Theory of Survival Stroke

 Survival stroke is a means to keeping breathing at the lowest

exertion while in open water. It turns out that a typical relaxed
human body with a moderate lungful of air floats almost
vertically, feet down, slight incline forward, face under water,
tip of head above the water, arms floating out slightly to the
side

Crawl Stroke
 regarded as the fastest swimming style
 The initial position for the front crawl is on the breast, with
both arms stretched out in front and both legs extended to the
back. Then while one arm is pulling/pushing, the other arm is
recovering. The arm strokes provide most of the forward movement,
while the leg kicking in a flutter movement only provides some.
Front Crawl Steps / Technique:

Step 1 – Initial Position: From the initial position, the hand is held

flat and the palm is turned away from the swimmer. The hand is then
lowered into the water thumb first, this is called “catching the
water”.
Step 2 – Pulling: The pull is a semicircle movement from the water
level to the chest. The arm is kept straight and the hand points
towards the body center and downward.
Step 3 – Pushing: The push is the completion of the pull, the swimmers
arm is pulled back up to the waters level. The palm is moved backward
through the water underneath the body at the beginning and at the side
of the body at the end of the push.
Step 4 – Recovery: The recovery moves the elbow in a semicircle in the
swimming direction. The lower arm and the hand are completely relaxed
and hang down from the elbow. The recovering hand moves forward, just
above the surface of the water. During the recovery the shoulder is
moved into the air by twisting the torso. It is important to relax the
arm during the recovery as having your hand higher than your elbow
will result in drag and loss of balance.
Step 5 – Kicking: The legs move alternately, with one leg kicking
downward while the other leg moves upward. Ideally, there are 6 kicks
per cycle. The leg movement is important for stabilizing the body
position. The leg in the initial position bends slightly at the knees,
and then kicks the lower leg and foot downwards. After the kick the
straight leg moves back up. Try not to kick too much out of the water.
Step 6 – Breathing: The face is kept down in the water during front
crawl. Breathing is done through the mouth by turning the head to the
side of a recovering arm at the beginning of the recovery. The head is
rotated back at the end of the recovery and points down in the water
again. The swimmer breathes out through mouth and nose until the next
breath. Most swimmers take one breath every third arm recovery,
alternating the sides for breathing. Other swimmers instead take a
breath every cycle so they can always breathe from the same side.
Step 6 – Turn and Finish: A tumble turn can be used to reverse
directions in minimal time. The swimmer swims close to the wall as
quickly as possible. In the swimming position with one arm forward and
one arm to the back, the swimmer does not recover one arm, but rather
uses the pull/push of the other arm to start the tumble. At the end of
the tumble the feet are at the wall, and the swimmer is on their back
with their hands over the head. The swimmer then pushes off the wall
while turning sideways to lie on the breast. After a brief gliding
phase, the swimmer starts with a flutter kick before surfacing,
usually around 15 m from the wall.
Step 7 – Finish: For the finish the swimmer has to touch the wall with
any body part, usually the hand. All competitive swimmers sprint to
the finish, usually taking fewer breaths than normal.

Side Stroke
 So named because the swimmer lies on one's side with asymmetric
arm and leg motion and it is helpful as a lifesaving technique
and is often used for long-distance swimming.

 Allows the swimmer increased endurance because, instead of

working both arms and legs simultaneously in the same way, the
side stroke uses them simultaneously but differently
Side stroke steps:
• Stand in the water, and then turn your body to the side with one
arm under the water, and the other on top. Your top arm should be down
by your thigh, while your lead arm extends out in front of your body
in the water.
• Push off with your legs, keeping them close together. Your leg
motion will be like scissors, with one leg going forward while the
other goes back, and then switching. While your legs are kicking, your
lead arm should push down into the water, drawing toward the body and
then back out.
•Keep the hand of your lead arm turned with the palm facing out in
front of your body and a little downward.
•While the lead arm pulls your body forward, the power of the
sidestroke really comes from the legs. The more powerful they are, the
faster you will swim.

Elementary Backstroke
• A basic swimming technique that is easy to learn and therefore
useful for improving your water confidence as a beginner.

Elementary backstroke steps:

• To begin, you’ll have to face upwards. While bending your
elbows, draw your hands from the side of your body. Extend
your hands to full length at armpit height.

• Push your hands downwards via the water; this will in effect
propel your body through the water. You will be able to move
on the water using this movement and incorporate it with leg
movement.

• The elementary back stroke involves you drawing your knees up

and out while the heels are touching, then you should stretch
out your legs to the sides thus pushing you through the water.

• Lastly you should bring your legs straight together in order

to start the next movement. This movement allows you to avoid
wetting your face, breathing freely and being able to freely
move in the water.

Breast Stroke
• One of the four competitive racing strokes characterized by the
distinctive frog-like kick and undulating motion.

Breaststroke Steps / Technique:

Step 1 - Leg Movement: From the initial position move your feet and
legs together, like a frog would. Simply bend your knees and lift your
feet up as far as your posterior. Turn your feet out in preparation
for pushing back with the bottom of your foot. Move your feet out and
in again to meet each other, and straighten your legs with your knees
touching. It is a good idea to practice this movement at the side of
the pool, by holding onto a support rail with your legs stretched out
behind you.
Step 2 - Arm Movement: Start out by placing your arms out in front
just under the surface of the water. With your palms facing outwards
push both hands out and around as if drawing a full circle. Your hands
finish by stretching forwards again. Your arms and legs should stay in
the water all of the time and you shouldn't splash when doing the
stroke correctly.
Step 3 - Breathing: The reason breaststroke is so popular among
recreational swimmers is that breathing is achieved easily. When you
have mastered the leg and arm movements you will notice that your head
starts to lift naturally at the end of the cycle. When this occurs
simply lift your face out of the water and take a breath in through
your mouth. Put your face back into the water breathing out through
your nose and mouth, as you stretch your arms forward to begin the
circle again.
Step 4 - The last step is to put the stroke together, so pull your
arms and breathe in while pushing your legs back and stretching out
with your body level in the water.

Mechanics of Survival Skills

Treading water
  a swimmer can do while in a vertical position to keep their head
above the surface of the water, while not providing sufficient
directional thrust to overcome inertia and propel the swimmer in
any specific direction. As it expands less energy than
traditional strokes, it is often used by swimmers to rest between
periods of exertion without having to leave the water.

Backstroke
 Backstroke is swum on the back.

 The arms execute alternating movements: while one arm sweeps

underwater from an overhead position backward to the hips,
the other arm recovers above water from the hips to the
overhead position, and vice versa.
  The legs do a flutter kick: they move upward and downward in
alternation, with some flexion at the hips and knees, and
with feet pointed.

Breaststroke
 A swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and
the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular
recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of
the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be
swum comfortably at slow speeds. In most swimming classes,
beginners learn either the breaststroke or the freestyle
(front crawl) first.
Freestyle
 the arms mimic a windmill. Bring your right arm out of the
water by your hip and rotate it upward. Reach forward with
the arm and reenter it into the water in front of you with
an open palm. As your right arm is out of the water, your
left arm is submerged, pushing water backward with the palm.
The left arm rotates downward from where it entered the
water, back to your hip. As your right arm begins to come
out of the water, rotate your head out of the water as well
and inhale. This action also can be performed on the left
side. Kick your legs up and down in quick succession during
the freestyle. The legs typically are not in sync with the
arms and kick at a faster rate than the arms are stroking.
Butterfly
 The butterfly requires that your arms move in sync with each
other. Instead of only one arm rotating forward, as is the
case in freestyle, both arms are brought out of the water
and rotated through the air at the same time. Take a deep
breath when your arms are reaching forward, as your head
will be submerged once your arms hit the water and rotate
downward. The legs move in sync as well. Keep your legs
together and kick backward as hard as you can as your arms
are reaching forward. Kick them again when the arms are
submerged. You should kick your legs twice during one
butterfly stroke.
Theory of
Survival
and
 Mechanics of
Different
Survival Skills

Pacure, Florenell Faith V.

CE 1A