How Long Can You Tread Water In The Middle Of The Ocean?
Treading water is a swimming method that involves kicking one’s legs and moving one’s arms to stay upright in the water without any object to stand on. It is one of the most basic swimming techniques, as it is essential to understand if one is to remain alive in open water. This article explores how long one can remain treading open water.
How Do You Tread Water?
Treading water is not difficult. It involves moving your arms and legs to push your body above the water. Below, we list the steps to treading water:
- Get in an upright position, as if you were standing on a platform underneath the water.
- Always keep your chin up and above the water.
- Stretch your arms out and extend them on both sides of your body. Then, move your arms side to side to create a whirlpool that will keep your body upward.
- Move your legs in a circular motion as if you were pedaling on a bicycle.
While the above method is an excellent way to tread water, there are many different ways to do it. Sometimes, people would rather do butterfly kicks with their legs positioned vertically as they tread water. Others would doggy-paddle with their arms and kick with their legs. Any of these methods will work. Simply use the one that you like best. You can mix and match some leg techniques with the arm techniques if you like.
How Long Can One Tread Water on Average?
The average person can remain treading open water for about two or three hours. However, this time frame does not apply during massive ocean storms or when one is in the middle of big waves. In frigid conditions or massive waves, one could barely hope to stay afloat for as little as 15 minutes.
How Long Can One With Training Tread Water?
Some people, such as Navy Seals or professional divers, have trained for countless hours to build their water treading-ability. These people can last over eight hours on the open ocean, solely treading water.
What is the Longest Someone Has Treaded Water?
As with anything, treading water has its average, impressive, and insane times. Albert Rizzo was one man who accomplished one of the absolutely insane times. In 1983, he treaded water for 108 hours. That is four and a half days, 6,480 minutes, or 388,800 seconds.
FAQ
What is the longest someone has treaded water?
In 1983, Albert Rizzo tread water for 108 hours, a feat that remains unbeaten to this day. Rizzo was born to a family of great swimmers. His grandfather, Turu Rizzo, was an Olympic Athlete that was just three miles off from making the channel swim from Malta to Sicily. Additionally, Albert swam for 72 hours in the open sea (beating out his grandfather by four hours), setting a world record.
How do you stay afloat in the middle of the ocean?
You stay afloat in the middle of the ocean by swimming, treading water, and floating on the water using various techniques. To tread water, one stays upright in the water, moves their arms side to side and kicks their legs in a circular pattern as if they were pedaling a bicycle.