The Importance of Swimming Skills in Scuba Diving: What You Need to Know

The Importance of Swimming Skills in Scuba Diving: What You Need to Know
Ever thought of diving in the sea without any swimming experience, no swimming practice at all? If you are not a swimmer and are wondering, “Is swimming necessary for scuba diving?”, you have landed on the right page. In this blog, we will share with you everything associated with scuba diving and swimming so you can find out if you can perform the sport without possessing the skill or not. 

So without delaying further, let us jump right to the details. 

Scuba Diving: What is it Really?
Before we step into the details of swimming skills being necessary or not for performing the water sport, let us understand what scuba diving really is. Scuba diving is a type of underwater diving where the divers carry their own breathing equipment which is what the word ‘Scuba’ stands for: "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”.

Not just the oxygen cylinders, the divers carry a number of other accessories like masks, fins, diving suits, and weights for buoyancy to dive deep and move inside the water bodies. Every single thing has its own significance and there is no such alternative to any of them. Masks give clear vision, diving suits protect the body & fins help divers to move. 

Scope of Scuba Diving for Non-Swimmers 
If you read online, you will notice that many articles say that you don’t have to know swimming for scuba diving. You will get an instructor who will take care of you during the whole adventure, will hold you throughout the time underwater, and will also give a half-day session before diving. The process is intermediate and you will be given a certificate for this one-time easy experience for the first timers. 

Now, when it comes to scuba diving as a professional, wherein you want to perform the sport for being a professional and make it a hobby not merely an experience, you have to be a good swimmer.

Scuba Diving Professionally: What You Need to Know
The top diving organizations of the world, namely PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and SSI (Scuba Schools International) ask individuals to pass a swim test if they enroll for diving experiences and get a certificate in diving. They take them to hard and deep reefs for diving experiences. Further, they are trained to face difficult water routes and dive in extreme conditions.

The Various Levels of Certification and Swimming
The question still exists, “Is swimming necessary for scuba diving?” Well, there are 11 levels of certification in diving and if you don’t know how to swim, you can make it to Level 1, a maximum of Level 2. This is because you will be having a dive partner to support you but to go ahead alone you have to be a good swimmer to be a good scuba diver; only then you will be able to go for certificates like Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Divers, Master Scuba and many more like this.
 

Diving into the Wreck
It is not necessary at all that diving starts at the beach or you will get a motorboat or jetty to the diving point. Also, several times, newcomers get confused between snorkelling and scuba diving. The first is diving and swimming near the surface with minimal equipment - even a mask with breathing tube works. You don’t have to go deep in snorkeling and stay near the shore. 

When it comes to scuba diving, we look for a wreck or a reef to go deep inside the water and explore. To find that reef, you have to swim toward the point where it is located. A good swimmer can swim across any water body without any problem of getting flown.

Diving during Rough Sea Conditions
Swimmers have the advantage to survive any kind of tension underwater or even on the surface. 

Sea, especially water across reefs, shows a rigorous movement almost all the time. It is nearly impossible to find still water near deep wrecks. Conditions are harsh and possibility of high tides is always there. You need to have strong control over your movement. Also, confidence is a must when a diver has to pass or survive strong currents. Thus, only a well-trained swimmer can pull it off across these obstacles. 

Balance and Coordination
The scuba diving suit is a heavy apparatus. Hence, with so many things on your body, you need to learn how to carry it underwater. Only a good swimmer can keep the balance between the equipment and swim smoothly across the flora and fauna underwater. There are chances where you will be diving with multiple divers just like you and underwater paths wouldn’t be easy and streamlined like outside. This is where the skill steps in - it helps you move swiftly in your comfort, maintaining your safety and, at the same time, safety of your fellow divers. 

Swimming works as an advantage which allows you to explore paths inside water, go deep in the reefs, helps you overcome the fear of drowning and for a minor possibility, if you have any damage in your apparatus or your ballast weights are not enough for buoyancy then you can only trust your swim skills.

When Are You Practicing Swimming?
Is swimming necessary for scuba diving? Well, you know the answer now. In this blog, we discussed everything associated with scuba diving and swimming. And while you can go scuba diving for a fun experience as a non-swimmer, you must be a skilled swimmer if you want to do it professionally. Besides, swimming is beneficial in the long run - swimmers have a good metabolism and excellent respiratory functions. 

Basically, swimming is your lifejacket in the sea. If you are a swimmer, you will be confident and courageous in all kinds of aspects. So before you plan your scuba diving sessions, plan your swim sessions. Get control over your movements and create a balance to move swiftly across any kind of water source. 

So now that you know everything now, when are you polishing your swimming skills so you can witness the wide variety of flora and fauna in the marine world?