Competitive SwimmingCompetitive Swimming

By:

Lauren Barber

Section 6

Menu

• Strokes

• Turns

• Starts

• Resources

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Strokes

• Freestyle

• Backstroke

• Breaststroke

• Butterfly

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FreestyleFreestyle

• Step 1:Visualize a line running down the center of your body from your chin to your chest. This line is the axis upon which your whole body should pivot, and it should extend horizontally in the direction you are swimming.

• Step 2:Keep your legs straight, but not rigid, with your toes pointed out, and kick up and down. Continue kicking the entire time.

• Step 3:Move your arms in a windmill motion opposite each other. While one arm is extended completely out, the other should be all the way back, almost against the side of your body.

Freestyle continued.

• Step 4:Keep your hands flat, thumb separated from the index finger and pull the extended arm through the water beneath your body. Bend your arm at the elbow and draw your fingertips along the imaginary line down the center of your body.

• Step 5:Lift your other arm out of the water and move it all the way forward as the first arm is pulling beneath you. Bend at the elbow and drag your fingertips along the surface of the water. Penetrate the water with your fingertips and completely extend the arm.

• Step 6:Breathe on one side by turning your head to that side as the arm comes out of the water.

Video Exit Strokes

Backstroke

• Step 1:Floating on your back in a horizontal position, kick your legs up and down. Keep your legs straight, but not entirely rigid. Your toes should be pointed out. Try not to make a big splash with your kick; just churn the surface of the water.

• Step 2:Pivoting slightly at the waist and rotating your shoulders, windmill your arms. Keep one arm straight as you raise it out of the water from your waist to a fully extended position. At the same time, the other arm should be bent and pulling a cupped hand along your side in the water, from the extended position back down to your side. Your hand should enter the water pinky-first.

• Step 3:Keep your head floating back in the water, with your eyes looking up. Breathe normally.

Video StrokesExit

Breaststroke• Step 1:Keep your legs close together and pull them up toward

your chest. At the same time, hold your palms together and up against your chest, as if in prayer.

• Step 2:Kick out and apart with your legs, and then quickly squeeze them together. Try to imitate the way a frog kicks. After the kick, streamline your body by pointing your toes and extending your arms completely.

• Step 3: Glide for a moment with your arms fully extended, then turn your palms outward and pull with both hands out and around in a circular motion, so that they end up in their original position, together against your chest.

Breaststroke Continued

• Step 4: Use the thrust of the pull with your hands to pull your head up and out of the water to take a breath. As your head goes back down, your arms should be just beginning to plunge forward with the next kick.

• Step 5: Glide for a moment, and then repeat the entire motion.

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Butterfly

• Step 1: Hold your legs together and extend your arms above your head.

• Step 2: Kick your legs up and down once in a whipping motion generating from the hips and bending at the knees, as if you were a dolphin.

• Step 3: Pull both of your arms simultaneously and symmetrically through the water beneath your body along with the big kick, helping to propel your body forward and out of the water.

Butterfly Continued

• Step 4: Lift your head up and breathe as you quickly pull both arms out of the water and swing them forward. Head and arms reenter the water together in a diving motion.

• Step 5:Glide momentarily, performing a smaller follow-up kick.

• Step 6:Execute another pull-through motion with your arms, with your legs performing a full kick to propel you up and out again.

Video Strokes Exit

Turns

• Freestyle

• Backstroke

• Breaststroke

• Butterfly

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Freestyle Turn

• Step 1:Approach the wall of the pool swimming freestyle. Begin your turn just short of a body length away from the wall.

• Step 2:Tuck your chin to your chest and roll your body into a ball, so that you start to do a forward flip in the water. Blow air out of your nose to avoid inhaling water.

• Step 3:Open your body halfway through your flip and extend your legs to push off against the wall.

Freestyle Turn Continued

• Step 4:Push off the wall in the opposite direction from the one in which you were swimming. You should still be on your back at this point.

• Step 5:Streamline your entire body and roll back over onto your belly as you glide. Your shoulders should be up against your ears and your fingers should be pointed. Begin kicking immediately.

• Step 6:Begin stroking with your arms as soon as your body breaks the surface of the water.

Video Turns Exit

Backstroke Turn

• Step 1:Approach the wall swimming the backstroke (many pools have flags hanging 5 yards from the wall to help you gauge your distance from it).

• Step 2:Lean your head back and draw your knees up toward your chest.

• Step 3:Tuck your body and keep rolling into a back flip in the water until you have turned completely over and are facing down.

Backstroke Turn Continued

• Step 4:Extend your body and push off the wall with your feet.

• Step 5:Streamline your body, extending your arms above your head with your shoulders up against your ears.

• Step 6:Begin kicking immediately.• Step 7:Roll over onto your back and then

begin stroking as you break the surface of the water.

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Breaststroke Turn

• Step 1:Stretch our your last stroke as you near the wall, so you're at a glide by the time your hands reach the side of the pool.

• Step 2:Touch the wall with both hands, draw your legs up into a crouching position, and pull your whole body up to the wall. This is a good time to take a quick breath.

• Step 3:Twist around so that you're facing the water instead of the wall, while simultaneously placing both feet up against the wall so that you're ready to push off.

Breastroke Turn Continued

• Step 4:Bring both arms above your head into the gliding position, and duck down under the water.

• Step 5:Push off the wall and streamline your body. Point your toes and push your shoulders against your ears.

• Step 6:Glide.

Breaststroke Turn Continued

• Step 7:Pull your arms through the water down to your sides and glide.

• Step 8:Kick one hard breaststroke kick and - you guessed it - glide again.

• Step 9:Break the surface and begin swimming breaststroke.

Turns ExitVideo

Butterfly Turn

• Step 1:Swim toward the wall of the pool.• Step 2:Stretch out your arms in a streamline

position when you are close to the wall.• Step 3:Touch the wall with your hands. This

gets you the wall faster which will help with your time in a competition.

• Step 4:Reverse your body in the water. You want to roll your body from being face down in the pool to being on your back. You feet will be going towards the wall now.

Butterfly Turn Continued

• Step 5:Continue to roll your body until you are one your side. Which sides doesn't matter. Use the side that feels comfortable for you.

• Step 6:Touch the wall with you feet and push off. It helps if you get close to the wall so that you can do a strong push off. This will give you a bit of an extra boost in the next lap.

• Step 7:Roll your body as you are pushing off the wall so that you go from being on your side to being face down again and ready for the next lap.

TurnsExitVideo Turns

Starts

• Freestyle/Butterfly/Breaststroke

• Backstroke

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Freestyle/Butterfly/Breaststroke Start

1.Stand on starting block, and curl the toes over the front edge of the starting block. For the track start, the swimmer places one foot forward with toes over block edge while the other leg/foot is behind.

2.For the grab start, swimmer's feet may be together or slightly apart, but not wider than the swimmer's shoulders.

3.Grab the front of the starting block upon command.

4.Put head down.

Freestyle/Butterfly/ Breaststroke Start Continued

5.Flex knees slightly.6.Keep hips above feet.7.Lift the head, throw the arms forward and push

off the block upon command.8.Swimmer drives from the block with the legs.9.Swimmer drops head just before entering

water.10.Start the correct stroke and kick after

entering water and reaching water surface.

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Backstroke Start

• Step 1:Wait for the referee to tell you to get into the water.

• Step 2:Place your feet against the wall of the pool, beneath the surface of the water. Reach up with your hands and grab the backstroke handholds on the base of the starting block. In this position your knees should be up against your chest with your back facing the opposite side of the pool.

• Step 3:Pull with your arms to compress your entire body up against the starting block. Do this only after the referee tells the swimmers to take your mark. Your body is compressed into a tight ball now, ready to explode outward.

Backstroke Start Continued

• Step 4:Push off with your legs, launching your body up and out, and swing your arms back over your head to extend them as far back as they will go. Do this at the sound of the starter (usually a gun or horn).

• Step 5:Arch your back and try to enter the water with your hands first and then your head. Your body should be completely extended as you enter.

• Step 6:Begin kicking as soon as your legs are underwater. Angle your hands and head slightly toward the surface of the water.

• Step 7:Begin stroking as soon as you break the surface.

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Starts

Resources• Freestyle pichttp://www.svl.ch/FreestyleStrokeTiming/ArmstrokeTiming.jpg• free style videohttp://youtube.com/watch?v=RDSKwSR5Zgk&feature=related• backstrokehttp://youtube.com/watch?v=EDznKymB5xc&feature=related• breaststrokehttp://youtube.com/watch?v=dcroh4MKVUc• butterflyhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=zmiyhPop6GI&feature=related• backstroke turnhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=7krXIdpYzSI&feature=related

• breaststroke turnhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=ckTpJOpJt78• butterfly turnhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=-yqTCsC5dtI• freestyle turnhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=ligjwE453Bc• backstroke starthttp://youtube.com/watch?v=c0c8gIJHjGE&feature=related• free/fly/ breast starthttp://youtube.com/watch?v=eUXYy64AgB0• back pichttp://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2002.web.dir/Craig_McMullen/Backstroke.jpg• breaststroke pichttp://hometown.aol.com/wtrshy/graphics/breaststroke2.jpg• butter fly pichttp://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=62743&rendTypeId=4

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About the Author

Lauren Barber is a Freshman at Grand Valley State University.

She is studying to receive a degree in Special Education.

In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her friends, working out, reading, and swimming.

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