> I don't want to start a PADI vs NASDS war here, but how can you call a
 > course superior when it graduates a nonswimmer?  Until you learned how
 > to swim, you were an accident waiting to happen, just as any nonswimmer
 > near the water is a danger to themselves.
Jay, I know NASDS does require a 200 yard swimming test for it's students.  I 
have no idea what they did prior or what the Recreational Scuba Training 
Council mandates.  I'm sure you are aware, but there are no laws that govern 
the requirement for scuba certification, but it's something the industry 
itself tries to do as far as policing itself.
Knowing how to swim is important when you encounter an occasion to be in 
water without equipment, but this would be a case when you are not scuba 
diving (snorkeling, falling off a boat, etc).  Knowing how to swim would also 
reduce levels of anxiety for many people.  Should you know how to swim if you 
are doing anything near or around water???  Common sense says yes!  Is the 
use of arms and legs to swim required in scuba?  No, as only your legs are 
used and you rely on the rest of your equipement to provide your buoyancy.  
This is a move from the old ways of 30 years ago where things were 
significantly different.
Over the last year, I have only seen two students "fail" the swimming test 
while I was working with them.  The two students that didn't pass were folks 
that misrepresented their health.
Beery
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