70 fpm too fast?

[Dark Eternal]

I have always struggled with swimming speed. I come from a background of competitive swimming, so I tend to just want to go fast in the water. Looking at my log book, I was often swimming at close to 100 fpm in some of my earlier dives out of intro. I have really focused on slowing down, trying to hit more like 50 fpm. My RMV when in a cave was .75 or so when swimming fast, but as low as .35 when in open water. That right there was a clear indicator I was pushing way to hard. I started watching line arrows, being conscious about my speed, and sure enough my RMV dropped down to a more reasonable .45 - .5 when in the caves almost immediately. My buddy and I also quickly noticed we started to make it a further distance and see more. Now, I am not saying .7 is wrong for you, but it could be. Try going slower on a half dozen dives, see what comes of it. I always figured I was going at a perfectly fine pace for someone who was comfortable in the water, but I was wrong and only was able to determine this with giving slowing down a try.

[Sludge]

at my pace around 50 ish its down at .48-.52 ish. not bad for a guy my size.

If you are in fact a sax player shouldn't it be lower than that? Most people attribute my sac rate to my being a flute/sax/BC player.

[saxplayer1004]

i play in pits professionally on flute clarinet and sax, and marched contra in corp, so yeah, I guess I am in fact one Problem I have is that I'm 6'4" and 260, and all the extra muscle mass is what hurts that bit. My deco sac rate is in the .35 ish range, so as long as I'm not moving I'm fine, but to get my legs to work is what kills that.

[Sludge]

Problem I have is that I'm 6'4" and 260

Come on, you only have 90 pounds on me!

[saxplayer1004]

yeah but with my build that takes a boat load of O2 to run those legs... During my cave course I yelled at my buddy for going to fast because it was killing my SAC rate. I breathe really relaxed, and I can swim very quick, but he was pushing that like 70fpm nonsense and that was way too fast for me to even realize what was around me because I was too focused on keeping up with him. The next day he was behind me coming out of cow and because he was kicking so fast he lost buoyancy control coming into the sink and his doubles found there way right into my butt plate and caused barotrauma in one of my ears, after being yelled at from both me for killing my ears and my instructor for being a moron he slowed down. He wasn't particularly good either, so that compounded it, but 70fpm is awfully quick especially around depth changes

[RN]

jumping to 70 puts my sac up by yours. at my pace around 50 ish its down at .48-.52 ish. not bad for a guy my size. i hate diving with fast divers though. you get so focused on keeping up you lose the fun in the dive

I don't try to keep up. I make them slow down.

yeah but with my build that takes a boat load of O2 to run those legs...

Then you're finning wrong. You should only be using your ankles and feet, and maybe a little bit of your calves. You should not be using the upper leg muscles to propel yourself through the water...at least not if you want a lower RMV.

[floridakid]

Wanting to swim fast has kind of been a struggle for me and I have had to work hard to consciously make an effort to slow down. But as far as my RMV is concerned, I took a trip down peanut with a guy that was swimming pretty fast (70-80 fpm) we made it to around 700the and turned on sixths. A few days ago I dove peanut with someone that I felt way more comfortable diving with and went about 50the fpm, and we made it to 1650 on sixths. Now it might have been that I was more comfortable on the second dive, but I know the slower pace had something to do with it

[saxplayer1004]

oh I hear you, if I'm kicking my pace, my thighs don't move at all. Nice SAC rate. Kicking with the lunatics that decide to haul ass *the problem with this was the student I took the class with was already certified thru intro, I was just starting, so he decided to take off like a bat out of hell. Everytime I was in front he was egging me to go faster, it wasn't worth the process to get him to slow down, let the instructor take care of that, and some of my buddies just kick fast, so I don't dive caves with them. When I got to cave I'd already been doing a lot of tech diving, so it was mainly chasing the card so I could get some cheap trips to warm climates with no boat ride, he didn't quite grasp that one... The other problem I've always fought with on the beginning of the dive was being so bloody heavy. I sink naturally, so with a 5mm steamer I am neutral without any weight, and when diving with the big steel tanks, even in a drysuit, I'm always fighting the weight until i'm down to 2k or so.

Back to subject though, the kicking speed definitely kills my SAC rate, and I think a lot of it is mental. There's a huge gap for me between how fast I kick naturally and having to focus on going faster which seems to automatically make me breathe more

[floridakid]

I totally feel you on being heavy, even in salt water, if I am swimming without an exposure suit, I sink like a rock, It kinda sucks, but at the some time, if I dive singles I don't have to carry 16 lbs of weight like some of my friends do

[saxplayer1004]

that's why I sidemount my 72's if at all possible. If I'm diving dry they are a little light and the HP100's are perfect for that, but if I'm in a wetsuit, which is required by work during open water, then anything other than 72's is insane. Luckily with two of them at 300psi I am still a pound or so heavy at depth, so it works pretty well