deeilna

🎲 / 95 notes

swimming 101

3 min read

before starting,
please collect some information,

  • for your safety,
  • to survive,
  • to not drink too much pool soup 🥣

/tip tap tip tap/
let’s google “swimming tips for beginners”…

i am going to focus on the more “technical” and “practical” points,
skipping the “be consistent, motivated”, “get professional help”, “be comfortable with being in the water” kind of advice…

i. breathing 101 🫁

1. how to float

  • lungs full → more buoyant → float
  • lungs empty → not buoyant → sink
  • the more body surface under water → the more you’ll float?
  • relax more to float, release tension!
  • streamlined body position (i.e. pretty straight)
  • don’t overbend your legs

2. some drills

  • on belly and on your back, just try to float calmly
  • experiment and feel how breathing affects this
  • practice exhaling underwater through your nose 👃
  • practice eggbeater kick : 1 leg pedal forward and 1 backward

ii. technique: freestyle, crawl 🏊

1. how to?

  • arms
    • fingers and arm should enter water at 45°
    • straight arm during the phase under water and pull
    • almost feels like the arm and the head are stuck together at times
  • legs: flutter kick, straight legs, relaxed tho
    • kick closer to the surface, not deep under water
    • but don’t kick too high
    • initiate kick from the hips, not the knees → it’s a core movement
    • relax ankles, toes not pointing down, but ballerina toes
    • fast tempo, short amplitude
  • body: straight,
    • head neutral position and looking at the bottom of the pool,
    • head remains in line
    • but rotate hip and shoulder, hips initiate the rotation and shoulders will follow
  • breathe: exhale in water, inhale when turning head,
    • rotate body, not head
    • the side of the arm that goes outside of water, head tilts that side too,
    • not too much, just enough to inhale through mouth (little pocket/opening),
    • head still in line with the spine, not lifted up, it rotate WITH the body,
    • body rotates first, head follows with a small tilt, but 1 eye remains in water

2. some drills

  • with a board to practice kicking
  • with a board to practice one arm
  • with floating block you squeeze with your feet to practice arm movement
  • breathing

3. more

source: https://youtu.be/uiI6Z_0Q2Io

  1. body position
    1. head position
    2. hip position
  2. catch
    1. fingertips
    2. EVF (early vertical forearm)
    3. pull phase
  3. rotation
    1. hips
    2. shoulders
  4. breathing
    1. head position
    2. part of rotation
  5. kicking
    1. short + fast
    2. from hips
    3. de-emphasise
  6. silent swimming
    1. hearing: quiet
    2. touch
    3. smell
    4. taste
    5. sight
    6. sense

iii. misc notes

  • breathe through your mouth 👄 ✅ - not your nose 👃❌
  • VO2max: the max oxygen uptake measured in mL/kg/min
    → max amount of oxygen you body can consume during exercise, also called cardiorespiratory fitness
    → the higher the vo2max, the higher level of cardio fitness and endurance
    • 20 oct 2025: 38.8 VO2max
    • omg… let’s set the goal to be 40 by the end of the year … ? ? YEAHH?? ?
  • Max HR = 220 - age = 190 bpm
  • AEROBIC zones:
    • zone 1 - recovery < 60% → < 117 bpm
    • zone 2 - endurance 60-70% -> 117-143bpm
    • zone 3 - tempo 70-80% → 143-162bpm
    • zone 4 - threshold 80-90% → 162-175bpm
    • zone 5 - VO2max > 90% → >175bpm