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Drownproofing still taught?

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Is anyone still teaching drownproofing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.250.8.247 (talk • contribs)

Distance under water

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I saw the obviously wrong distance in Georgia Institute of Technology that claimed "swim the length of an Olympic-sized pool and back underwater" which would mean 100 meter, which for most people certainly is not doable. And then came here and saw 50 meters. Still questionable since that means most people faint when they break the surface, at least according to what I have seen many times in real life. So after some searching the net the only credible source I found was this article and it clearly states 50 yards and that it was a multiple of 30 feet. (5*30 feet = 50 yards.) And that makes 45.7 meter, which is more doable. But it still means many will faint when they put their head over the water and thus get less blood pressure.

And a BIG warning! Do not try this distance if not under professional close up watch by a lifeguard. Some people will faint and drown! This is VERY dangerous to do. My friends and me decided to never go further then 25 meters (27 yard) after several had fainted. Most can do 25 meters safely. But note: You still should only do it under supervision since if something happens when you have been swimming that far you might not have the strength left to handle the situation. (Typical is that some other swimmer kicks you by accident since they don't see you "sneaking up" underwater.)

--David Göthberg 22:13, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In my younger days I regularly swam 100 meters underwater. Not the Fred Lanoue way - I trained up to it gradually. The secret is to learn to swim with minimum effort. Almost anyone can hold their breath for 1½ minutes, which is all it takes. No hyperventilation required - just a few deep breaths before going in. I never fainted! Mike. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.249.229.228 (talk • contribs)
I took the Drown Proofing course at Ga. Tech in the fall quarter of 1966. You had to pass the course to graduate, and you had to make the underwater swim to pass the course. During the lecture at the start of the course we were told that the Viet Cong were throwing prisoners into rivers with their hands and feet tied. That was supposed to help motivate us. The underwater swim test was at the end of the course. We were not allowed to dive into the water at the start of the underwater swim, instead we had to jump into the water backwards, reorient ourselves, and then start swimming. We did hyperventilate before jumping in. We were allowed to push off the far end of the pool on the return. If any part of you touched air, you had to start over. One of the objectives was to teach you that at some point, lack of air stops hurting (burning to me) and you can still keep going if you do not panic. If you passed out from lack of air during the course, you got an automatic A. Everyone in my class made it, as I remember. Result of the course: I hated swimming pools for about a decade afterwards, but I think I could stay afloat for 24 hours if the water was not too cold.
Cheers: H.E. Hall (talk) 01:12, 9 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]


I have been in correspondence with several people who are quite sure that Lanoue's students were required to swim 100m underwater - even though many had not tried anything like this before and wouldn't have believed that they could possibly succeed. Before the swim, he would give a short lecture explaining how to swim underwater with the minimum expenditure of enegy and what it would feel like. Very few didn't make it - passing lanoue's course was a requirement for graduation. Anyone who lost consciousness during the attempt would be hauled out and given an immediate pass.

This skill is arguably less important than Drownproofing, though anyone who has seen the movie "The Poseidon Adventure" will appreciate its usefulness. However it does illustrate Fred Lanoue's power as a motivator.

I must repeat Mr. Göthberg's warning that - THIS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED WITHOUT QUALIFIED SUPERVISION —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikehimself (talk • contribs) 13:34, 18 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Navy Way

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I have noticed that there are images on the web which are described as drownproofing, but which depict something entirely different, The latest and most obvious example is Hooyahpart1 on Youtube. In this video, men can be seen, going from the bottom of a swimming pool to the surface, with hands and feet apparently tied. They are not using their natural buoyancy, but kicking off the bottom of the pool in order to propel themselves to the surface. These are claimed to be trainee (US) Navy Seals. If this is the case, it would be interesting to know how it came about that the Navy is no longer teaching the Fred Lanoue survival technique, but has replaced it with something which would be of little use in a real-life emergency situation. Does anyone have any information about this? Will the Navy make a statement, please?

With regard to the requirement for a photograph, I would be perfectly happy for the picture in drownproofing.com to be used. Gary, who took the picture, gave it to me without charge, to be used on the site. I added the acknowledgment as a coeurtesy. I found the Fair use rules a bit hard to follow and couldn't make out if I was entitled to make this picture available. Can someone advise me, please? Mikehimself 18:55, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It'd be easiest if you could get him to agree to license it under the Creative Commons 2.5 license. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 20:39, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
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