Freestyle

The crawl is the fastest among four swimming styles. It looks easy and seems everybody can swim in this style but in fact, it requires a good control of breath, power and technique in order to increase speed and improve body movement.

First of all, no matter what your hands and legs are doing, you cannot stop breathing. It is perfect to breath once every cycle (which means three strokes) as it matches the time you need to exhale. If you cannot turn your head both sides, then 4 strokes per breath is also OK. Do not strive to turn your head for air as you only need to move your mouth just right above the water to inhale enough air. Over-turning your back will just deviate your body movement and the other side of your body will sink further. Exhale as much as possible in the water because if you keep the air from the last breath, you cannot inhale enough fresh air the next time when you turn your head above the surface.

Do not stop kicking all the way. Kicking is to keep the body balance and to stimulate the cycle of stroke. Keep your waist straight, as it may be hard for some people to keep their hip right on the surface. If your lower body sinks, it means your laps go against water pressure that slows down your speed.

Stroking is the part which requires techniques. At the start of a stroke, head should be 45 degrees ahead and keep your arm straight and parallel to your eye level. Pull your arm towards the body and bend your elbow when it moves near to your chest. Turn pull to push after passing the middle point and push until you reach your lap. Then bend your elbow again when your arm is moving out of the surface, that is the time when your arm rests and therefore do not use force to move it ahead or splash it on the water. Raise your arm forward and plunge first your palm then arm into the water, turn your shoulder and stretch as far as possible.

Overall speaking, do not be afraid that you cannot turn your head enough to inhale, because when you push under your chest, your body flow further and moves forwards and there will be a swirl next to your face formed by your head. The crawl requires continuous fast movement and it is hard to keep the pace and buoyancy if you swim slowly. It is not as tired as people think because the movement spread over your body such as waist and lap, but not only focuses on the strength of arms.