survival swimming

[Banshee]

Hello!

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Lacy and my MOS is Alpha Golf aircrew. My question does not refer to boot camp swimming, but the water survival course I will have to pass right out of boot.

--How does one fight the natural instinct to cough and freak out when water comes up your nose (after all of your air is expelled and you have nothing left to breathe out) when you are under trying to complete the tasks that the instructors have set up?

--Are there any tips for learning better breathe control?

I will gladly except any tips whatsoever that will help me pass

Thank you,
Lacy.

[amarine0311]

The best thing to do Lacy is just get in a pool everyday and swim. Try to do as much underwater swimming as possible. There are some combat swimmer DVDs available...I think the guys name is Stu Smith. He is a former SEAL but has some good swimming instructional DVDs. He has one that covers water fear and "drown proofing".
-NOTE-
Lacy, when doing these techiques...NEVER swim alone. Always have a buddy.

[SlingerDun]

Practice can be had under a shower head, in the bathtub or most any body of water. And thats what it takes to be a cool cat and remain buoyant in the water, practice.

Try having a friend (preferably somebody you don't owe money) dunking you in different positions keeping a firm grip on your topknot.

Bobbing for air survival techniques appear simple enough to a spectator and they are, but when it takes an hour for a passing grade and somebody is hassling you or your limbs are fettered? you'll need hands on fundamental skills to be comfortable, and thats acquired learning.

In boot camp there was a lecture preceding any of us getting wet except for one fit Marine in speedo's. They duct taped his hands behind the back, ankles, then nudged him into the pool. He surfaced about every 45 seconds or so, spouted and rolled like a whale before descending again, kept at it methodically for close to an hour when the lecture had ended. I reckon that required practice.

--->Dave

[Backblast]

I was in a helicopter company. (Charlie Company 1/1) We grunts had to go down to the helicopter dunk tank every workup. If you don't know what the helicopter dunk tank is I will do my best to explain it accurately but its been awhile.

Okay, so they take this coffee can looking thing that sort of resembles a CH-46 and they have a squad of Marines buckle up inside the can. Inside the can..it looks allot like a helo, same seating, same amount of windows and etc. Then they dunk you into this 30 foot deep pool (not all the way to the bottom.) The goal is to teach you helicopter egress in the event of a water landing. There are three dunkings. Straight down, Upside down, and upside down blindfolded.

As you can imagine, it can be pretty scary if you never been through it. Many a Marine freaked out and stressed about it. The bottom line is that you are a Marine and you need to get comfortable with water. The way I did it was like this. I would swim everyday I could but I would go to the swim tank and walk 45 pound plates across the bottom of the deep end. It built my lung capacity because I was forced to take real deep breaths before diving. This also taught me the appropriate way to hold you breath and how to slowly exhale air.

The more water time you have, the more comfortable you are going to be. All sorts of things could happen in the water but luckily you have the swim tank NCOs looking out for you. Your not going to die under their watch. Sure they may let you suck in some water so you suffer a bit but they will toss you a ring and get you out of trouble.

I've almost drowned a few times. (trying out for recon and other things...) I think having those experiences also helped me overcome my fear of the water.

Now go get some! It could be worse you could have Recon swimmers "sharking" you.

[Banshee]

Thank you very much for the advice. I am in the pool everyday, and I am an average swimmer. It's only the breathing that has got me stuck--go figure, the one thing that should come naturally. I will start doing diving excercises to strengthen my lung capacity and keep swimming laps--and dunk myself. I suppose there isn't much of a trick except practice
Thank you!
Lacy.

[Big Jim]

Hello!

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Lacy and my MOS is Alpha Golf aircrew. My question does not refer to boot camp swimming, but the water survival course I will have to pass right out of boot.

--How does one fight the natural instinct to cough and freak out when water comes up your nose (after all of your air is expelled and you have nothing left to breathe out) when you are under trying to complete the tasks that the instructors have set up?

--Are there any tips for learning better breathe control?

I will gladly except any tips whatsoever that will help me pass

Thank you,
Lacy.

Just become very familiar with the water...familiar with it enough so you feel very comfortable with it when you swim...no matter what your situation..even combat swimming. There's no better cure for conquering your fears than facing them down...

[Backblast]

You are an amphibious warrior. Don't forget that. Take pride in being a water-borne killer. Thousands of Marines have conquered their fears. You can too.

Good to go Marine?

[yellowwing]

You are an amphibious warrior. Don't forget that. Take pride in being a water-borne killer. Thousands of Marines have conquered their fears. You can too.

Good to go Marine?

Exactly, you are the Master of the Water. Overcoming drowning was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in life. But I did it as an average Joe Marine. You can too.

[Zulu 36]

In boot camp there was a lecture preceding any of us getting wet except for one fit Marine in speedo's. They duct taped his hands behind the back, ankles, then nudged him into the pool. He surfaced about every 45 seconds or so, spouted and rolled like a whale before descending again, kept at it methodically for close to an hour when the lecture had ended. I reckon that required practice.

--->Dave

This is a testing evolution for SEALS in BUDS and sustainment training later in the Teams. It keeps them current and confident in their water survival abilities. I would imagine that Marine Recon and combat swimmers do the same things.

If you can do this and not panic, you'll be about as drown-proofed as a person can be.

[Banshee]

lol, i'll work up to it Zulu

[Zulu 36]

Here's a link to the kind of thing SlingerDun described. The actual evolution comes in at about the 4min 20second point in the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DeSy...eature=related

[Quinbo]

Having experienced training in both shallow water egress and helo dunker training I can say a few things. First the dunker and the chair are easy as pie. The hard part is making it to that part. You have to be able to pass a couple of obstacles as far as swimming goes before you ever get buttoned in and run down the ramp. Your internal confidence will play a role in this so relax and swim. Easy day ... under water when your lungs feel like they are gonna burst; blow a few bubbles .... just ease a little air out and it will relax your lungs from that giagantic breath your took to start with. Open your eyes! Swimming and flailing with your eyes slammed shut could scare bout anyone that they are about to drown. Hit the surface and roll straight into side stroke ... be calm. Your helmet will actually protect your face from the spazzes splashing and kicking and coughing. Kick with your feet and pull with your arms. Walk in the park.