Drill and Workout to Help with Diver, Rescue Swimmer and Special Ops Pool Skills

Consider devoting one of five weekly swimming sessions to practicing the pool skills that military dive and rescue swimmer students will encounter during their intensive training.

From drownproofing, treading, underwater swimming, knot tying, and lifesaving to simply getting into swimming shape, training for these skills is something recruits frequently don’t do before joining. By not training for future challenges, you may find the learning curve too steep, leading you to either quit or fail to meet the standard. Here is a new drill and workout to help with both underwater swimming and the lifesaving, or buddy tow, test. CAUTION: Never swim alone or do underwater swimming without a buddy in the pool and/or lifeguard. We made a video of the lifesaving event: Lifesaving Over/Unders.

Warmup: Swim or Tread

Depending on what you need to work on most, warm up with either a 500-meter swim or a 10-minute tread. You need to get into a condition where both of these workouts serve as your easy warmup before a swim workout. 

Lifesaving Over/Unders

Repeat 5 times:

• Rescue partner, 25 meters
• Swim underwater, 25 meters
• Switch roles
• Swim underwater, 25 meters

Drownproofing

Follow up with the drownproofing test practice. This workout simulates the test. Pretend you have your hands and feet tied, but do not tie them for this workout. You will find it impossible to do this workout if you tie yourself down because the conditioning sets between drowning events will require you to swim. Basically, for each event of the drownproofing test (bounce, float, travel, front/back flip, mask retrieval), we swim 100 meters between events.

Cooldown: Swim or Tread

Cooldown the swim workout with either a 5-minute tread or swim.

About the Actual Tests

When you are in training, you will do over/under workouts and tests, depending on the dive training you are enrolled in. Typically, these are done at a strict 1:30 interval for 5 to 10 total sets. Prepare for this:

Over/Unders

Repeat 5-10 times:
Swim 25 meters underwater + 25m freestyle. This typically takes about 50-60 seconds. You have 30-40 seconds before you need to go again. Here is a video of the over/under and how it looks normally.

Lifesaving Test

At SEAL training, you will “rescue” a panicked victim (BUD/S instructor) from the middle of the pool (about 10 yards) and swim him back to the edge of the pool. This test is known as an underwater wrestling match, with the “victim” aggressively refusing to be rescued. In the video above, we are in the first stages of rescuing a passive victim. Once we get a few weeks of preparation, we will increase the resistance of the victim being rescued to help prepare for the actual test.

Mastering these pool skills is essential for anyone preparing for military diver and rescue swimmer training. By practicing drills such as the over/under workout and lifesaving tests, recruits can build confidence, improve their skills, and better prepare for the demanding challenges ahead. Remember, safety and teamwork are always the top priorities, so train smart, stay motivated and focus on perfect technique in the pool for every event, as that will help you most. Check out the Military.com Fitness Section for more information on swimming and diving training for the military. 

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