The Basics of Snorkeling By Lois Bruckno

Introduction

A committed educator both inside and outside the classroom, Lois Bruckno volunteers regularly for a broad range of causes. She can regularly be found participating in the many walkathons and other urban activities organized to support numerous environmental causes, and counts herself among the first people to go paperless with her credit union. Lois Bruckno is a lover of the outdoors and enjoys any activity that gets her away from city streets, whether it is hiking, riding her bicycle, gardening, or snorkeling.

A water sport that can be enjoyed even in a swimming pool, snorkeling is most enjoyable when the water is relatively clear and there is something to see.

Snorkeling

The most important piece of snorkeling equipment is a snorkel , a plastic tube with a flexible mouthpiece through which a swimmer can breathe without lifting her head from the water. A mask is also a necessary piece of equipment for two reasons. First, it enhances underwater visibility remarkably. Secondly, the strap that holds the mask to the swimmer’s face also secures the snorkel tube so that it is out of the water. Most snorkelers also use swim fins on their feet, but they are not a necessity.

One of the reasons snorkeling is so popular is that it does not require a great deal of training. Even beginners can pick it up within a few moments.

Conclusion

Snorkelers can then swim along the surface, face down, until they spot something at the bottom they want to examine more closely. They take a deep breath and swim down to see it. When they feel themselves running short of breath, they can return to the surface, purge the snorkel of accumulated water, and take a nice deep breath – all without having to lift their head out of water. This is important because a great deal of extra energy is spent in the process of raising one’s head from the water to take a breath, which causes fatigue to set in earlier.