PFT SWIM QUES

[A_Wannabe]

When you take the SEAL PFT test on the swimming portion do you where long pants and boots or are you in swimming gear (shorts no shoes). And does any one know what chain stores might carry some fins that I would be able to practice with. Thank you very much for your replies.

[l80shuvit]

i havnt taken it yet but im almost positive that you take the swimming portion of the pst in shorts or a speedo. thats what ive heard. as far as fins, some ppl say to get fins with bootys since thats what you use in BUD/s, but other ppl say that it doesnt really matter what fins you use cause you just want to get your feet used to swimming with them. I just bought good old VOIT DUCK FEET. Thats what the UDT SEALs used to use. i got mine from http://www.marine-rescue.com/html/divegear.html and they were only like 20 bucks.

[Ready3]

I have taken an official PFT. You take it in whatever you want to wear. Speedo, shorts, doesn't matter. Just make sure you swim your a$$ off. Getfitnow.com has some good fins that are very similar to the ones used at BUD/S but I think they are 70 bucks if I remember correctly.

[A_Wannabe]

Thank you very much for the posts.

[JT]

A Wannabe

In boot camp you will be issued some PT shorts the first day you arrive. They are blue running shorts with built in underwear like lining. You will wear these shorts for the screen test. After completing the swim you will change into the dungaree pants you have been issued, a white T shirt, and boots (steel toe). You will do the rest of the screen test wearing these items.

[matts_da_man]

yeah, and you sure as hell dont get to wear fins while taking the pst.

[A_Wannabe]

Thanks everybody for the replies.

- A_Wannabe

[daveed007]

We have 2 drastically different answers as to what you can wear for the PST (speedos or "whatever you want" versus official PT shorts) from 2 guys who have taken the "Official PST". Can anyone chime in with a verification of either answer, or a different answer as things are going now? Recruiters have told me I can wear anything for the test, even goggles are allowed sometimes depending on the mood of the administrator of the test.

While we're on the subject, I've seen footage of Navy PST's in the past and the pushups done always looked very shoddy to me. I hung out with a guy in the Navy now and he was showing me how he did his pushups for his PST just a few weeks ago and the range of motion was minimal - he went all the down, elbows at less than 90 degrees, but only made it up to where his elbows were maybe 135 degrees, far from locked straight at 180. I know the official answer is all the way up and all the way down, but can someone confirm how strict they really are on the test, including your particular situation and location of your test?

[sdaedalus]

Just took the PST Aug. 12, and I took it back in '94. You can wear any trunks you wish and just ask the test-giver if you can wear goggles, it ususally is no big deal, and not something to fret about. As to the question of push ups, the test administrator should demonstrate it for you. During the test, if you are taking it with other individuals, the other person would lay their hand flat on the deck about mid-chest(between the nipples roughly). You must touch the person's hand with your chest and then go completely to the top, ie. arms fully extended. The other person is responsible for keeping count of properly completed pushups. IF you take it alone the test administrator will be the person with their hand on the deck keeping count. The situps are with the hands behind the head with the fingers interlocked, elbows touch the legs then back down for one. My administrator actually sat on my feet during the situps. As to the strictness, both times I took the test they were strict. Not counting bad exercises and counting to 3 during rests, ie. resting in the leaning rest for pushups. Just one last thing the chin ups are peformed to the administrator's count for the first 6 and then your on your own. My test-giver told me he once had someone perform 182 chinups!

[JT]

Dave,

My information is based on my experience taking the PST only a couple of months ago while I was in boot camp. In boot camp the only possessions you have are what they issue you, and they don't issue you goggles or speedos. If you take the PST in boot camp it will be the way I described above. As for taking the PST at other locations outside of boot camp I have no idea, probably based on the administrator's preferences. As for the pushups, the administrator of my PST wanted your arms to break 90 when coming down and to return to 180 when coming up, those were the only requirements. For the situps you elbows had to touch your knees, and for the pullups you had to go chin over bar going up and straighten your arms coming down

[RatedM4Life]

You guys do bring up good points about the pushups. I have always heard past 90 on the way down and then to 180 on the way up. However maybe that is just for the PFT. After watching the Discovery Channel dvd set of class 237 i must say that a lot of their pushups while in bud/s had very weak form. Maybe the instructors get more leinent because i'm sure they are very tired?

[An2mal]

As far ast the PFT goes here at Glakes(after bootcamp), when you do your pushups you must break 90 degrees and go back up to lockout. If you are doing wide pushups then your lockout will be around 135. You can wear any shorts you want until you are actually a part of Dive motivaters up here, then you will wear UDT dive shorts and plain white t-shirt. Goggles are authorized.