Define "Competent" Swimmer

[feet]

This guy just redefined "competent" swimmer:

 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12140365/ex-miami-dolphins-fullback-rob-konrad-swims-9-miles-fall

Glad he reached shore alive...

[balance_fit]

I believe the Zoner's contributions for a recipe for the "competent swimmer" are so complete that a manual could be written !

In my case, I'm not an advocate of pool swimming. Why? Because on my triathlon years, and mostly now that i only participate in triathlons as part of the safety team for the swimming section, i keep seeing many would be "iron" athletes disoriented, panicked and wasting impressive amounts of energy just treading water to regain their bearings. Even good pool swimmers become back of the pack stragglers.

A simple solution is to eliminate the ever reassuring wall and bottom lines. In my experience when i trained for triathlons, the pool was too far for me to get to, or too crowded or just out of schedule. With some peers, we  modified a pool workout to an open water environment. A couple buoys at a set distance from each other and off the shore was all we needed. Out there, wind, waves, orientation, underwater swimming, treading water and all sort of survival strokes became part of the workout....the occasional barracuda and cramping management too. This approach made pool swimmers much better open water swimmers. And believe me, just treading water for an hour is a damn good workout. This type of workout also applied to the apparently tame "snorkeling" trip...just leave the fins and snorkel on shore. 

If anything else could be added to the Zoner's recipe for a "competent swimmer", allow me to include our own paddling equipment in the equation.

2 interesting and challenging situations:  a broken leash, requiring a swim with a paddle in hand, or a lost paddle, requiring prone/knee paddling on the board.

Both can be easily practiced any time one goes for a paddling session, better yet, after finishing, when tiredness sets in. Just a short swim with the paddle only will reveal how complicated it gets. Even throwing the paddle ahead and swimming to it requires capacities that any javelin thrower would be proud to have. And prone/knee hand paddling on a wide sup is very challenging on it's own, since the width of the board makes the stroke very ineffective. I like to include a lot of prone/ knee hand paddling back to the lineup when surfing and when falling off or stopping to hydrate on a downwinder. That's just me. Others might feel insulted. I feel these abilities make me a more complete water person.

I feel we sup'ers should prepare for the worst and be very fit to handle unexpected situations. And i didn't even mention cold water preparedness, current, rip, reading, etc.

The list goes on. Great thread.

[WhatsSUP]

balance_fit:  Great points!  I really like the idea of swimming practice after a SUP session with the paddle as well as prone/knee paddling.   

For me, and I suspect others, a pool is the only reasonable option during inclement weather (i.e., winter) and/or proximity to the coast. I really like the idea of the under water hockey suggestion which triggered my thought of looking into seeing if there's any water polo activity close by that might be an option.  I have to believe water polo could be an awesome workout in that there's lot's of splashing, treading, sprinting, etc., as opposed to simply swimming laps and treading in calm water.

[1tuberider]

Basic swimming skills and common sense are a good starting point. That is what I want of my children before I let them surf. The rest comes with experience.  You don't need to be a member of the water polo team before you start surfing.

When I chase my board after a leash break or no lease surfing I swim pushing my paddle towards my board. It does test fitness.

[J-Bird]

This guy just redefined "competent" swimmer:

 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12140365/ex-miami-dolphins-fullback-rob-konrad-swims-9-miles-fall

Glad he reached shore alive...

9 miles is a hell of a swim, but after all he is a Dolphin.

[Easy Rider]

I was a competitive swimmer for 15 years.  As others have mentioned - I think the biggest thing it to be "competent" enough that you are able to relax in the water - in all situations.  I have been in some situations I never intended to be in (broken leash / cold water / big surf / etc.) and the biggest thing is being confident enough in your abilities to be able to relax and not panic. 
In all of my "situations" (many over the decades) - I "knew" that I would be able to get my self to safety.

So a definition of "competent" to me would be - "knowing in your own mind that you are good enough to get your self out of any situation that may arise"  If not - don't go out - and go take some more swimming lessons. 

[stoneaxe]

I was a good swimmer back in the day. Local swim team, red cross lifesaving cert when I was a teen, could go for miles. Now I'm like creek....I float well. That side stroke is similar to what I do. In rough water you have to keep your head up more though. I keep thinking I need to put a lanyard on my paddles. I have to keep stopping and throwing it ahead.

[SaMoSUP]

How about this...don't fall off the board. Practice not falling off the board. Be so rad that you can't fall off the board 

Read somewhere that some of the best solo around the world sailors can't swim a lick. They just don't fall off the boat. That is seriously scary.

[supthecreek]

so.... just where is the solo-around the world sailor going to swim to ? 

[SeaMe]

How about this...don't fall off the board. Practice not falling off the board. Be so rad that you can't fall off the board 

I'd say the opposite. Fall off the board. Practice falling off the board. Do nothing but fall off the board. Better to be desensitized than shocked when it happens unexpectedly.

so.... just where is the solo-around the world sailor going to swim to ? 

With luck, back to the boat.

[SaMoSUP]

Well to Gilligan's island of course...

so.... just where is the solo-around the world sailor going to swim to ? 

I'm not a competent swimmer by this thread's standards. I couldn't even swim when I started SUP two years ago. Took swimming lessons and started doing laps in the pool. When I finally broke a leash SUSing last summer, that was an eye opener. The pool work helped me swim for my board but the waves kept pushing it away from me. After about 4 times getting close to the board and the waves pushing it away to shore I started to panic. It didn't help that I was hanging on to my paddle while trying to swim one armed. I should've ditched the paddle. Anyway I started waving for help and could see that the lifeguard was far away. Not sure I could hang on until he got to me. I started to fatigue since I'd been surfing for 3 hours already. Somehow a moment of calm overtook me and I remembered this stupid boring drill of floating on my back that the swim instructor would force me to do as a warm up. Ok I was thinking just stay afloat until they got to me. Luckily, after a few seconds, a prone surfer paddled over and helped me out. Once the lifeguard got there he pulled me in to safety.

Ironically, I was only 50 feet from the shallow part. It sure looked like a mile from where I was.

[Subber]

I'm remembering that often when you want to take a class related to doing something on the water,
like sailing or scuba diving, etc. they require you to be able to Tread Water for 15 minutes - sometimes
they will actually make you tread for 15 minutes to qualify to take a particular class.

I bodysurfed a huge amount in Newport Beach in my teens and twenty's.
Lots of swimming, that's for sure, especially when big, but also lots of floating and treading water.
Of course, I was buoyancy positive with my duck feet (and also often a kickboard)
(no wetsuit).

Newport's waves are pretty hollow, and I went over the falls a lot and spent a lot of time under water,
getting trashed, but I got very used to it - so usual to me to be under water, it was a walk in the park. 

Nowadays, I've noticed that I can't hold my breath nearly as long as back then.

Anyway, so I think you should be comfortable holding your breath under water for a time,
and be very proficient at treading water/floating.  Of course, you should be able to swim a couple of
hundred yards non-stop but that could be free style or more likely breast stroke or side stroke.

If you have any shortcoming in these areas, you should wear extra float. 
I do note that when the waves are bigger, I put on a wetsuit top, not for the warmth but for some extra float.

[pdxmike]

One good stroke to do in the pool is the "Tarzan crawl"--crawl with head up. It's exhausting, not something you'd want to do for swimming a long way into shore, but good for pool training.

Another thing--technique is everything in swimming. With good technique, you should be able to swim a mile--or almost indefinitely for that matter--as easily as you swim 200 yards, if you're not trying to go fast.  If you get tired after 200 or 500 yards (other than in rough ocean conditions) you'll make improvements much faster by focusing on technique rather than on conditioning, if you're already in good enough shape to surf or paddle. 

[PonoBill]

Great points PDX.

I did Scuba for years before I got certified, I had a truly nutty friend who was certified who "taught" me how to dive. No pressure gauge, no reserve. Emergency blow and go from whatever depth you ran out at. Literally the only way I knew to do it for at least a hundred dives. When I finally certified the instructor said they no longer taught emergency ascent because it was too dangerous. That was good for a chuckle. I've done it from 120 feet. No big deal, just keep blowing.

But what I started to say was the first class I tried to take was cancelled because no one but me could manage the five laps of the pool that they required. So the instructor reduced it to three and said they'd have to do five by the end of class. Still just me. I noticed that some of the people would start out swimming strong and hard for the first lap, and conk out about lap two. As soon as they got tired they'd quit. There wasn't a time limit, you could spend the day doing it if you wanted, you just couldn't stand up or touch the edge.

It's the same way getting in from too far out. Take your time, keep going. People drown when they panic and stop doing what they need to be doing: http://www.xgeez.com/2011/06/drowing-doesnt-look-like-drowning/

[WhatsSUP]

When I started this thread a couple of days ago I really didn't think it'd illicit the feedback it did.  I hope I'm not the only one who has benefitted from the discussion. 

Today's pool session was a good one and I included several suggestions.  In short, here's what I did:
- opened up with a 200yd crawl followed by a short 2-3 min rest then several hundred yards of breast, back, and crawl.
- 2 min tread water with no hands, 2 min break
- 30 mins tread water, 2 min break,
- 2 min tread water no hands again
- several hundred more yards of crawl with fins and paddles.
(Oh, I also did a short set of crawl, 1 lap (50yds), with no goggles.....holy cow, that was weird in a good way...need to do more of those!)

With each pool session I'm feeling a bit more comfy but I know there is no substitute for the ocean.