Monday 9th May 2016
Today we are going to find out about swimming and how to train. We found this article and it inspired us to do a blog post on swimming and how to improve your stokes. It also contains top tips from Olympic swimmers and methods they like to use when training. http://www.swimming.org/masters/swimming-tips/
Tuesday 10th May 2016
The stroke which we are going to be looking into today is Front Crawl (short hand F/C) which is also known as Freestyle. In order to improve your stroke you will do some drills, below we have listed some of the drills we recommend swimmers use when wanting to improve their Front Crawl. There are many more but here are our top 5 favourites to swim.
1) Six kicks then change.
This is where you do 6 kicks on your Left side then you do a full stroke to turn you onto your Right side where again you will do six kicks and one arm pull. Do this until you reach the bottom of the pool. To make this more difficult you can do maximum effort in the red zones (on the lane-rope) and steady in the middle before finishing with maximum effort in the second red zone. This stroke is used to make your leg kick more efficient when breathing.
This is where you do 6 kicks on your Left side then you do a full stroke to turn you onto your Right side where again you will do six kicks and one arm pull. Do this until you reach the bottom of the pool. To make this more difficult you can do maximum effort in the red zones (on the lane-rope) and steady in the middle before finishing with maximum effort in the second red zone. This stroke is used to make your leg kick more efficient when breathing.
2) Zip up
This is where you do normal Front Crawl but on every arm pull you have to zip your arm up your side with your elbow high out of the water (nearly 90 degrees) before allowing your fingers to enter the water. In order to succeed you can imagine you are trying to zip up a zip on your side.This drill is used to improve you arm technique as it stops you from slapping the water with your elbow.
This is where you do normal Front Crawl but on every arm pull you have to zip your arm up your side with your elbow high out of the water (nearly 90 degrees) before allowing your fingers to enter the water. In order to succeed you can imagine you are trying to zip up a zip on your side.This drill is used to improve you arm technique as it stops you from slapping the water with your elbow.
3) 2 touches.
This is where you have to touch your hip and then your shoulder before you can allow your fingertips to enter the water. Just like the zip up you swim Front Crawl normally. This drill helps you to improve your arm technique lowering the chances of your elbow slapping the water and slowing you down.
4) Breathing drill
This drill does exactly what it says in the title it improves your breathing and helps to increase your lung capacity. In this drill you swim Front Crawl but you breathe every 3 strokes,5 strokes, 7 strokes and 9 strokes and then back to 3 etc. To make this drill harder you can do one length of breathing every 3 strokes then one length breathing every 5 strokes etc. rather than doing the easier version of doing one length where you breathe every 3 strokes,5 strokes etc.
5) Kick drill
Again, this does exactly what it says in the title. For this drill you can either use a kick board or have your hands and arms in the streamlined position. You then kick with your face in the water for as long as you can before doing a single arm pull to breathe to the side as you do when swimming Front Crawl. To make this more difficult you can do maximum effort tin the middle and a steady speed in the red zones or you can do a build set, which is where you build up on each length (speed up each length).
World Records in Front Crawl
Men:
1) 50m
20.26 seconds by Florent Manaudou (France) on 15th December 2014
2)100m
44.94 seconds by Amaury Leveaux (France) on 13th December 2008
3) 200m
1 minute 39.37 seconds by Paul Biedermann (Germany) on 15th November 2009
4)400m
3 minutes 32.25 seconds by Yannick Agnel (France) on 15th November 2012
5)800m
7 minutes 23.42 seconds by Grant Hackett (Australia) on 20th July 2008
6) 1500m
14 minutes 8.06 seconds by Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) on 4th December 2015
Women:
1) 50m
23.24 sceonds by Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) on 12th December 2015
2)100m
50.91 seconds by Cate Campbell (Australia) on 28th November 2015
3) 200m
1 minute 50.78 seconds by Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) on 7th December 2014
4)400m
3 minutes 54.52 seconds by Mireia Belmonte García (Spain) on 11th August 2013
5)800m
7 minutes 59.34 sceonds by Mireia Belmonte García (Spain) on 10th August 2013
6)1500m
15 minutes 19.71 secocnds by Mireia Belmonte García (Spain) on 12th December 2014
Front Crawl race
Watch this video to see what Front Crawl looks like in a race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K02I7GFwYuw
Front Crawl race
Watch this video to see what Front Crawl looks like in a race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K02I7GFwYuw
Wednesday 11th May 2016
Today we are going to be looking at backstroke. In order to improve your stroke you will do some drills, below we have listed some of the drills we recommend swimmers use when wanting to improve their Backstroke. There are many more but here are our top 5 favourites to swim.
1) Shoulder roll Ex. 1
For this you do what it says in the title you do a shoulder roll so you have your hands by your side and roll your shoulder out of the water for 3 seconds and then repeat. Once you feel comfortable with every 3 seconds try reducing the time until you reach 1 second. The aim of this is to improve your arm technique.
2) Shoulder roll Ex. 2
For this you do what it says in Shoulder roll Ex. 1 but this time you use your arms rather than having them by your side. You need to have the opposite shoulder out of the water to the arm you are using.The aim of this is to improve your arm technique.
3) Six kicks one pull
This is similar to the six kicks one pull drill in Front Crawl but you don't roll from one side to the other you do six kicks (on your back) then you do one arm pull and repeat this. The aim of this is to improve you leg kick.
4) Shoulder cross
This is very similar to what the title says and Shoulder roll Ex. 2. For this drill you roll your shoulder but before you can put your hand into the water you have to reach across and tap your other shoulder keeping your elbow as high out of the water as possible. This drill improves your arm technique and stops you from slapping the water due to an elbow in the wrong place.
5) One arm drill
This is where you do exactly what it says in the title. You use one arm and do single arm strokes to the middle steps then alternate arms for one pull before doing singular arm pulls on the other arm.This drill improves the technique used when placing your hand in the water.
This is where you do exactly what it says in the title. You use one arm and do single arm strokes to the middle steps then alternate arms for one pull before doing singular arm pulls on the other arm.This drill improves the technique used when placing your hand in the water.
World Records
Men
1) 50m
22.22 by Florent Manaudou (France) on 6th December 2014
22.22 by Florent Manaudou (France) on 6th December 2014
2)100m
48.92 by Matt Grevers (United States) on 12th December 2015
48.92 by Matt Grevers (United States) on 12th December 2015
3)200m
1 minute 45.63 seconds by Mitch Larkin (Australia) on 27th November 2015
1 minute 45.63 seconds by Mitch Larkin (Australia) on 27th November 2015
Women
1) 50m
25.67 seconds by Etiene Medeiros (Brazil) on 7th December 2014
25.67 seconds by Etiene Medeiros (Brazil) on 7th December 2014
2)100m
55.03 seconds by Katinka Hosszú (Hungary) on 4th December 2014
55.03 seconds by Katinka Hosszú (Hungary) on 4th December 2014
3)200m
1 minute 59.23 seconds by Katinka Hosszú (Hungary) on 5th December 2014
Watch this video to see what Backstroke looks like in a race:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0-lC5Emr4o
Thursday 12th May 2016
Today we are going to be looking at Breaststroke. In order to improve your stroke you will do some drills, below we have listed some of the drills we recommend swimmers use when wanting to improve their Breaststroke. There are many more but here are our top 5 favourites to swim.
1) Two kicks one pull
For this drill you do what it says in the title. You do two leg kicks then one arm pull but you have to hold the streamlined position for a glide for 3 seconds. To make it harder you can reduce the time taken on the glide until it reaches 1 second. This is used to improve your streamlined position and the strength of your kicks.
2) Feet together hands apart
Again for this drill you do exactly what it says in the title, you do one leg kick and then when your feet come together you do an arm pull (bring your hands apart). This drill is used to improve the strength of your kicks.
3) Breaststroke on your back
Although this sounds weird it is really easy to do. Simply lay on your back and do leg kicks until you reach the red zone at the far end of the pool turn onto your front so you don't hit your head on the wall. This drill helps to make your leg kicks more powerful as it takes more effort to do a leg kick on your back than it does on your front.
4) One on top one under
This drill is when you do one normal breaststroke (one pull one kick) followed by one kick and one pull below the surface of the water before returning to the usual stroke on the top and repeating it all. To make this more difficult you can do two strokes under the water and one on the surface.
5) Breaststroke arms butterfly kicks
In this you do what it says in the title. The aim of this drill is to make your arms as powerful as your leg kicks. To accomplish this target you need to do one breaststroke pull whilst doing butterfly kicks (this gets you use to doing arm pulls whilst your legs are doing kicks which is necessary when sprinting a length or more).
Although this sounds weird it is really easy to do. Simply lay on your back and do leg kicks until you reach the red zone at the far end of the pool turn onto your front so you don't hit your head on the wall. This drill helps to make your leg kicks more powerful as it takes more effort to do a leg kick on your back than it does on your front.
4) One on top one under
This drill is when you do one normal breaststroke (one pull one kick) followed by one kick and one pull below the surface of the water before returning to the usual stroke on the top and repeating it all. To make this more difficult you can do two strokes under the water and one on the surface.
5) Breaststroke arms butterfly kicks
In this you do what it says in the title. The aim of this drill is to make your arms as powerful as your leg kicks. To accomplish this target you need to do one breaststroke pull whilst doing butterfly kicks (this gets you use to doing arm pulls whilst your legs are doing kicks which is necessary when sprinting a length or more).
World Records
Men
1) 50m
25.25 seconds by Cameron Van Der Burgh (South Africa) on 14th November 2009
25.25 seconds by Cameron Van Der Burgh (South Africa) on 14th November 2009
2)100m
55.61 seconds by Cameron Van Der Burgh (South Africa) on 15th November 2009
55.61 seconds by Cameron Van Der Burgh (South Africa) on 15th November 2009
3)200m
2 minutes 0.48 seconds by Dániel Gyurta (Hungary) on 31st August 2014
2 minutes 0.48 seconds by Dániel Gyurta (Hungary) on 31st August 2014
Women
1) 50m
28.80 seconds by Jessica Hardy (United States) on 14th November 2009
28.80 seconds by Jessica Hardy (United States) on 14th November 2009
2)100m
1 minute 2.36 seconds by Ruta Meilutyté (Lithuania) on 12th October 2013
1 minute 2.36 seconds by Alia Atkinson (Jamaica) on 6th December 2014
1 minute 2.36 seconds by Ruta Meilutyté (Lithuania) on 12th October 2013
1 minute 2.36 seconds by Alia Atkinson (Jamaica) on 6th December 2014
3)200m
2 minutes 14.57 seconds by Rebecca Soni (United States) on 18th December 2009
Watch this video to see what Breaststroke looks like in a race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN7JCR95NQ8
Friday 13th May 2016
Today we will be looking at the stroke Butterfly. In order to improve your stroke you will do some drills, below we have listed some of the drills we recommend swimmers use when wanting to improve their Butterfly. There are many more but here are our top 5 favourites to swim.
1) Dolphin kicks
In this drill you will do kicks under the water's surface and you must move your body too! This drill is nicknamed dolphin as when you do it correctly every other kick you should look like a dolphin also dolphins kick with their tail which your feet together represent. This drill is used to make your kicks stronger so you have enough time to move your arms.
2) One arm, one arm, double arm
This is where you do a singular arm on your left followed by a singular arm on your right then a double arm pull using both arms. To succeed you need to make sure your arm goes around rather than above (like front crawl) if you try to keep your arm as straight as possible you will easily succeed st this.
3) Dolphin kicks with arms
This is where you do dolphin kicks (as explained earlier) but when you come up to breathe rather than raising your head you do an arm pull (with a raised hair so you can get some air). The aim of this drill is to improve your breathing and help you to hold your breath for the necessary length when swimming butterfly.
4) Side to corners
In this drill you do dolphin kicks with your arms in the correct streamlined position but where you would normally breathe you move your arms in a side to side motion to practice the entry into the water. The aim of the drill is to improve your technique when you place your arms in the water.
5) Dolphin kicks on your back
Again you do the same as dolphin kicks but this time on your back as this technique is designed to make your kicks more powerful which allows you to propel faster through the water.
World Records
Men
1) 50m
21.80 seconds by Steffen Deibler (Germany) on 14th November 2009
21.80 seconds by Steffen Deibler (Germany) on 14th November 2009
2)100m
48.44 seconds by Chad le Clos (South Africa) on 4th December 2014
48.44 seconds by Chad le Clos (South Africa) on 4th December 2014
3)200m
1 minute 48.56 by Chad le Clos (South Africa) on 5th November 2013
1 minute 48.56 by Chad le Clos (South Africa) on 5th November 2013
Women
1) 50m
24.38 seconds by Therese Alshammar (Sweden) on 22nd November 2009
24.38 seconds by Therese Alshammar (Sweden) on 22nd November 2009
2)100m
54.61 seconds by Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) on 7th December 2014
54.61 seconds by Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) on 7th December 2014
3)200m
1 minute 59.61 seconds by Mireia Belmonte Garcia (Spain) on 3rd December 2014
Watch this video to see what Butterfly looks like in a race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUx9nCRgACI
Saturday 14th May 2016
If you are interested in swimming you can look for a swimming club in your local area to join or swimming lessons at your local baths to achieve awards such as Honours ( http://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/asa-awards-badges-certificates/ ). The swimming clubs in the local area are:
-Middlesbrough
-Eston
-Loftus
-Marske & Saltburn (includes Redcar)
-Gisbrough
-York
and many more, for details visit this website https://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/rcbcweb.nsf/SportsDir?ReadForm&Sport=Swimming. So if you are interested in joining you can ask at the reception of your local baths and they can recommend a swimming club to you or give you information on their swimming club.
Sunday 15th May 2016
Some interesting facts on who won the last Olympics (swimming).
Thank you for reading our blog on swimming, we hope this information is useful to you and will aspire you to achieve more in the field of swimming.
