Swimator Blog

@Tony: thanks for the good comment. Ahh, the mysti...

2012-02-16T10:17:14.481+02:00

@Tony: thanks for the good comment. Ahh, the mystical front catch :), so simple in theory, so complex when put in practice. If you are wondering what Tony is talking about check out this post about early catch in freestyle.

As his left hand enters the water he lifts it up f...

2012-02-16T00:51:16.932+02:00

As his left hand enters the water he lifts it up forcing the elbow down. This ensures he has very little catch at the beginning of his stroke as he has to push down first. This uses a lot of wasted energy and is not efficient. Also agree fingers are too wide open, but this is less of a problem than his initail catch phase.

@anonymous: wonderful. Congratulations on your ski...

2012-02-11T22:30:58.250+02:00

@anonymous: wonderful. Congratulations on your skill improvements :).

From what you have described, I would not start learning how to breathe just yet. Breathing skill is very difficult to learn without having a great body balance and control in the water. I'd suggest learning to rotate your body from one side to the other without breathing first.

However, to address your question. When you start rotating your head to breathe, your nose goes from pointing down towards the bottom of the pool to going to the side where you get some water in. During the rotation, you can do a couple of things:

1) blow through your nose during the rotation, this will keep the water out
or
2) try learning to maneuver your upper lip to cover the nostrils which also is a good technique to keep the water out.

Hope this helps.

At least I have an idea on outdoor swimming. I wan...

2012-02-11T15:23:38.542+02:00

At least I have an idea on outdoor swimming. I wanted to try but was to afraid to venture out. Big thanks to the author!

Thanks for this page! I'm in my forties and ne...

2012-02-11T07:10:24.237+02:00

Thanks for this page! I'm in my forties and never learned to swim because the water going up my nose HURTS, and nobody was able to explain how to prevent it. Following your tips I'm able to do the dead man's float and glide with my face in the water, for the first time.

The next thing I want to try is rotary breathing, and there I hit a snag. When I turn my head sideways out of the water, the water comes in my nose. Sometimes it enters as I'm tipping my head out, and sometimes it enters as I'm tipping my head back in. I'm only turning far enough to get my mouth into the air, and I'm keeping my ear in the water, so it's not that I'm turning toward the ceiling and having it run in that way.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Or is there something I need to know to keep the water out while breathing, in addition to the tips on this page? Has anyone else heard of this particular problem?

Thanks!

@Pradip: 1)I am not sure how long can swimmer ho...

2012-02-09T23:26:36.398+02:00

@Pradip:

1)I am not sure how long can swimmer hold his breath without injury to brain, but there are people able to hold their breath for 10 minutes.

2)That is a difficult question and there is no answer to it. A person can float in horizontal/vertical position for a very very long time. If someone would feed you, you could float forever :) (assuming you keep taking breaths). Your body's buoyancy does not drastically change for you to sink. However, a novice swimmer/floater might be too rigid and not relaxed enough to be able to do this, so perhaps a few minutes.
if you struggle with floating, the following post can help you with learning how to float.

Thanks for advice .Let me know how long can swimme...

2012-02-09T13:10:55.711+02:00

Thanks for advice .Let me know how long can swimmer hold his breath without injury to brain or lungs?

2)How many minutes novice can float in horizontal as well as verticle position?

@Pradip: Hmm, doubt that is even physically possib...

2012-02-08T11:30:48.119+02:00

@Pradip: Hmm, doubt that is even physically possible. What would you take a breath of? If you take a breath under water, you will inhale water, not air, so you will start choking. If you do not take a breath above water, I am afraid you better know how to swim.

Thank you very much for your advice. You wrote, &q...

2012-02-08T11:27:46.109+02:00

Thank you very much for your advice. You wrote, "if you have enough time to take breath then you will surface",however my query is otherwise that is, in case of accidental fall or one is knocked down in water and one goes underwater when deep breath is not taken ,can one take deep breath underwater to surface or any other techinique?

@Pradip: no problem. To answer your question, if y...

2012-02-07T23:16:16.061+02:00

@Pradip: no problem. To answer your question, if you have enough time to take a deep breath before falling into the deep water, then it should work in the same way as I described with the balloon analogy. Your body should float back to the surface. However, note that you shouldn't thrash around, just stay calm and wait for your body to surface. After you surface, you could try this technique to stay afloat by taking a few breaths.

Thanks for your advice, but I want to know if one ...

2012-02-07T18:00:37.873+02:00

Thanks for your advice, but I want to know if one falls in deep water accidently where he canot stand up or touch his feet to bottom with head above water ,can he breath in, inflate chest to come on surface and call for help?

@Pradip: congratulations on getting out there and ...

2012-02-07T11:56:00.748+02:00

@Pradip: congratulations on getting out there and getting wet. Sounds like you need to stay in shallow water, so if something like this happens in the past, you can just stand up.

Breathing in is very important part of floating. Your lungs serve as balloon, so if you fill up the balloon (your lungs) with air, they will keep your body floating on the surface. Taking a nice long deep breath will bring more air into your lungs. Check out this post about "how to relax in the water" which goes through some sinking exercises.

to Anonymous: thanks very much for the heads up. A...

2012-02-06T22:37:06.216+02:00

to Anonymous: thanks very much for the heads up. All the swimming tips links are now fixed.

Links do not work!

2012-02-06T22:17:40.305+02:00

Links do not work!

I am 57 year old I am learning swimming yesterday ...

2012-02-03T17:03:58.037+02:00

I am 57 year old I am learning swimming yesterday I tried to float ,even though I had gadget for swimming tied?
to my back I went underwater and almost drowned, Suddenly I remembered instruction given to fellow swimmer , i.e to breathe in to come up.So I breathed in and came on surface. Is it right method ? or some other way ! Suppose water had been 15 meter deep would I have come up by breathing in or drowned

@anonymous: thanks for your comment. You raise a g...

2012-01-26T10:24:28.620+02:00

@anonymous: thanks for your comment. You raise a good point in regards the track start foot dominance. Would you mind explaining more about the methods of human physiology you refer to?

Check out this study - https://repository.uwa.edu.au/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=10366&local_base=GEN01-INS01

Your article here misses a great deal on how to fi...

2012-01-25T20:25:13.485+02:00

Your article here misses a great deal on how to figure this out. There are several methods and human physiology behind which foot forward is best. Why is it that most running coaches understand this, but most swim coaches do not? A track start in swimming is very similar to a track start in running. Telling someone to lead with their dominate foot is completely off base. Most people in the world are right foot dominate. Why then would 90% of tack athletes put their left foot forward on a start? Seriously, do a quick video search of olympic sprinters and see how many lead with their left.

Thanks. I appreciate the response.

2012-01-21T02:09:18.106+02:00

Thanks. I appreciate the response.

@SteveD: thanks for your question. You are corre...

2012-01-17T23:53:13.531+02:00

@SteveD: thanks for your question.

You are correct in the statement that when you turn your head upside down (facing up towards the ceiling) water will always rush in.

The nose plugging technique described in this article is mainly for individuals who have hard time keeping water out of the nose while the face is down in the water (facing the bottom). Sounds like you have mastered this.

To Heidi, I was explaining what to do during the transition period between bottom facing and top facing position. Since this transition period is short, you can purge air out of your nose to keep the water from flowing in.

For the ceiling facing water into the nose issue, you should use the human nose clip technique - http://blog.swimator.com/2011/07/human-nose-clip-getting-water-up-my.html

If you have issue of water getting into your nose during a flip turn, you could try the human nose clip technique or just purging air through your nose and that should do the trick.

This blog post is containing nice tips.Thanks for ...

2012-01-13T09:01:46.818+02:00

This blog post is containing nice tips.Thanks for sharing such a nice blog with us. Keep adding the content.

Oh and I appreciate input from anyone who might be...

2012-01-13T02:30:19.838+02:00

Oh and I appreciate input from anyone who might be able to help me out. Thanks!

I'm a little curious as to the extent of this ...

2012-01-13T02:08:10.833+02:00

I'm a little curious as to the extent of this problem and where I stand with my ability.

If I lay back into the water, facing the surface, I am able to shut my nose cavity off from my throat. But, the cavity still fills with water.

You mentioned to Heidi:
2) when you swim freestyle, you face is down, eyes looking at the bottom of the pool and when you need to take a breath, this is usually when the water enters the nose as you turn your head to the side to take a breath. To help with this, start blowing air through your nose out into the water right before you are about to take a breath. This will create an outward surge of air and no water will come in.

I was under the impression that water was always trying to rush in your nose as your head begins to face the surface as being normal for everyone.

Is that correct? Or should I be working on this technique (or some other technique) that could prevent water entering the nasal cavity as my head turns? Or is this technique just to seal off the nasal cavity water from going down your throat?

A kickboard is an essential aid for beginners to s...

2012-01-11T13:46:14.776+02:00

A kickboard is an essential aid for beginners to start their swimming adventures. Even though, students may like the design of the kickboard, it will be important to consider the quality of the kickboard. Personally, I have seen a few design of the kickboard that fulfill my criteria for beginners.

@Jess: thanks for the comment. You make a very goo...

2012-01-09T16:23:06.386+02:00

@Jess: thanks for the comment. You make a very good point about the safety which is even more important with toddlers.

Really useful article thanks, but you didn't m...

2012-01-08T19:13:01.500+02:00

Really useful article thanks, but you didn't mention safety considerations of one vs. two piece costumes. I was told to always go for a one-piece as it is much easier to grab the child in the event of an emergency. Two piece suits are more likely to come off if you grab them.