Mastering Navy SEAL Training: The Drownproofing Test

If you aspire to be a member of the special operations community, you will face challenges at every turn. A special operator has to be comfortable in any environment, on land, in the air, and in the water.

Be at Home in the Water

A former BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) graduate told me that the water is home for candidates going into Naval Special Warfare.

“The water is our bread and butter,” he said. “That is what we see as home. The water is our safe place, and if you aren’t comfortable in the water, you need to try something else.”

The Importance of Aquatic Confidence

Today, we’re going to look the water, and why it is so important to be comfortable in an airless environment.

Regardless of the unit in special operations, you will be doing operations in the water. If you choose to be a Naval Special Warfare Operator or a Navy SEAL, you must be extremely calm in the water as that is the basis of everything that they do.

Dive Phase: Embracing the Unexpected

During the training, candidates in their Dive Phase will be harassed by cadre members. They will have their masks ripped off, their fins taken, and their air hose tied in a knot to stop the airflow.

Why the harassment? It all serves a distinct purpose. SEALs have to be able to adapt to anything that goes wrong in the water because things always will.

They have to be able to think things through and not panic if something goes awry under the water. And the jostling and banging around the cadre due to the candidates is equated to coming ashore in very rough surf.

The Beehive: A Lesson in Teamwork and Resilience

Another tactic the cadre uses to teach candidates not to panic in the water is referred to as “the Beehive,” in which candidates are pushed into the deep end of the pool in an ever-tightening group.

As it was explained to me, candidates are shoulder to shoulder trying to stay afloat, and it takes just one of them to panic and grab the guy next to him and try to use him for support, and it sets off a chain reaction. In just a matter of seconds, it turns into what was described as “a fight for your life.”

Candidates will be pushed under the water, and it is akin to being trapped under an ice floe as the candidates struggle to breathe. The lesson? Stick together, help each other, and never panic. It is a complete mental exercise to vanquish fear and panic.

Welcome to the SEAL Water Challenge Test

So, how do the Navy SEALs first teach their candidates to be comfortable in the water? They call it the Drownproofing Test, but it is popularly known as the “SEAL Water Challenge Test.”

SEAL candidates do the test in a 9-foot deep pool. With their hands and feet tied behind their back and their feet bound, they have to completely pass all of the events in the test, or they are considered a failure and removed from training. The test consists of the following tasks:

Bob Up and Down at the Deep End 20 Times:

It isn’t easy, especially if the candidate is positively buoyant. The candidate will have to exhale as he descends and keep his legs straight to reach the bottom. Then, he will bend at the knees and kick to the surface.

Float on Your Back for 5 Minutes:

The key here is to get a deep breath and arch your back to naturally bring your lungs to the surface. Most consider this not that difficult, but if you are in the minority (raises hand), that is negatively buoyant, it is much more difficult.

Dolphin Swim:

Swim to the shallow end of the pool, turn around, and swim back without touching the bottom. Here, the candidate has to do a dolphin kick, which is easier to do on your side, where you can catch your breath at intervals.

Do a Forward and Backward Somersault:

Most SEALs say that after the swim, the key is to do a few bottom bobs to catch your breath and then kick hard at the bottom and flip on over. Another bob is done to then do it in reverse.

Retrieve a Mask Off the Bottom with Your Teeth:

This exercise is the same as the bottom bob, but once the candidate hits the bottom, he must bend his knees, flip over, and retrieve the mask with his teeth. Now, The exercise is complete.

If the ropes become undone at any time, the candidate must start the entire exercise over again; if they come undone again, he fails.

This is an extremely difficult test as it forces a candidate to either relax in the water or fail. It is also a tremendous endurance test as, by the time the candidates get to the final task of retrieving a mask, their bodies are exhausted, and they are having trouble getting enough air to complete the challenge.

Master the Test

There are a couple of caveats to trying this on your own for practice to get comfortable in the water.

Number 1: and most importantly, NEVER attempt this alone. Have a training partner or two along with you….just in case.

Number 2: Do not tie your hands and feet together during your training for the real thing. It is inherently dangerous, and when the SEALs do this, they have cadre members and instructors right there just in case anything goes terribly wrong for a candidate. And even then, although very rarely, things can go awry.

Get more comfortable in the water and learn to relax; it is like anything else candidates will have to learn while in special operations. Once you cross that threshold, everything else becomes a little bit easier to accomplish.

It isn’t easy for some; others are born comfortable in the water. But it isn’t anything thousands of special operators haven’t done in the past.

This article has been reviewed and updated by the SOFREP News Team.