The simple and most commonly heard answer to this question is yes, it is true; you don’t have to be especially good at swimming to Scuba dive.
I’ve heard this said a little too often and surprisingly by some experienced Scuba Instructors which is a little worrying to say in the least especially when the statement isn’t backed up by a longer explanation. What is even more shocking is when you hear somebody say, “You don’t need to know how to swim to Scuba Dive, your BCD acts as a life vest”. The truth is that you need to be able to swim if you want to learn to Scuba dive, and not just one swimming lesson either, to get by your certification requirements, but well enough to be able to save yourself should the worst occur. Certification agencies like NAUI and PADI require the diver to be able to swim at least 200m unaided to certify, and to be able to tread water (stay afloat) for at least 10 minutes and be comfortable in the water. This is the bare minimum requirement to be able to Scuba Dive.
So when an instructor tells you that you need to be especially good at swimming, it means that you may not need to be a champion swimmer, but for your own safety and to those around you, you should at least be able to comfortably swim back to a dive boat, stay afloat unaided while waiting for a dive boat to come pick you up, and be able to swim underwater without constantly bumping into your dive buddy or in to every coral outcrop. Knowing how to swim well will improve your confidence in the water, and will prevent you from panicking should you need to do a surface swim with a deflated Buoyancy Compensator.
What if on the way to your dive site you get knocked into the water when the dive boat hits a particularly rough wave? You would need to swim or tread water until the dive boat returned to pick you up. . Just one of the many reasons why knowing how to swim properly is necessary to learn Scuba Diving.
Knowing swimming techniques is especially useful when diving in currents, by being able to avoid objects when currents change or to simply find your way around underwater. Learning how to streamline your movements underwater and minimize ineffective movements that consume energy and precious air, are all things that you can learn by being good at swimming. Divers who haven’t learnt how to propel the water around them using minimal hand and fin movements often end up stirring the sea bed, or have trouble controlling buoyancy and maneuvering underwater.
So if you spend that extra time in the pool fine tuning those swimming techniques, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much the spent will help you in your Scuba diving.
Photos by Camp ASCCA, Magnera, David Clow – Maryland
