Naval aspirants prepare for rigors of basic training

While other swimmers splashed noisily nearby, a half-dozen young men were gliding silently below the surface, slicing through the water in a sideways position, as a clipboard-carrying instructor took notes on their performance.

"These fellas are all swimming what we call a combat side stroke," the instructor, retired U.S. Navy captain Drew Bisset, 63, explained. "Notice they're not kicking up any spray as they do it. That way, they can remain covert and clandestine."

Bisset, a retired Navy SEAL who served during the Vietnam War, is overseeing a weekly training exercise, offered free from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the Greenwich Family YMCA, for men interested in trying out for the SEALs, or "Sea, Air and Land Forces," one of the military's most elite special-operation forces.

The training, which Bisset began offering in 1994, is designed to give would-be SEAL officers and enlisted men the physical conditioning they will need to increase their chance of passing the rigorous, initial screening test required for the basic underwater and demolition training program.

To be considered for basic training, candidates must swim 500 yards in under 12 minutes and 30 seconds; do at least 42 push-ups and 50 sit-ups, each in two minutes; do at least 6 pull-ups; and run 1.5 miles in under 11 minutes, said Bisset, a former Old Greenwich resident who lives with his wife in Stamford.

"It's not for everybody," said Peter Kenyon, an assistant trainer and retired Navy commander, during a training session Tuesday night.

"Some guys show up once, take a look at what's going on, then shake their heads and say, 'Nope, not for me.'"

The grueling routine helps prepare participants for the rigorous demands of the job, Bisset said. SEAL members deploy in small groups by boat or aircraft, and often have to swim or hike many miles under cover of night for combat and reconnaissance missions.

"We're a maritime asset for the military," Bisset said of the SEALs, "so you have to make sure these guys are very comfortable in the water."

Still, only a small percentage make the final cut even in Bisset's preliminary training. While Bisset's program is not an official pre-requisite for getting into basic training, participants often rely on his recommendation when seeking admission for the underwater and demolition program.

Since starting his training program 15 years ago, Bisset said he's seen about a thousand candidates, but has only recommended 123 men for basic training. Of those, 87 have gone on to graduate and become SEALs.

At about 70 percent, Bisset said, that graduation rate is remarkably high for a specialized boot camp that historically has had attrition rates of about 75 percent, because of the physical and mental rigors.

In basic training, for instance, candidates must take a dip in sub-freezing water as part of a controlled exercise meant to bring them to the brink of hypothermia. On top of that, they must run as much as 16 miles a day across different terrains, from rock to sand, and endure six-mile swims in sometimes turbulent ocean waters.

Stamford resident Alex Buggy, 24, a trainee who said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks motivated his decision to pursue military service after college, said the higher standards of the SEALs were partly what made him interested in trying out.

"It's the same thing as if you decide to go to college -- you're going to try to go to Harvard or Yale, because you want the best of the best," he said. As a SEAL, "you're in an elite unit with a tight group of guys, and you're capable of performing any kind of warfare -- sea, land or air."

"Honestly, it's kind of an adrenaline rush, too," Buggy added.

Sebastian McCormack, 21, a former Greenwich High School student who was recently approved for basic training, said Bisset's program had made a big difference in his performance on the screening tests.

A few months ago, he failed the test on his first try after being disqualified on his side-stroke form and after posting disappointing results in nearly all of the various fitness and endurance trials, he said.

"I wasn't in shape at all," McCormack said.

By participating in the weekly training session, however, McCormack said he's been able to not only fine tune his swimming stroke, but also double his pull-up count, shave five minutes from his earlier running time, and complete about 20 more sit-ups and push-ups than before.

He's now planning to ship out for boot camp this June -- an experience he said will test both his physical strength and his mental toughness.

"When you go to (basic training), the instructors are going to be messing with you to see if you really want it," McCormack said. "But if you really do want it, you're going to fight through and do whatever you can until they respect you."