The pitfalls to avoid to swim without risking drinking the cup

In breaststroke as in front crawl, certain rules can promote long-term physical condition and health with Lifeguard Training. Rely on the advice of our specialist to keep your head above water, at the pool, at the lake or at the sea!

• Learn the right technique
• Muscle building with breaststroke and crawl
• The panoply of the perfect swimmer
• Safe swimming in the pool, lake and sea
• The ideal water temperature for swimmers
• The ideal diet for swimmers

While it has no access to the sea, Switzerland is nevertheless a country of swimmers! This is in any case what emerges from this statistic: according to the “Sport Suisse 2020” survey of the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO), almost 40% of Swiss swim regularly – a sufficient figure for the discipline to arrive third in the ranking of the most popular sports in the country, behind hiking and cycling. Marius Frey, swimming instructor at the School-Club for almost 30 years, confirms this: “Swimming remains a very popular sporting activity! But today, we can almost speak of a boom. The enthusiasm continues to grow.”

Overcome your fear of water

The stated objective of the École-club trainers is to ensure that course participants are “like fish in water”. And this can be learned: to swim well, you must first overcome your fear of water , explains the instructor. “Many adults have never really been used to water and are afraid of it, so they struggle with it rather than work with it. Consider water as a training partner. A good familiarization is therefore essential, and this is also the main focus of the first courses for beginners.

Learn the right technique

Once you are familiar with the water, you can move on to the next step, which is to acquire the technique. The three main strokes are breaststroke, front crawl and backstroke. Marius Frey explains their respective issues to us.

The breaststroke

To master the technique of the breaststroke, a good familiarization with the water is particularly important. Because during the gliding phase, the face is under water. We take the opportunity to exhale while we inhale when we resurface. If you always keep your head above water while swimming, you are stretching your neck excessively backwards and it could be painful.

the front crawl

In terms of endurance and physical condition, the crawl is more demanding than the breaststroke. The rhythm is faster and the body is always in motion. However, from solid ground, this alternation of arm movements seems rather simple. The arms are kept as close to the body as possible, elbows raised forward. But it's all under the surface, and it takes a lot of strength. The position of the head is crucial: if it is too high or too low, it leads to excessive frontal resistance. The gaze is permanently directed to the side, downwards. Kicking provides a slight push and stabilizes the body, minimizing hip wobble. Too much rotational movement harms the waterline.

The backstroke

A flexible posture of the head with the gaze directed upwards at the transverse is essential for a good posture, stable and relaxed in the water. The advantage with the backstroke is that the nose and mouth always stay out of the water, unlike the other two swimming styles mentioned. When the arm is extended, it is the little finger that enters the water first. When exerting pressure underwater, the elbows form an angle of approximately 90°C. The arms are then brought back, tense but flexible, passing above the shoulders. But beware! The hips should not sag (you should not “sit” in the water), otherwise the whole body will sink and it is impossible to continue swimming.

Muscle building with breaststroke and crawl

Swimming is an excellent , extremely complete fitness workout . It combines strength, endurance, coordination and technique. All major muscle groups are called upon: we use our arms to keep us on the surface of the water, the musculature of the trunk allows us to stabilize ourselves and improve our posture, while the thighs and gluts are responsible for the powerful kicking of the legs . The morphology of experienced swimmers testifies to this: their back muscles often form a typical V, and their torso and shoulders are generally very developed.

Our calorie and BMI calculators

Speaking of calories: in addition to promoting muscle development, swimming also helps shed unwanted pounds. The number of calories burned with swimming is between that of running and cycling, and it is even a little higher with the crawl. How long does it take for me to swim to get rid of the ice cream or sausage I ate in the pool? You will find the answer in the following graphic!