Swimming is a great way for anyone to keep fit and healthy, can help burn calories, tone muscle and improve cardiovascular endurance. At the same time it’s also an incredibly useful skill in itself and can be the difference between drowning or making it to safety or even helping someone else should you fall into a body of water.

Swimming effectively then is an important skill, and the swimming technique you use will depend on the situation and preference. By reading how to perform the various forms below you can then master them each (even if you never made it to ‘Dolphin Swimmer’ in your swimming lessons and were stuck humiliatingly as a ‘Turtle’) and use them for exercise or practical purposes. To get a full body workout for the muscles it is advisable to use a selection of stroke rather than sticking to just one which will train the exact same muscles each time.

Doggy Paddle: The first swimming technique listed here is the one that comes most naturally. The doggy paddle is so called for it’s resemblance to a dog swimming in water, and provides a fairly slow and inefficient form of swimming that nevertheless feels natural and doesn’t use up too much energy while allowing the head to remain out of the water and looking around. To perform the doggy paddle, allow yourself to sink slightly so that you’re diagonal in the water, now ‘tread’ the water with your hands and feat in a mostly alternating motion and this should keep you afloat. To move forwards, grasp and cup at the water with your hands while kicking gently with your feet.

Front Stroke: The front stroke is a swimming technique that is essentially the natural progression on from doggy paddle, presenting a more efficient and speedy way to travel on one’s front that nevertheless creates more noise, requires a large turning circle and splash and prevents the swimmer from being able to look where they’re going. For this reason the front stroke is a good swimming technique for exercise (training the biceps and lats particularly well) and for racing – it is the stroke used by Olympic swimmers who require the most speed.

To perform the front crawl you should be face down in the water and completely horizontal with even your face below the surface. Your hands should be down by your sides. From here you will be kicking quickly with your legs against the water while bringing each arm up and over one at a time so that they brush your ears. Each time your hand hits the water, cup it and drag yourself forwards as you move your hand through the water back to the starting position. In order to breath you will be required to turn your head sideways during each stroke, thus bringing your nose and mouth out of the water for long enough to breath.

Back Stroke: The back stroke is another quick swimming technique that is useful in straight lines and when the swimmer doesn’t require to see where they are going. This is again useful for racing (though it is less fast than the front stroke) and for exercise; working the triceps and traps particularly well. The technique is essentially the same as for the front stroke except this time the swimmer is facing up (meaning that there’s no need to twist the head in order to breath). Again the swimmer is horizontal and kicks with their legs for propulsion while bringing their arms up in large arks to hit the water behind them and drag themselves through it. In both the front stroke and back stroke the arms resemble wheels, spinning round and using the water’s resistance to propel the swimmer forwards.

Skulling: Skulling is another swimming technique that is performed while lying on one’s back. However this is a far more relaxed version than the back stroke and allows the swimmer to see easily where they are going.

Here the swimmer lies on their back and relies on the oxygen in their lungs to help them float. The feet stick out, also floating, in front of the individual who swims the opposite direction to the one they would during back stroke. The hands meanwhile are relaxed by the side and utilise a simple flicking motion of wrists to cup the water. As the swimmer is floating almost on top of the water they will experience nigh-inertia and minimal resistance, making this slight wrist flick enough to propel them forwards.

Butterfly: The butterfly is an entirely different swimming technique however that is loud, noisy and creates a lot of splash. It is however a good workout for the entire upper body and also a fairly quick stroke. Here the swimmer essentially does a front crawl, but brings both arms over at the same time. This way they take a wider arch due to the trapezius muscles in the back, coming together at the end where the swimmer almost dives under the surface of the water.

‘The Dolphin’: One taught mostly in schools, this swimming technique involves utilising the pivot in the waist in order to ‘wiggle’ the body and kick with both feet simultaneously mimicking the movement of a dolphin. This is a fairly impractical way to swim and works best when underwater (though breast stroke would be more efficient here too). It is however a great abs workout.

Breast Stroke: Saving the best until last, the breast stroke is a fairly slow swimming technique that is nevertheless capable of transporting swimmers at steady rates through the water. At the same time is allows for good manoeuvrability, keeps the head out of the water and looking forwards and offers a great workout for the pectorals, the lats, the shoulders, the quads, the hamstrings and the calves. To perform the breast stroke, lie on your stomach horizontally in the water, just below the surface with your head up and face out of the water. From here you will bring your hands together in prayer position by the top of your chest, push them forwards to cut through the water, then twist your hands to face away from each other and split the water in font of you – dragging yourself forwards as you do and returning your hands to the starting position.

Meanwhile the legs will be brought up and together near your buttocks, in a fashion similar to the starting position of your hands, but will then kick outwards behind you and to either side to launch you forwards through the water.

Mack LeMouse

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