Navy SEAL PST 500-Yard Swim: Combat Sidestroke Technique

The combat sidestroke is the preferred stroke at BUD/S. Efficient, sustainable, and legal for the SEAL PST, which only allows sidestroke or breaststroke with no overhand recovery. Candidates who drill the stroke properly routinely drop 60+ seconds from an untrained sidestroke time.

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Why Combat Sidestroke

Freestyle isn't allowed on the PST, and breaststroke burns out your legs over 500 yards. Combat sidestroke:

• Uses less oxygen per yard
• Keeps one ear in the air (safer, more controlled breathing)
• Recovers efficiently between strokes
• Is the stroke SEALs use in real operations

Master it and your PST swim becomes repeatable, not a one-off heroic effort.

The 4 Phases of Combat Sidestroke

1. Glide: Start on your side, bottom arm extended forward, top arm along your side. Kick once with the scissor kick. Glide 2-3 seconds.

2. Pull: Bottom arm pulls down and back to your hip. Top arm stays pinned to the side.

3. Recovery: Top arm reaches forward along the top of the water. Bottom arm recovers to the chest, palm up.

4. Catch and reset: The reaching top arm catches water. The scissor kick fires. You glide again.

One full cycle should feel like controlled efficiency, not a fight.

Common Mistakes

• Flat kick instead of scissor: Top leg forward, bottom leg back, snap together. Don't flutter.
• Head too high: One ear stays submerged the whole time. High head = sinking hips.
• Rushing the recovery: Glide is where you save energy. Most candidates rush. Don't.
• Breathing chaos: One breath per full cycle. Inhale during the pull, exhale during the glide.

The Training Plan

3 pool sessions per week.

Session A (technique):

• 200 yd easy freestyle warm-up
• 8x 25 yd combat sidestroke, focus on one element per rep (glide, pull, kick, breathing)
• 200 yd cool-down

Session B (intervals):

• 4x 100 yd combat sidestroke at goal pace, 30s rest
• 200 yd easy
• 4x 100 yd combat sidestroke negative split (second 50 faster)

Session C (distance):

• 1x 500 yd continuous combat sidestroke at PST pace
• 200 yd easy
• 8x 50 yd sprints

Dry-Land Drills

Even without pool access, you can train the positional patterns:

• Floor glide drills (side-lying, arm position holds)
• Scissor kick practice
• Bilateral shoulder mobility

Pace Targets

Minimum: 12:30 (2:30/100 yd). Checkpoint: 10:00 (2:00/100 yd). Competitive: 8:00 or faster (1:36/100 yd), the mark most often cited for SEAL candidates.

Use a pool with a pace clock. Once you can hold 1:36/100 for four consecutive 100s, an 8:00 swim is within reach on a fresh day.

Score your full PST with our Navy SEAL PST calculator.

What To Do Next

Find a swim coach with open-water or BUD/S experience and invest 4-6 sessions drilling technique. It's faster than 100 hours of untrained swimming.