I've been looking so long at these pictures of me...

...that I almost believe that they're real.

(I also considered "Would you take my picture...", but I didn't think that song had as much universal appeal.)

Yesterday, I finally graduated from swim survival after completing the last event, swimming a mile in a flight suit. Thirty-six laps, 62 minutes. As I intimated before, the swimming class here is designed to help us survive an aircraft crash into the water. What I learned while I was here? Apparently, most people can swim. Or, most people in the Navy can swim (I know you're shocked). Also, the doggie-paddle does not count as swimming.

These were the water survival events:

WS-1/2: Leap off a 12 foot tower, feet first, swim 100 yards (25 of the breaststroke, 25 of the backstroke, 25 of the sidestroke, and 25 of the crawl), then 5 minutes of the dead man's float. All without touching the side or the bottom of the pool.
WS-3: Tread water for two minutes in a bathing suit, followed by 3 minutes of the dead man's float.
WS-4: Tread water for two minutes in a bathing suit, followed by 3 minutes of the dead man's float. Twist? Add steel tipped boots (a few pounds a piece).
WS-5: Tread water for two minutes in a bathing suit, followed by 3 minutes of the dead man's float. Twist? Add steel tipped boots (a few pounds a piece). Twist #2? Add a 15 lb vest, and gloves.
WS-6: Tread water for two minutes in a bathing suit, followed by 3 minutes of the dead man's float. Twist? Add steel tipped boots (a few pounds a piece). Twist #2? Add a 15 lb vest, and gloves. Twist #3? Add a helmet.
WS-7: Jump feet first from a 12 foot tower, and swim 15 yards underwater before resurfacing.
WS-8: Swim 200 yards (50 yards a piece of the aforementioned strokes) without stopping. Then gear up with suit, vest, gloves, boots, and helmet, and swim 75 yards with all the strokes except the crawl.
WS-9: Swim one mile (36 laps of the pool) without touching the sides or bottom of the pool. 80 minute time limit.

Perhaps, you are not terrified by the above propositions. I was. The vest appears light when out of the water, but the second it gets wet, it essentially feels like an anchor around your neck, pulling you to the nether regions of the pool (and I've been told that there are sharks down there). The boots are heavy, they're not the right size, and most importantly, you can't feel the flow of water across your feet, so there's no positive reinforcement of your swimming kicks (except not drowning). The gloves and the flight suit significantly increase drag.

However, I finally passed! Now if I can only post some pictures (thanks to Josh and Christian for the photos/video)...

Me and Christian in wet flights suits after a dip in the pool:



You can see that I'm not happy in the water. This is me, mid-backstroke, sinking in the water while attempting to give the finger to the photographer.



Full gear (helmet, flight suit, gloves, vest, boots) staying afloat while my pulse climbs to about 3000 beats a minute. Video follows... even now, when I watch it, I feel like I'm dying a little.





These are photos from the tower jump with boots on. First, I'm steeling myself up for the jump (by the by, standing like Superman surprisingly does not make me feel like Superman). Then, a picture actually happens to catch me mid-air, and if you notice, I'm about 2 seconds from a complete faceplant in the water. Believe me, it was not pleasant. Note: what takes me so long in the video is that the instructor is trying to pump me up into trying the jump. It took a lot of pumping.






Also to be noted: That was my first jump. Of fifteen. I did not make it even close to 15 yards on my first jump. Jump #9 got me to the 8 yard mark. Reportedly, Jump #10 found me completely parallel to the surface of the water (which I felt as the wind got knocked out of me).

A final word: As terrifying as this class has been, I'm a much better swimmer for it. Also, the instructors and staff down here in Pensacola are phenomenal, and certainly inspire a feeling of safety. Which is hard when you have panicking Indian guy in the water screaming for his Mommy.