Brief Summary
This video provides guidance on how to prepare for the water-related aspects of BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training. It emphasizes the importance of learning the combat swimmer side stroke, becoming comfortable in open water, and managing the mental challenges associated with swimming in cold, murky conditions. The speaker stresses that while swimming technique is crucial, it's less likely to cause injuries compared to running, making it a skill to develop consistently but without overexertion.
- Prioritize learning and mastering the combat swimmer side stroke for SEAL training.
- Transition from pool practice to open water to adapt to realistic conditions.
- Focus on comfort and mental resilience in challenging water environments.
The video series aims to provide resources for individuals preparing for BUD/S (SEAL training). The speaker, Chad Wright, shares his experiences from Class 278, where he successfully completed the training without any setbacks. The series will cover mental preparation, endurance training (running), water preparation, and calisthenics to help viewers get ready for BUD/S.
The video is sponsored by Barbell Apparel. The speaker highlights the ultralight Tech T and ranger shorts, emphasizing their functionality and comfort for various activities like running, lifting, and biking. He encourages viewers to support the companies that support the 3 of 7 Project and this YouTube channel.
The speaker discusses the second most important aspect of preparing for BUD/S: water training, specifically swimming. He recounts his initial lack of swimming experience, only knowing the dog paddle. To even qualify for a SEAL contract, candidates must pass a physical standards test (PST), which includes a 500-meter swim using either breaststroke or combat swimmer side stroke.
For beginners, the speaker recommends starting with the breaststroke due to its simplicity. However, he emphasizes transitioning to the combat swimmer side stroke, as it is the primary stroke used throughout SEAL training. While pre-BUD/S training will help refine this stroke, candidates should aim to be reasonably proficient before arriving.
The speaker advises against spending too much time in the pool, as all timed swims in BUD/S occur in open water, either in San Diego Bay or the Pacific Ocean. Pool sessions during BUD/S are primarily for "beat down" exercises like treading water with bricks. Open water swimming requires learning to guide without lane markers, picking a point on the horizon to maintain a straight course.
It's crucial to become comfortable in the open water environment, which is often murky and cold, unlike a clear, warm pool. Swimming in cold water, if possible, is beneficial since BUD/S water conditions are consistently cold. Developing comfort in the water involves spending more time in it, getting used to the conditions, and relaxing.
While treading water can be practiced, it shouldn't be overemphasized. The focus should be on mastering the combat swimmer side stroke and becoming comfortable in the water. The speaker suggests that water training is more about skill and technique, and less likely to cause injuries compared to running. He recommends swimming at least once a week for about an hour.
The speaker advises against practicing with fins before pre-BUD/S, as the PST is taken without them. He notes the abundance of online resources, such as YouTube videos, demonstrating the combat swimmer side stroke and treading techniques, which were not available when he was preparing for BUD/S. He encourages viewers to take advantage of these resources.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “How To Prepare For BUD/S Navy SEAL Training | Part 3 Swimming”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 what's up YouTube my name is Chad Wright this video series is meant to be a resource for you guys who are going to go to buds otherwise known as SEAL training we're going to cover down on how I prepared for buds back when I went through with class 278 I was able to make it all the way through training with no issues never got rolled or any anything any issues so this is going to cover down on everything from how to prepare mentally how to prepare uh running and endurance wise how to prepare for the water and also the calisthenics portion of your training to get ready to go and do this thing so hope you guys enjoy it if you did subscribe to the channel leave a comment we appreciate it love you enough said what's up YouTube this episode is
0:46 brought to you by our partners at Barbell Apparel uh what do I have on right now I have got the ultralight Tech T this is the tank top version I've done multiple missions in this shirt uh from 370 mile bike rides to 250 mile runs it's an awesome layer that keeps you nice and comfortable it breathes it dries it does everything it needs to do that's the ultralight Tech tee I always pair this up with the ranger shorts all right green is probably my favorite color in the ranger shorts they fit good they've got big Pockets they're just the right length they function and do everything that you need them to do from running to lifting to getting out and riding the bike whatever you're doing it's a very functional multi-purpose short for you
1:34 guys to have so that's the ranger short barbell makes these videos possible it allows us to take the time to bring these things to you guys so if you get anything out of the Channel if you like the channel go and support the companies that support three of seven project and this YouTube channel like barbellapparel.com check them out get you some enough said all right what's up YouTube in this segment we're going to talk about the second most important part of training or preparing to get ready to go to buds otherwise known as Navy SEAL training uh and that's going to be the water part all right basically swimming now when I started out and I decided I wanted to get a seal contract and go to Seal
2:19 training I had zero experience with swimming like my my swimming experience didn't go past the dog paddle all right so I wasn't used to swimming laps I didn't know any certain Strokes had never spent a ton of time in the water so this was a big thing for me that I had to get ready for even just to pass my physical standards test you guys probably know in order to even get a sealed contract you have to pass a physical standards test and part of that test is a 500 meter swim using either a breaststroke or a combat swimmer side stroke while you're doing the swim all right so if you're like me you're starting out you can freaking dot hopefully you can
3:06 at least dog paddle or float all right that's cool if you can't do that just go find something else to do with your life all right but as long as you can dog paddle you need to go to a daggone swimming pool you need to find somebody to teach you the breaststroke is what I started out with my wife at the time she was my girlfriend but she taught me the um breaststroke all right that was before I cut ties with her and went to buds uh I just wanted to get her to teach me that breaststroke and so she taught me the breaststroke and the reason I started with that is because it's way easier to learn than the side stroke is a way less complex it's super easy to catch on to
3:54 but you can't stay with that you might be able to pass your PST doing that but that's about all it's good for as soon as you get comfortable with the breaststroke and you're able to do some laps you need to immediately start learning the combat swimmer side stroke the reason you want to learn that is because that's what you're going to use all throughout SEAL training you need to be at least generally squared away with your side stroke before you get to buds now in pre-buds you're really going to have a lot of help dialing that in so don't expect to be an Olympic level swimmer don't don't think that you have to have it completely dialed in you got to have it enough to pass your PST and that's about it now once you get comfortable with that stroke in the pool you need to quit going to the pool all
4:42 right because in buds you're not going to do any of your swims in the pool all of your time swims are going to be in Open Water either in the San Diego Bay or in the Pacific Ocean it's a totally different ball game Swimming in open water than swimming in the pool all right when you go to the pool and buds it's just going to be for beat down sessions it's just going to be you treading water with bricks over your head and beehive drills and all this crap it's going to have nothing to do with actually swimming it's going to be mostly treading water so start swimming in Open Water you want to get comfortable being in Open Water you need to learn how to guide when
5:28 you're in Open Water obviously in a pool you can stare down at the line you know in your lane and it keeps you in swimming in a straight line out here in Open Water you got to be able to swim in a straight line without having any reference point underwater to look at you've got to be able to look and pick something out on the horizon and guide to that point all right so that's really important and the other part of being out in open water is you just have to generally get comfortable being in that environment all right it's murky it's not like a swimming pool where you have clear and you can see everything and it's comfy and it's warm you need to get comfortable in murky water where you can't see anything maybe it's it's cold
6:15 water if you can find it if it's winter time go out and and swim in the freaking cold water because all the water and buds is going to be cold all the time even the dang pool stays cold so you're never going to be in nice warm water being comfortable in the water other than learning The Strokes and being able to pass that PST learning how to guide just generally learning to be comfortable in the water is the other big part of training for buds how do you learn to be comfortable in the water you spend more daggone time in the water all right don't go and try to practice all these daggone treading with bricks over over your head you may want to practice Treading Water all right aside from your your combat swimmer side stroke practice
7:02 treading water get comfortable doing that but man you don't have to go over the top just get comfortable in there understand you're going to be in it a lot get over it freaking relax have your stroke dialed in and you're going to be good to go uh yeah like I said in pre-buds you're going to get a lot of practice you're going to get this dialed in don't stress near as much on this water stuff as you stress on your running all right and the reason is because this is more of a a skill and out here the swimming part of buds it's technique right that's all it is and you're not going to get if
7:49 you don't do a bunch of swimming before buds you're not going to get injured because you didn't do a bunch of swimming if you don't do a bunch of running before buds you're going to get injured because you didn't do a bunch of running and your body wasn't able to make that adaptation all right but definitely you got to be comfortable you got to know your stroke you got to get out in freaking Open Water get out of the pool don't worry about swimming with fins on man you're going to get to do plenty of that in pre-buds you take your PST without fins so do all your swimming in my opinion without fins it's really easy to transition and start using those fins as long as you've been running your legs are strong your bones are strong your quads are strong you're going to be able
8:35 to slide those fins on after you get to pre-buds and then going on to Buds and you're going to be able to use those things just fine you don't need to practice with those on so getting the freaking water learn your Strokes get comfortable I'd say swim at a minimum of one day a week all right if you can swim two or three days a week if you can fit that in obviously it ain't gonna hurt you but you need to be in the water at least once a week for an hour or so at a time just getting used to that environment and that is how I learned to swim that's the process I went through and the water is what it is man it freaking sucks
9:23 you just got to get over it learn to live with it be comfortable in it don't panic pass your time swims and you're going to be good to go that's all there is to it enough said and by the way when I was getting ready to go to buds y'all watching this dagger on YouTube thing we're talking about 07 uh 06 lato 607 we didn't have a bunch of stinking videos like this man there was like one video on YouTube that demonstrated what the combat swimmer side stroke was and it was terrible it was a terrible freaking video but it was the only one on YouTube I guarantee you there's freaking 10 000 videos on
10:08 YouTube now that's going to show you exactly how to do the combat swimmer side stroke and how to tread water whether you want a scissor kick or use an egg beater so go watch those freaking videos I'm not going to show you that in here I didn't have that resource everything for you now is easier than it was back then so you have no freaking excuse not to make it through this training period
