The Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Guide - Uniformed Services ...

Open Water GearIn the pure sense the only gear required is a set of trunks. Look at the gear list forthe UDT swimmers at Omaha Beach in 1944. It did not even include fins and masks.However, today there are some significant gear issues. Goggles are necessary for any realswim training. Operational and open water swimming requires more gear. There arespecific training aids that help develop strength and technique in pool training. Swimmingis still an inexpensive sport with respect to gear; a complete set of the most expensivetraining gear for pool training will not cost over $100.Wet SuitsOpen water swimming may require thermal protection for safety. Males inparticular may be susceptible to hypothermia and the first symptom in an open waterswimmer may be unconsciousness from cardiac arrhythmia. Thermal protection inswimmers means a wet suit worn over an anti-chafing shirt.Wet suits designed for open water swimming are generally of a Farmer John designwith the arms free for stroking. In all but the coldest water, a 1/8” wet suit is best for surfaceswimming. Unlike diving, there is no need to factor in the loss of insulation due tocompression of the neoprene with depth. However, this is not true for the combat swimmeroperations that may entail prolonged periods in the water.Anti-chafing shirts are generally made of nylon without elastic properties. Wornunder the wet suit, the nylon shirt allows arm strokes and head rotation without gettingchafing from the wet suit. If you don’t use anti-chafe shirts, then this would not matter.Hood, Gloves and Booties" Good open water swimming hoods allow the head to be turned with minimalchafing. Thermal protection is not as good with the neck exposed. A goodhood preserves a great deal of the swimmer's heat." Gloves may have webbed fingers to allow sidestroke pulling to be more efficient.They work great for freestyle, too. Neoprene web gloves are popularand work like paddles." Thin 1/8” booties without soles maximize the power delivered by the swimmer'slegs to the fins.72 Swimming for Fitness