Braxton Taylor
Many non-swimming athletes struggle to pass military swimming tests, but after practicing techniques, pool skills and conditioning drills, they can become an above-average swimmer with added water confidence in a relatively short time. Consistency is required to master the techniques first, then add workouts to improve conditioning. Here is a question from a new swimmer preparing for the Navy diving program:
Hey Stew, do you recommend starting with a particular stroke and progressing for a beginner-level swimmer preparing for military swim tests? Or can they all be practiced side by side without much difference? Thanks, Nick
Nick, that’s a great question. While there are many methods to improve swimming, time in the water is by far the most important. Learning proper techniques as soon as possible will turn splashing around in the water into actual swimming workouts. Once you learn how to swim more efficiently, you can improve your conditioning and get into swimming shape.
Specifically, for your future training, my advice is to learn how to do the breaststroke or side stroke first with efficient skill, as those will be the strokes that are tested. However, you can also practice freestyle to help you work on your overall swimming conditioning. Since you are a non-swimmer, the side stroke with a scissor kick works better for you, as your running history has developed your hips more in the scissor-kick plane than in the breaststroke plane. I would start with the freestyle and side stroke (or CSS — combat side stroke) in workouts together so you can get into swimming shape and practice CSS techniques for greater efficiency. The best workout for this situation is the 50-50 Swim Workout:
Start your warm-up with 500 meters of swimming (any stroke), just working hard not to stop. One day, this will be your testing distance, and by starting every swimming workout with that distance, you can honestly say to yourself, “A 500-meter swim — this is just my warm-up.” This is a valuable psychological tool that helps to develop if you prepare for the Navy PST (500-yard swims, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and 1.5-mile run).
If you do not know any swimming strokes at all, I advise taking lessons from a regular swimming coach and learning freestyle (crawl stroke) first so you can work more on conditioning in the water. Then you can start to practice the stroke on which you will be tested in the military. Few people know how to teach the Combat Side Stroke, so you may have to watch videos and read coaching articles by Stew Smith in the Military.com Fitness Section.
Depending on your job in the military, you may be able to use the freestyle stroke as part of the entry test. Air Force Special Warfare, Coast Guard rescue swimmers and Navy search-and-rescue (SAR) swimmers allow freestyle use. However, the Navy SEAL, SWCC, diver/EOD and USMC Recon programs will require an underwater recovery stroke (side or breaststroke). The combat side stroke is still a side stroke, but it is slightly modified by stroke and glide compared to the elementary side stroke. View a side-by-side comparison.
In the end, you should learn a few strokes. The standard strokes every swim coach teaches are a good start (freestyle/breaststroke), then advance to the military strokes. Spending time each pool session practicing treading water cannot be overlooked. Treading and other pool skills such as drownproofing and floating are essential to your water confidence, and these will be tested in the first week or two of your future military dive/swim training course.
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