I think the tethered hands and feet test is not an UW distance swim, just a test in the deep end where they have to accomplish a series of feats. Basically how well they stay calm bound up like that.
I know exactly how well I'd stay calm in such a situation: not more than a nanosecond. Fortunately, I have no ambition to join the SEALS.
Sad tragedy. Really unfortunate. I never go beyond 25 meters underwater for safety. I also make sure not to do too many underwater drills in very short periods of time.
Bob Bowman, who has been very active in educating the swimming community on the dangers of shallow water blackout, recently took to social media to plead for a stop to the practice pf prolonged breath-holding: "PLEASE STOP EXTENDED BREATH-HOLDING ACTIVITIES. THEY ARE NOT RELEVANT TO COMPETITIVE SWIMMING PERFORMANCE AND CAN BE FATAL."
I couldn't agree more.
If you would like more info on shallow water blackout, you can check out my 3-part series on the subject via SwimSwam:
swimswam.com/.../swimswam.com/.../swimswam.com/.../
Actually, thinking about this, I wonder how long it was before somebody noticed him. Presumably, a healthy 21 year old could be resuscitated without incident if he was not under long. A nonfatal drowning due to 50 meter underwaters occurred with my daughter's former team and it was parents that brought it to lifeguards attention (almost missing a second blacked out child in the water with the commotion of the first). I swim at multiple facilities, some with and some without lifeguards. Anecdotally, I am not sure the presence of lifeguards is very cost effective or very lifesaving.
Sad tragedy. Really unfortunate. I never go beyond 25 meters underwater for safety. I also make sure not to do too many underwater drills in very short periods of time.
I limit it similarly - occasional 8x25 yds @1:00 streamlined underwater dolphin kick with fins, I do not hyperventilate between reps, and come up if I need to. I think GO BEARS thankfully cautioned me a few years back about hyperventilating between reps and pushing too far. There's been a lot more published since then, but apparently the message hasn't reached everyone.
Wow. We have a policy at our Y pool that holding your breath under water like that is not allowed.
Although it seems much better than the alternative of NOT holding your breath while underwater! :)
Seriously, though, practicing underwater swimming is a vital component if you want to become a faster swimmer. You can't become a faster underwater swimmer without practicing, so it's a bit of a fine line between challenging underwater training and dangerous underwater training.
I limit it similarly - occasional 8x25 yds @1:00 streamlined underwater dolphin kick with fins, I do not hyperventilate between reps, and come up if I need to. I think GO BEARS thankfully cautioned me a few years back about hyperventilating between reps and pushing too far. There's been a lot more published since then, but apparently the message hasn't reached everyone.
Glad you are cautious :) Always so sad to hear about a tragedy like this...
