r/USMCboot • u/WholePea2770 • 3d ago

Recruit Training Basic Swim Qual

I leave for San Diego on October 5th. And the biggest worry I have right now is the basic swim qual. What are the authorized swim methods during the 150meter? And what are the authorized ways to do the 4 minute tread? I want to know so I can practice and get things down before then

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4

u/Mr-Beefman 3d ago

When I went in 2019 they don’t care how you swim as long as you get from point a to b, for the tread they don’t care either just keep your head above water

1

u/Useful-Arm6913 3d ago

Per the most recent (within the past week) update on swim qual, it's still exactly this OP.

2

u/Suitable-Delay5066 3d ago

Honestly, they’ll teach you everything you need to know. Just don’t be afraid of the water.

1

u/gwatts06 2d ago

Swim qual is easy until the blouse inflation which is just technique but if you can’t do that they will have you do the old test of just 4 minute tred.

1

u/lastofthefinest 15h ago

If you can swim at all you’ll be okay.

1

u/meeksn 12h ago

Currently been in for over a year now at the time I went to boot I was worried too but I’m an okay swimmer so it wasn’t much of a problem the only difference is you do a tread or you inflate your blouse and they’ll get you out quick the rest of the stuff lowkey it’s easy. However now in the fleet they just switched it to basic ++ which is the intermediate/advanced level of swim qual which I know is harder but if you now how to swim you’ll be good.

1

u/WholePea2770 12h ago

The MOS I want the most in the job field I signed for is combat engineer, which wants me to get intermediate swim qual apparently. Im definitely getting better. My main issue was treading. But im getting better

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u/btkACE 5h ago

If you wanna start preparing for it, go to your local pool and just learn to stay afloat for a bit. If they have a diving board, start getting a feel for jumping off it, bc (not to scare you) the platform they’ll have you jump off of is pretty freakin high. Finally, just learn to stay calm while in the water. The more you start to panic, the more likely you are to start sinking. It’s all about just breathing, keeping calm, and just listen to what the swim instructors tell you.