LEARN HOW TO SWIM

Whether you're looking to aid your workout or simply want to keep yourself safe in the water, smaller swimming
floats can be a good item to add to your pool bag. However, various types of swimming floats abound, and some are
best kept in or near the pool. Whichever type of pool float you use, they break down into specific categories
depending on what you need the swimming float to do when you're in the water.

Safety Devices

If you have a small child and want her to be water safe or if you are just learning to swim, use a swim float to help
you. However, never move more than an arm's length from your child. While a swim float can help her remain
above the water, it should never be solely relied upon for safety.

Swim floats of this type include arm floaties that you inflate and have your child wear on her upper arm. Be mindful
as these can slip off a child's arm if she begins to paddle vigorously. Inner tube-like rings are also popular as safety
devices. If you buy one with a seat, it can be fun to push your child around the pool. However, a child can slip
through one of the legs if there's a vigorous wave or if she begins to nod off, so keep a close eye to avoid any
potential for drowning.

The safest option is a personal flotation device, or PFD, that is approved by U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard lists
these devices on its website.

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Ride Ons

A ride-on swimming float is useful for an active swimmer who is pool safe. These types of floats make a day at the
pool fun and provide a needed resting spot for adults as well. Such swimming floats include chaise lounges, some of
which are quite sophisticated with drink holders and sections that dip into the water to keep you cool on a hot day, as
well as inflatable toys that entertain the kids.

Examine any ride-on toy for rough patches or sharp seams to avoid any injuries when riding. In addition, watch
children carefully to ensure that they don't try to stand on the toy near its edge as often the floats become slippery
when in the water.
Exercise Floats

Swimming Techniques - Swimming Strokes

Swimming floats that help you with a swim workout include pull buoys and kickboards. Pull buoys aid your upper
body strength by floating your lower body and enabling a pull workout, where you can focus on your pull technique.
Kickboards, conversely, help you focus on your kick technique by keeping your upper body buoyant. When working
out, consider these two swimming floats as essential aids to help improve your technique and strengthen the
different aspects of your stroke. Swimming is a form of exercise that burns a lot of calories, increases your
cardiovascular fitness levels, improves your muscular endurance and strength, does not impact the joints due to the
water supporting your weight, refreshes and cools you in hot weather, and which can be done safely even in old age.

There is historical evidence of human beings swimming since millennia. For instance, there are cave drawings
dating from the Stone Age, depicting people swimming. Swimming is also mentioned in the Bible as well as in the
Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which date back 1500-2000 years. Four swimmers performing the crawl are
also shown in ancient clay seals of Egypt, dating from 4000 BC.

In fact, humans are born with the inherent ability to swim. It has been found that when newborn babies are put in
water, they instinctively hold their breath and move their limbs. This is the reason some families are going in for
providing swimming training for their babies. But, it is not advisable to try out this inherent swimming reflex in
babies at home for self-evident reasons of safety.

However, as far as older children or adults are concerned, swimming is a great way to exercise, to spend leisurely
time, and also to pursue as a competitive sport. Whatever may be the reason for taking up swimming, it is important
to learn the techniques involved in the various swimming strokes in order to be able to perform it well.

There are four basic swimming stokes: the crawl, also known as freestyle; the backstroke; the breaststroke; and the
butterfly. Of these, the butterfly and the breaststroke are harder to learn compared to the crawl and backstroke.

Swimming Stroke # 1 - The Crawl, or Freestyle

Amongst all the swimming strokes, the crawl is the most popular, and beginners find it the easiest to learn. The
technique involved in this swimming stroke is pretty simple. You float on your belly in the water, and propel
yourself by rotating your arms in a windmill motion, and kick your legs in a fluttering motion. The hardest part of
this swimming technique is the coordination of the breathing while performing the strokes, since the face remains in
the water almost all the time.

The Crawl Swimming Technique

The Arm Strokes

 The arms should be moved alternatively, in a rotating windmill type of motion.

 In order to swim in a straight line, each arm should be extended to full reach and pulled with equal force
through the water.
 When under the water, the arms should be moved to form an ‘S’ pattern.
 During recovery, while the hands should be cupped, the hand and the wrist should be relaxed.

The Leg Movements

 The legs are kicked alternatively, in a fluttering motion.

 The knees should be bent slightly.
 The ankles and feet should be relaxed.
 For maximum propulsion, the downward kicking motion should be emphasized.

How to Breathe

 The stroke is begun by raising one arm, and as the shoulder is raised, the head should be turned to the side
to take a breath.
 The head should be turned just enough so that the nose comes off the water in order to breathe.
 The head should not be lifted off the water since that slows down the speed of the propulsion.
 Take a single deep breath, or several breaths, as required, and then turn the head back into the water and
exhale through the mouth and nose.
 Coordinating with the stroke of the other arm, turn the head to the opposite side, and repeat the same
process.
Swimming Stroke # 2 - The Backstroke

The backstroke is akin to the crawl, except that you float on your back in the water. The arms are moved in a similar
alternating windmill motion, and the legs a kicked in a similarly fluttering motion. The two basic techniques of a
correct backstroke are: One, that the arms are moved with equal force, or else you will find yourself swimming off
towards one side; Two, that the body should be rolled from one side to the other, so that the arms extend to their
utmost reach, to propel you by catching enough water.

The Backstroke Swimming Technique

The Arm Strokes

 The arms should be moved alternatively, in a windmill pattern of movement, as they are rotated.
 The hands should be cupped, and when it comes out of the water, the thumb should come out first.
 When under the water, the arms should be moved to form an ‘S’ pattern.

The Leg Movements

 Like in the crawl, the legs are kicked in a fluttering motion, alternatively.
 The knees are bent slightly.
 The ankles and feet should be relaxed.
 However, unlike the crawl, for maximum propulsion, the upward kicking motion should be emphasized.

How to Breathe

 The head should be kept facing up.

 Since the head is out of the water all the time, the breathing need not be as coordinated with the strokes of
the arms or legs compared to other swimming strokes. Hence, you can devise a pattern of breathing that
you find most comfortable.
Swimming Stroke # 3 - The Breaststroke

Intricate timing is involved in the breaststroke. As a matter of fact, missing even a single stroke can disqualify you
in a swimming competition. This swimming technique involves a pattern wherein the body bobs upwards and
downwards as you propel yourself forward in the water. The breaststroke is a difficult swimming technique, and
should not be chosen if you are just beginning to learn swimming. Basically, this swimming stroke involves pulling
your arms through the water, as you bob up and breathe, and then kicking with your legs as you bob down and glide
forward. The arm pulling and the leg kicking are done alternatively.

The Breaststroke Swimming Technique

The Arm Strokes

 The arms should be kept overhead when you start the stroke.
 Then, the arms should be brought towards the chest, pulling on the water.
 The hands should be kept cupped.
 Take the arms back to the starting position.

The Leg Movements

 The knees should be brought up to the chest.

 Then the legs should be thrust straight and backwards.
 The legs should be snapped together in order to push the water as well as propelling you forward, akin to a
frog kick.

How to Breathe

 A breath should be taken each time an arm-stroke is made.

Swimming Stroke # 4 - The Butterfly Stroke

Similar to the breaststroke, the butterfly is also a difficult swimming technique, and not advocated for beginning
learners, since it involves a fair amount of strength as well as precise timing. While performing this stroke, the legs
should be moved together akin to the movements of a dolphin’s tail, the arms should also be moved together,
pushing the water downwards and then backwards, while the torso moves forward in an undulating manner.

The Butterfly Swimming Technique

The Arm Strokes

 The arms should be moved together, pulling through the water, while the hands are kept cupped.
 The palms should be faced outwards and pressed in a downward as well as outward movement.
 The stroke is completed by swinging the arms forward in a sweeping movement while they are above the
water.

The Leg Movements

 The knees should be kept together and slightly bent.

 Then the knees should be straightened, making a downward thrusting movement, while the feet are
whipped downwards.
 For each arm stroke two kicking movements should be performed.

How to Breathe

 A breath should be taken at the culmination of each stroke of the arms.

There are two basic floating techniques in swimming:

1. The basic back float (also known as the back "star" float). Lie on your back in the water. While maintaining
a "flat" horizontal position, extend your legs out and make a large "V" with them, then stretch your arms
out to the sides, making a "T" with them. Ensure that your arms and legs are staying in the water. Tilt your
head backwards, and push your stomach up, as if an invisible string is attached to your navel and is pulling
you up towards the sky.

Making sure your stomach is pushed upwards is absolutely key to maintaining a floating position. If you let
your stomach and pelvis sink down, you will sink to the bottom. If you are working with a child, I find
telling them to make a "big Santa Clause belly" helpful, and telling them to try to look like Patrick on
Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob."

2. The basic front float (also known as the front "star" float). Lie on your front in the water. While
maintaining a "flat" horizontal position, extend your legs out and make a large "V" with them, then stretch
your arms out to the sides, making a "T" with them. Ensure that your arms and legs are staying in the water.
Put your face in the water (but make sure you remember to breathe when you need to!). If you are worried
that you will get water in your nose, exhale through your nose while doing your front float.

Note:
Keep in mind that due to body type and shape, not everyone will float the same way. People who have a lower
density (due to having more fat in their body), are more likely to float at the surface of the water. And people who
are very thin or very muscular are likely to float lower in the water. This is why women tend to float better than
men: Men naturally have a leaner body shape and women are naturally curvier because we have breasts and wider
hips. Remember that floating does not constitute that one is necessarily at the surface, rather that one is suspended in
water at a constant level.

Floating in water is one of the basic techniques that you are taught, before the actual swimming techniques or
strokes. It helps to prevent you from drowning, even if you do not know swimming altogether or are still in the
learning stage. Floating is also used by the swimmers to rest in-between the activities of swimming over the head or
swimming long distances. If you know how to float on water, you will also be much more comfortable while playing
in water or enjoying in water parks, even when you do not know the A-B-C of swimming. In the following lines, we
have provided the basic instructions that will help you in learning to float in water. However, make sure to try them
out, for the first time, in the presence of someone who knows swimming.
 

How To Float on Water 

 Find a place that is safe enough for floating i.e. where the water is not too deep.
 Relax and let all the tensions from your muscles ease off. Tensed muscles make the body less buoyant.
 Take a few deep breaths. The air in your lungs serves as a flotation device for your chest, thereby making it
easy to float in water.
 Go down in water and walk to the area that has waist-deep water.
 Stretch your arms out in front of you and taking a deep breath, fill your lungs with air.
 Now, tuck your head down and push off with your feet, till you are in a horizontal position in the water.
 Bring your arms together and slowly bring them over your head, till the time you are in a streamlined
position. Do not try to perform any swimming strokes at this point of time.
 Remain in the position for around 5 seconds. Thereafter, stand up inside the water.
 Keep on repeating, till you become perfect in the technique.
 After you have mastered floating in shallow water and practiced enough, try it out in chest-deep water.
However, make sure that an experienced friend or a coach is around you, when you attempt to do this for
the first time.

 
Tips
 

 Do not attempt to float in water on your own, even if you are doing it in waist-deep water. Always take the
assistance of an instructor or a friend who knows swimming.
 Make use of swimming goggles, in case the water is chest-deep. This would prevent your eyes from closing
time and again, due to water going inside them.
 In case you are suffering from infection or pain in the ear, it is suggested to cover the ears with clean cotton
balls, to prevent water from entering them. Make sure that you take fairly big cotton balls, which cannot go
deep inside the ear’s canal.
 Practicing floating on water in a freestyle streamline position is perfectly suitable for beginners as well as
those who are pro in swimming.
 The size of an individual does not matter, when it comes to floating on water. What counts is the ratio of
density between the water and the person floating on it.