Learning to swim can be one of the most important life skills you could ever hope to master. Not only is the ability to swim an enjoyable experience, but once mastered, it can be life-saving, not only for one, but for others as well. I feel it is imperative at this point to mention one thing. Never, ever, under any circumstances, should you follow the age old advice of throwing someone into the water, and they will either sink or swim. Not only can this result in physical injury, but psychologically can terrify one to the point that they will never want to enter the water again.

Nothing can be as horrific as the feeling of drowning, hence, the priority of learning to swim. It has been said that there is no age too young at which to start swimming lessons. Infants, with their innate sense of mobility in water, are often taught some simple basics in the art of swimming.

One has to wonder who is actually teaching who, for these infants, starting at the age of eight or nine months and sometimes younger, are found to be naturals at swimming. It has been suggested that the feeling of floating in the womb is what gives these little ones their ability and in waiting to long, it is lost.

Unless you have an excellent grasp of being a swimming coach, such responsibility is best left in the hands of a swimming instructor. These instructors are well coached in the art of teaching swimming at any stage of life from child to adult.

There really is not a lot to learn when it comes to swimming. The techniques are minimal but practice is a must. A technique that is not mastered could result in drowning. So let’s cover the basics.

Swimming consists of the breaststroke, the front crawl and the backstroke.

When first beginning the art of swimming, one can and should, employ flotation devices regardless of age. These will relieve the fear of sinking into the water while you learn the techniques that will soon become second nature to you.

The breaststroke begins with remaining parallel to the water surface. Similar to the movement of a frog, one would simultaneously pull up the legs and extend the arms forward and then push back to propel yourself forward in the water. This movement is continuously repeated.

The front crawl, also referred to as the side stroke, is used by amateur and athlete alike. In this movement, legs and arms move in unison each performing their own task. The legs are used for kicking, and the arms move in a circular motion in and out of the water. The leg movement will keep you afloat and the arm cycle will propel you forward. You push, pull, and recover, to complete the cycle.

The back crawl is done while lying on your back on the waters surface and using the same movements in reverse as with the front crawl, this can be easily learned. One drawback of this style of swimming is that you cannot see where you are in the water and it can precipitate your bumping into other swimmers or any other object you may come in to contact with.

Have fun while learning to swim, but always keep in mind that you are attaining a life saving skill.

Doc.No:CB-600-ULT-A6B235

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