Question: Do you have to be good at swimming to do your job?

Tom Rooney answered on 19 Jun 2017:

Hi Ethan,
No… I try and stay out of the sea when I’m working 😉
However, in my previous job in the Royal Navy swimming was essential and we had to pass a swimming test in training. This was completed wearing overalls and comprised entering the water safely, treading water for 3 minutes, swimming 50m without touching the bottom or sides of the pool, then exiting from the deep end unaided with using the steps. Once that was done you had to remove the overalls, climb up to the 3m board and jump into the pool. I was pretty skinny as a 17 year old so I floated like a brick and I found this quite hard, but I passed first time.
I love swimming pleasure… just without those heavy overalls!