Swimming in the CCT pipeline Tips on how to prepare

Below are a few tips on how to prepare for swimming as a CCT, PJ, or Special Recon trainee

 Does swimming in the pipeline concern you?  

Maybe you plan on doing the Air Force side of special ops because you don't want to live in the ocean like a Navy Frogman.

Although swimming is not the main focus of an Air Force operator, you must become a proficient swimmer.  It's one of of the many things you must be able to do in these "jack of all trades" career fields.

It's probably no surprise to anyone interested in these jobs that you become a trained combat diver in your journey to become an operator, which means spending a lot of time in the water.

What to focus on before entering training

I have some good news to those who may be concerned about becoming a good swimmer in the pipeline.  For me, it was my only real worry, besides jumping out of airplanes)  The swimming in the pipeline wasn't bad at all.

When I say it's not that bad, I mean swimming 1500 meters, which sounded brutal before I actually did it a few times, is easier than running 3 miles, once you learn the technique.

I am a decent runner, good a calisthenics, but I'm a pretty lousy swimmer.  Yes, I'll say it, I pretty much suck at swimming, but I did fine in the pipeline.

   Swimming with rocket fins

How can you suck at swimming and still do fine?  Because of an awesome piece of gear called rocket fins.  Putting on the the large rubber fins made me a decent swimmer.

All of your evaluation swims ( for time)  will be done wearing fins in the pipeline.  Any ocean or pool swim will be done wearing fins and a dive mask, which is good news for all the people ( like me) that are not, and will never be great swimmers.

There are portions of your training like, Pre Dive, where you don't wear fins, but all swim evaluations, besides the PAST test, which I never took again after I joined, are done wearing thick rubber fins.  Instead of the PAST test, we moved onto doing the AFSOC test; It's similar to the PAST, except there is a 3 mile run, and a 1500 meter fin swim.

Freestyle swimming ( crawl stroke)

 I didn't understand how I could've been in such great shape, but be winded and exhausted after a 500 meter swim. I felt that way after every attempt of the 500 meter freestyle swim before I joined.

 I never put that much thought into swimming before I entered training.  Looking back, I think I focused on my strengths like: push ups, pull ups, and running, and I kind of ignored my swimming skills.  I'm not sure how I thought that'd work out, but I somehow ignored actually becoming a good swimmer.

I would constantly check my progress on push ups or pull ups, and I'd time my runs.  I had impressive numbers on these, but I didn't really check my swims.  I made sure I could pass the 500 meter entry swim, but that was about it.  I dreaded doing that swim, but why?

When I trained, I bought these cheap plastic fins that really didn't help me that much.  They were not anywhere close to the size and thickness of a rocket fin, so they really didn't help me.  Whenever I'd swim a mile or more, I'd constantly be stopping and taking breaks on the walls ( I cringe thinking about it now.)  I think I even did 2 miles a few times, and it took FOREVER.

The cheap fins weren't my only issue.  In fact, they were the least of my problems. 

Have you ever noticed how some people tend to float easier than others?  Apparently that's a real thing, but I thought it was just fat people that floated really well, and people with a lot of muscle tend to sink.  There's more to it than that because I noticed this phenomenon while in training, and nobody I saw that floated really well were fat.  There were more guys that tended to float than sink, but I was one of the few who seemed to head for the bottom of the pool.  

This sinking skill does become an advantage during some events in Pre Dive during underwater tasks like knot tying, and certain parts of drown proofing, but becomes a pain when trying to freestyle without fins, and a majority of other events.  Swimming in general will be harder for someone who tends to sink.

If you haven't figured out which one of these categories you fall into, it's probably a good idea to find out.  If you struggle at swimming, you may be fighting this.

If your a sinker, you can help stay floating better by relaxing your body ( if you are tense, then you'll sink more) and keeping your lungs full of air.

Freestyle swimming tips

If you struggle a bit in the water, or you just want to be sure you will survive water confidence events that require you to be comfortable without wearing fins, I'd focus on becoming a better freestyle swimmer.  This stroke is used during the challenging 25 meter underwater events at Pre dive when you swim back to the wall, and getting comfortable with this stroke will help with any other tasks requiring you to efficiently complete tasks that require you to float on the surface.  

The more comfortable and efficient you are in the water, the more energy you'll have for holding your breath and keeping your heart rate down.  This is vital.

All these tips made me much more comfortable in the water, just by working on my freestyle stroke for about a year before I entered pre dive training. 

Here is some freestyle tips that I'd like to share with you.

1.  Relax!  when you begin to tense your body up, your technique becomes less fluid, causing you to have moments of stalling on the surface of the water, which in turn causes your body to sink down in the back causing massive amounts of drag! I had major problems tensing up during freestyle swimming. This brings me to the next point.  

2.  Technique, Technique, Technique!  Besides relaxing, this is the most important part of any kind of task in the water, freestyle is no exception.  When I used to freestyle swim, I did this windmill thing with my arms and after a few laps I felt exhausted.  My technique was bad, and as a good runner, I thought swimming was the same, but the water is not nearly as forgiving as the air.  The drag caused by improper form adds up as the distance increases.

Instead of gliding through the water, I was fighting through it, and it almost made me panic sometimes when I went for a breath, but all I got was a mouthful of water.  As soon as I stopped moving, I would stall.

It took me a lot of practice to become better at the freestlye stroke, and I'm still not great, but here is what helped:

When I found out that every swim stroke-- like the side stroke, butterfly, and freestyle variations-- had a glide phase, it changed the way I approached swimming.  It became more effortless, and I felt like I was going slower.  But my times got way better.  

On the freestyle stroke, I practiced having my body parallel to the surface of the water.  After I became used to that feeling, extended both arms as far as I could reach after the initial push off the wall; almost like I was trying to stretch my body longer. After my momentum slowed from the wall, I made one arm pull, while I kept the other extended.  As I completed the stroke, I pulled my arm that completed a stroke, keeping it close to my chest, and extended it out together with my other hand before I began a stroke with my other arm.

I made a point to have both hands together for a brief time, with my body straight and extended, before I began another stroke.

It felt weird having both hands together, like I was losing time, but I was gliding my way through the water more.

You can start with foam floaters in your hand, like I did, until it feels more normal.  At first, exaggerate how long both hands are together and practice this a lot before the pipeline.

3. Breathing! One thing I noticed was how much my legs dipped down in the back when I took a breath.  I took a breath every two strokes, so I was pretty much always dragging my legs in the water.  When I would do hypoxic workouts ( up to 12 strokes per breath) I was gliding better and wasn't dragging my feet.  One thing that really helped me, as I became more comfortable gliding) was every 3 strokes I took a breath.

When you breathe, simply roll your body when you bring your arm to the extended position, like finning that I'll discuss next, but don't move your head up at all.  Anytime you bring your head up, your back feet go down, causing tons of drag.

Take the time to get these things right because the freestyle stroke is common during pre dive, and you can crush the swim on the PAST test.

Like I mentioned earlier, you will do the majority of your swims wearing fins, and you can expect to swim 1500 meters many times during the pipeline.

When I trained to prepare for the pipeline, I practiced the sidestroke with and without fins.  It was a challenge because I didn't glide very well, and I didn't really know how to do it.  

When I entered the pipeline, I was introduced to a technique called finning.

Finning seemed weird to me at first because you don't use your arms.  You simply kick your feet with one arm extended, which ever side your most comfortable with.

As someone who isn't a good swimmer, once I got the hang of finning, I became competitive in the 1500 meter swim using the technique.  On the 1500 meter swim, I was able to complete it consistently under 30 minutes, which was a solid time for anybody.

Swimming with fins ( Finning)

Some techniques I learned about finning:

1. Like the freestyle, make your body as long as possible, and which ever side you lay on, the bottom arm extends all the way out, and your head rests on your shoulder.  The top arm simply rests on your side, relaxed and touching your leg. Make sure you stay relaxed!  This swim is also called lead arm, trailing arm.

2. Make sure your body is level on the surface, and your face should be just below.  When you breathe, exhale into the water, and turn your body to take a breath.  This should keep your body straight, reducing drag.

3. Keep your legs as straight as possible.  This was an issue for me because I bent my knees too much.  When you kick, use your hips; try to focus on using the power in your hips and legs straight.  This takes practice because if your hips get fatigued, your knees will bend.

4. Get a pair of rocket fins and begin practicing.  The fins are thick and have very little flex. At first your ankles may hurt because of the force of the kicks.  You must build those ankles, hips, and leg muscles up before placing the demand of long swims with the rocket fins.

How to prepare for swimming in the pipeline

If you can become proficient at finning, you should have no problem meeting the standards of the distance swims in the pipeline. 

To prepare for the freestyle demands in the pipeline, practice what is discussed in this article.  Being comfortable with the stroke will help a lot, especially during pre dive.  If you struggle, the 25 meter underwaters will be torture.

After you are comfortable, begin adding some distance.  Being able to build up to 1000 meters using the freestyle sttoke, while maintaining good form, will be enough for the training.  You could start with 100 meters and build from there.

With finning, make sure you spend time building up to at least 1500 meters, and once there, try to get below 30 minutes.  Start small and build distance gradually or it will be painful for your ankles.  Focus on your hips.

There are different types of tasks that you'll perform in the water during training.  If you can get comfortable with the freestyle stroke and swim 1500 meters in less than 30 minutes wearing rocket fins, you should be more than prepared to enter training.  

If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below.

Kevin