Ryanair Cabin Crew Swimming Test Explained | My Experience At The Training Course in Hahn, Germany

“It’s not going to sound very good, but if you have a ditching, which means landing on water, you’re not exactly going to be in a swimsuit, are you?

The Swimming Test

People have expressed their concerns and worries to me, asking questions about how hard it is, what it entails, and what is involved in this swimming test. So, I did the swimming test. Yes, can you believe I still have the foldout of where I put all my papers? My goodness, scratch card airway, open passenger airway, this is a doctor’s ABC: danger, response, send, airway, breathing—my notes. This is the first aid stuff. I used to tick off every day as it passed, always looking at this piece of paper.

I just want to check what day the swimming test was on. The swimming test was at the end of week four. It was at 6 a.m. in the morning, local time, at the local swimming pool in Hahn, Germany, where we stayed. We had to wake up early, and a bus came to pick us up at the accommodation that we were staying at. All 30 of us got on the bus, got there, and got changed into not swimwear, but leggings and a t-shirt, or a waterproof top. You could put a bikini underneath or even wear your underwear. Men wore a t-shirt and shorts. We all had to wear clothes because if you have a ditching, you’re not exactly going to be in a swimsuit; you’re going to be in clothes, in your uniform. So, we tried to simulate that. I wore my swimsuit underneath and then a short-sleeve t-shirt with my gym leggings, which were kind of like a hug fit, almost swimming material, but not really.

The Exercises

After we got changed, we sat at the wall of the swimming pool. We got into pairs because the first exercise was to save your partner. We had to drag our partner from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end while wearing a life jacket. Imagine you’ve had a ditching, pulled your life jacket out, put it on, inflated it, and you’re in the water. Perhaps a colleague or one of the passengers cannot swim, and you are supposed to save them. So, we had to pull our partner from one end of the pool to the other. It wasn’t as hard as I thought because you’re floating in water, which makes everything lighter. Both of you wearing life jackets makes it easier to pull them across. You can float in the deep end with a life jacket on, with a bit of kicking and swimming technique.

The second exercise involved diving into the pool without a life jacket and inflating it while in the water. That was a little scary for me because I’m not used to diving into the deep end. I’m more used to it now because I started swimming more to face my fear. So, we jumped in, grabbed the life jacket, inflated it, and swam back to the poolside.

Next, we had a teamwork exercise where we had to use teamwork to inflate a raft, get everybody in the raft as quickly as possible. They divided us into teams, and we had to work together to support each other and get everyone in. This was part of the inflation exercise where we had to save ourselves first, then help others, and get into the raft.

Conclusion

This test is about two to three activities you need to pass. You don’t need to be a powerful swimmer; you just need to stay afloat and be confident. Panicking is the worst thing you can do, as it makes controlling your body harder. We had people who were nervous but still passed. They saved one another, got their life jackets on, and got into the raft. This represents the lifeboat inside the aircraft.

If you’re worried about the swimming test, don’t be. It’s nothing to stress about. As long as you can paddle, do a bit of a froggy swim, or any basic swimming technique, you should be okay. This test is about survival, not being an Olympic swimmer. If you’re not confident, practice at your local swimming pool beforehand to get some technique.

You’ll learn a lot on this training course and understand why you need to pass this test. Thank you so much for watching. Please give this video a thumbs up if you’ve enjoyed it and found it helpful.