Oh, I know what you mean, perhaps I should have said: In order to be considered for scuba diving, you needed to swim AT LEAST a mile. I would swim 3 miles in the pool. Many was the time I found myself swimming to shore for well over a mile especially when getting caught in rip currents. Today its an assembly line, cash operation with a 1-2 weeks course on the basics, a pat on the ass and sent off into the ocean with the hope that you dont lose a flipper and have an operational buoyancy compensator. Although there was a time when I was very fast and light on my feet, today I would probably suck down more dirt than I would water while diving. My hats off to you, great job!