Written for the Six Minute Challenge:
Trauma. That’s the only way to describe it. It only takes about six minutes. But oh those six minutes. It was the United State Navy third Class swimming certification. Basically, there are three parts:
- Deep Water Jump
- 50 Yard Swim
- 5 Minutes Prone Float
OK, the first two were not too bad, but it was the final bit that I’ll remember forever. If you flunk it, you’ll be set back at boot camp until you pass it. Need I say that everyone wants to get out as fast as possible, and the thought of spending additional weeks at boot camp is not only terrible but will drive you to unusual lengths to pass?
For me it was the five-minute prone float. In my day you took a pair of regualtion navy bell bottom jeans, created a “floatation device , dove in and avoided drowning for five minutes. the “lifeguards stood by with poles to shove you back into the deep if you got too close to the edge,
Well now that I’ve recalled this I’ll probably have nightmares about for six days. Shudder.
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We did that in Swim Class during high school gym- the flip the jeans over your head and fill them with air thing. It was the getting them off that almost killed me.
Ugh….horrible memories!
Oh my and I thought learning how to dive in summer camp was bad!
Yes…that was the Navy Way.
Since I got knocked unconscious on a water slide and nearly drowned, even the thought of water terrifies me. Strange. When I took sailing lessons — long before that sinister event — the test to be accepted in the class was a 1/2 mile ocean swim. I found that fun.