Swimming

Hey guys, and welcome back to my blog. As for those of you who have been a reader of my blogs, you may have known that I have just completed the We Are Anonymous summaries. I was sitting there wondering, “what shall I do next for my blog?”. Then my parents gave me an idea for my next blog: Swimming. Now, you may be thinking, “Jason, why in the name of Dog would you want to write about SWIMMING? You're a blogger, for God's sake. What do you know about swimming?”

Well, let me give you a little background information about myself: I may be a blogger/gaming addict, but I'm also a swimmer (and a reluctant one at that). For years now I have practiced the art of swimming (albeit unwillingly), and I have mastered a fairly good deal of styles in swimming. So yeah, it makes sense if my parents are asking me to share some information about my swimming knowledge. So anyway, enough talking, let's get straight to it!

The first style I want to introduce to you in swimming is freestyle (and NO, “freestyle” is not a swimming style that lets you swim however you want, despite the name). This is the second style I learned as a swimming newbie (the first one being the “breaststroke”) and in my opinion, the second-easiest swimming style to master and do, and probably also one of the most well-known styles. I saw a video on YouTube about swimming freestyle and some tips to master it. Here it is...

As you have seen in the video, one thing you must know about freestyle is that out of the four primary strokes in swimming (freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke), freestyle is the fastest. When swimming freestyle, it's essential to keep your body aligned. How? Well, usually when the average Joe swims freestyle, his/her head would face forward so he could see how much farther the finish line was. Well, to anyone who swims freestyle that way, you're doing it wrong. In order to keep yourself aligned while swimming freestyle, make sure your head faces down, focusing at the bottom line of the pool. This will make your body more dynamic when traveling through the water, therefore making your body move smoother and swifter through the water.

You also must time your breathing correctly. The preferred breathing pattern is one breath every three strokes. This way, you will be able to administer enough arm strokes/breath (increasing your speed) without running out of breath (for future arm strokes) quickly. Finally, the kicking technique. For maximum kicking speed, it is best to keep your legs straight (as shown in the video, think of it as an “extended flipper”). This way, you will be able to perform small, fast kicks with your feet, which are faster than those large, wide kicks that most people perform while swimming freestyle. Small and fast kicks can be quickly executed and administer more propulsion than large, wide kicks which, although administers more propulsion per kick, takes a longer time to execute (the kick, that is).

So those are the basic tips for the freestyle stroke. I hope that it will be useful for you to-be swimmers (or want-to-be-better swimmers) out there. Next time, I will show you the basics of the “breaststroke” style, my personal favorite. Until next time! Goodbye for now!