SWIMMING

   

   -         art of self-support or self-movement by means of hands and feet in or on the water

   -         a valuable tool in physical therapy as it fully uses many muscles of the body

   

   1.      TECHNIQUES

   -         psychological barrier must be reduced (the earlier the better)

   -         crawl – freestyle, developed in 1870s; alternating arm backstroke, first used 1912;
   breaststroke – known since the 17^th century; butterfly – 1930s; sidestroke – now used only in
   noncompetitive swimming

   

   CRAWL

   -         one of the arms moves through the air, palm downward, as the other arm pulls back
   under the water

   -         legs move in the flutter kick – up and down movement of the hips

   -         2-8 kick strokes per single arm movement

   -         one full breath in each arm cycle, inhale by turning the head to the side, exhaling
   underwater

   

   BACKSTROKE

   -         the crawl stroke but with the back turned to the water

   -         arm is lifted and brought up behind the head while the other arm pulls the body
   through he water

   -         the legs flutter kick

   

   BREASTSTROKE

   -         the swimmer lies front down, arms pointed straight ahead with palms down

   -         the arms are swept backward, the legs are drawn up close to the body

   -         the legs thrust outward as the arms are brought back to the starting point

   -         the swimmer exhales underwater

   

   BUTTERFLY

   -         both arms are brought forward together over the water and brought backward
   simultaneously

   -         the legs kick a whiplike downward motion

   

   SIDESTROKE

   -         helpful as a lifesaving technique or for long-distance swimming

   -         head remains constantly above the water

   -         the swimmer lies on either side of the body

   

   2.      COMPETITIONS

   -         meets – competition between two teams or amongst several teams

   -         relay races – teams consist of four swimmers who race in turn

   -         medley – all four types of competition strokes must be used, each competitor must
   swim equal distance in each stroke