Army Physical Fitness Test - 800-Yard-Swim Test


This event is used to assess cardiorespiratory (aerobic) fitness.

Equipment
Two stopwatches, one clipboard and pen for each scorer, one copy each of the test instructions and standards, and appropriate safety equipment are needed.

Facilities
A swimming pool at least 25 yards long and 3 feet deep, or an approved facility, is needed.

Personnel
One event supervisor and at least control, and medical personnel must

Instructions
The event supervisor must read the following statement “THE 800-YARD SWIM IS USED TO ASSESS YOUR LEVEL OF AEROBIC FITNESS. YOU WILL BEGIN IN THE WATER; NO DIVING IS ALLOWED. AT THE START, YOUR BODY MUST BE IN CONTACT WITH THE WALL OF THE POOL. ON THE COMMAND ‘GO,’ THE CLOCK WILL START. YOU SHOULD THEN BEGIN SWIMMING AT YOUR OWN PACE, USING ANY STROKE OR COMBINATION OF STROKES YOU WISH. YOU MUST SWIM (tell the number) LAPS TO COMPLETE THIS DISTANCE. YOU MUST TOUCH THE WALL OF THE POOL AT EACH END OF THE POOL AS YOU TURN. ANY TYPE OF TURN IS AUTHORIZED. YOU WILL BE SCORED ON YOUR ABILITY TO COMPLETE THE SWIM IN A TIME EQUAL TO, OR LESS THAN, THAT LISTED FOR YOUR AGE AND SEX. WALKING ON THE BOTTOM TO RECUPERATE IS AUTHORIZED. SWIMMING GOGGLES ARE PERMITTED. BUT NO OTHER EQUIPMENT IS” AUTHORIZED. WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS EVENT?”


Administration
After reading the instructions, the event supervisor answers only related questions. He assigns one soldier to each lane and tells the soldiers to enter the water. He gives them a short warm-up period to acclimate to the water temperature and loosen up. Above all, the event supervisor must be alert to the safety of the testees throughout the test.

Timing Techniques
The event supervisor is the timer. He uses the commands “Get set” and “Go.” Two stopwatches are used in case one fails. As the soldiers near the finish, the event supervisor begins calling off the elapsed time in minutes and seconds (for example, “Nineteen-eleven, nineteen-twelve, nineteen-thirteen,” and so on.) The time is recorded when each soldier touches the end of the pool on the final lap or crosses a line set as the 800-yard mark.

Scorers' Duties
Scorers must observe the swimmers assigned to them. They must be sure that each swimmer touches the bulkhead at every turn. The scorers record each soldier’s time in the 2-mile-run block on the scorecard and use the comment block to identify the time as an 800-yard-swim time. If the pool length is measured in meters, the scorers convert the exact distance to yards. To convert meters to yards, multiply the number of meters by 39.37 and divide the product by 36, that is, (meters x 39.37)/36 = yards. For example, 400 meters equals 437.4 yards, that is, (400 x 39.37)/36 = 437.4 yards.