a simple crawl, and loose a fear of the water.