Freestyle, or crawl, swimming is the fastest stroke, since it combines leg propulsion with a streamlined profile and arms pulling to add speed. Head turns and breathing properly during freestyle laps is key to an efficient stroke. An ideal stroke consists of minimum loss of forward momentum by keeping the body in a straight line.
Rotations Start At Hip Level
During the ideal freestyle stroke, the legs kick, generating force in the hips, which is transmitted along the torso. This force is aided by the arms rotating at the shoulder. Since humans have to take breaths to keep the oxygen flowing, it is necessary to get the mouth out of the water to take a breath. This should happen with minimal sideways motion, and be in sync with arms pulling toward the bottom of the pool.
Swim With Head And Neck Flat
During the leg kick forward motion of the stroke, the head should be flat, the spine straight. The face is down, eyes looking at the bottom of the lane. Every two or three strokes, breathing is necessary. Alternating sides to breathe is best. Drills can be performed at the end of a lane, keeping the face in the water, kicking and then rotating the head just enough to get a dry breath.
Timing Breaths With Arm Pulls
The arms will alternate during each stroke. The arm in front stretches the serratus anterior muscle, then contracts it as the arm moves downward in the water. As the hand goes into the water, rotate along the axis of the spine, taking advantage of the power of the serratus anterior muscle. The head will tilt up laterally, with the cheek opposite the pulling arm coming out of the water. A good arm pull and rotation will provide enough momentum to get the mouth and one nostril out of the water with no effort on the part of neck muscles.
Flip Turns
At the end of the lane, tuck the chin in toward the chest, face looking down at the lane end T-marker. The head does not rotate at all while in the tucked position during the flip. Coming out of the turn, when the legs push off the end and the torso straightens, the head once again is aligned with a straight spine, ready for the next pull-rotate-breath combination.
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