Lately I've gotten a few questions from friends of mine who want to learn to swim better. I'm happy to help them - especially knowing that I only tweaked my stroke into decent shape in the last few years.If you don't know how to swim at all, seek out some classes. They'll get you in the water and make sure you don't drown in the process.
If you're more like my friends, who haven't swam much since they were kids, then I've got a suggestion for you. Go take a look at Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin and John Delves. It's full of simple ways to improve your swimming. I found it very useful to read though it a bit, then head down the pool and focus on a particular aspect of my swimming for the session.
There were two concepts that really helped me. The first was called 'press your buoy'. This translates to keeping your chest under the water. Once you do, you'll find that the rest of your body floats much better. Staying on top of the water takes less effort, translating to more efficient forward motion. The second was swapping your hands. By always keeping a hand in front of you, your body is longer in the water. Longer objects travel through water with less resistance, again resulting in more efficient swimming.
I'm a firm believer that SCUBA divers should have decent swimming skills. If yours are a little rusty, the book is a great way to tune up.
1. I second Will that swimming skills are really important for scuba divers. I have been quite perturbed by the number of dive master trainees who cannot swim 100m let alone the required 400m.
I'm an "advanced" swimmer putting in 3-4 sessions a week of 2km+. I don't expect everyone to do that, but I do recommend that divers make at least one swim session a week and build up distance gradually.
Regular swimming builds whole body strength, not just your shoulders. Core strength around your tummy and lower back is really important for divers over and under the water. Leg strength and fitness goes without saying. Kick technique has to be key in reducing energy consumption, air consumption and fatigue underwater.
Total Immersions is great for technique but nothing beats good old fashioned regular practice. Even if its only 400m (1/4 mile), do it once a week and you will quickly notice the difference underwater.
Posted at 7:28AM on Jan 11th 2007 by liberta