I’m new to this site, and looking forward to joining the community. Although I won’t rehash all the material I covered in my introduction, I first became interested in free-diving in San Diego as a teenager by spearfishing, and later honed my interest as a naval officer at various duty stations.
Although I am not a SEAL, I had the opportunity to experience a truly unusual form of freediving while at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) that I thought some of you might find entertaining. (I was forced to drop from training medical reasons after 4 months, and I went on to serve the nuclear navy). During the first phase of training, the instructors put the students through some interesting underwater drills. My personal favorite was underwater knot tying. Not terribly difficult if you could manage to stay calm underwater. Of course, there were always a few deranged instructors who would push you just for fun.
I distinctly remember finishing a rather difficult knot, and then waiting for the instructor’s approval, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting.... The bastard looked like he was nodding off. After about two minutes, I couldn’t take it, so I bolted for the surface. The instructor grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me back just before I reached the surface. After flashing an evil smile, he gave me the thumbs up. That particular instructor had done his breath-hold homework. Rumor had it he would routinely sit on the bottom of the people for more than four minutes while students worked frantically on their knots. Another instructor loved to descend from the top of the pool upside down, cross-legged, and wearing his sunglasses. All this while I was trying to keep a straight face and work on my knot.
The other highly entertaining event was the underwater swim. Again, not hard for those who are comfortable in the water (it’s only a shade over 50 meters), but the rules were interesting. If a student blacked out, but his head collided with the concrete edge of the pool, he passed. Not very safe, but I witnessed it several times myself.
Enough stories. I just finished a really great book that brought me back to my days at BUD/S. Suffer in Silence by David Reid is a very intimate, very uncensored look at SEAL training. In addition to some great descriptions of the rather insane training (including the knot tying fun), the book really does of great job of showing how incredibly dirty the place is. The language might even make a sailor blush. If any of you have ever been interested in how the Navy manages to whittle a group of SEAL-wannabes from a class of about 120 to at most a few dozen, you should pick up the book. I highly recommend it.
Although I am not a SEAL, I had the opportunity to experience a truly unusual form of freediving while at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) that I thought some of you might find entertaining. (I was forced to drop from training medical reasons after 4 months, and I went on to serve the nuclear navy). During the first phase of training, the instructors put the students through some interesting underwater drills. My personal favorite was underwater knot tying. Not terribly difficult if you could manage to stay calm underwater. Of course, there were always a few deranged instructors who would push you just for fun.
I distinctly remember finishing a rather difficult knot, and then waiting for the instructor’s approval, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting.... The bastard looked like he was nodding off. After about two minutes, I couldn’t take it, so I bolted for the surface. The instructor grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me back just before I reached the surface. After flashing an evil smile, he gave me the thumbs up. That particular instructor had done his breath-hold homework. Rumor had it he would routinely sit on the bottom of the people for more than four minutes while students worked frantically on their knots. Another instructor loved to descend from the top of the pool upside down, cross-legged, and wearing his sunglasses. All this while I was trying to keep a straight face and work on my knot.
The other highly entertaining event was the underwater swim. Again, not hard for those who are comfortable in the water (it’s only a shade over 50 meters), but the rules were interesting. If a student blacked out, but his head collided with the concrete edge of the pool, he passed. Not very safe, but I witnessed it several times myself.
Enough stories. I just finished a really great book that brought me back to my days at BUD/S. Suffer in Silence by David Reid is a very intimate, very uncensored look at SEAL training. In addition to some great descriptions of the rather insane training (including the knot tying fun), the book really does of great job of showing how incredibly dirty the place is. The language might even make a sailor blush. If any of you have ever been interested in how the Navy manages to whittle a group of SEAL-wannabes from a class of about 120 to at most a few dozen, you should pick up the book. I highly recommend it.
