Starts and turns

A swimmer’s performance in a race partly depends on the skill used in starting the race and in turning at the end of each lap. At the start of a freestyle, breaststroke, or butterfly race, a swimmer gains time by diving as far as possible through the air before hitting the water. In these races, swimmers dive off a raised starting platform. In backstroke events, they begin in the water with their back to the lane. They hold onto a starting block attached to the end of the pool. At the starting signal, with their back slightly arched, the swimmers use both feet to push off from the pool's end as forcibly as possible. Most swimmers today use the “grab start”. It has all but replaced the older “wind-up start”.

The grab start

1. The Ready Position: The swimmer stands at the back of the top of the starting platform. When there is no platform, the swimmer stands at the ready one step back from the edge of the pool.

2. “Take Your Marks”: On this command, the swimmer steps forward without delay and places his or her feet about hip-width apart at the front edge, toes curled over the edge. Once the feet are planted firmly, the swimmer bends forward and places her hands either inboard or outboard of the feet and grasps the front edge. Note that this requires the upper body to come down close to the thighs. The head should be tucked even lower, near, or between, the knees. The legs remain relatively straight, and the hips remain high (the swimmer does NOT crouch – a common mistake by beginners).

3. The Take Off: On hearing the gun the swimmer tips her whole body briskly forward (not lower, NOT into a crouch) with the help a sudden tug of her hands and arms (hence “grab start”). Note that the head is driven lower, between the knees. At this point the “jack-knife” is complete and the swimmer is ready to explode into the lunge of the dive. It is the grab and the tipping of the body that makes the start faster from the gun than the wind-up start.

4. The Flight: Once committed, the knees bend through a few more degrees as the hands release their grip on the starting edge. The swimmer launches herself out over the water into a somewhat upward flight path. The swimmer unwinds, as it were, like a bunched-up leopard springing. The arms simply let go and move forward as illustrated. The whole action is one of diving out and over an imaginary fence a yard or two in front of, and a foot or two higher than, the starting edge.

At the “top” of the dive the thrust of the arms is stopped abruptly They shape for the entry and point downward and slightly forward, aiming at the spot where the entry will be made. A still photograph taken at this stage of the flight would show the arms at nearly a right angle to the general line of the body Then, as the swimmer begins to drop toward the water, the body pikes; the torso lines up behind the arms. A photograph would now reveal a grotesque body configuration – certainly not a streamlined shape. The angle that was at the shoulders is now at the hips. But all is not lost. The swimmer “saves” the dive by lifting her legs as she drops. The legs line up behind the torso and arms in time for the entry.

Instructor: This piking feature is a refinement. At first be satisfied if your swimmers execute the grab aspect of the take-off and do an ordinary entry.

5. The Entry and Follow Through: The objective here is to penetrate the water as cleanly as possible, with the least amount of splash, then to slide cleanly below the surface in the direction of the race. To do this the swimmer shapes, angles and curves her whole body to slip through the same “hole” in the surface. Then, by reversing the slight curve of her body the swimmer directs her momentum forward. The curved down-and-up path of this underwater path varies, depending on which stroke is called for. Freestyle swimmers and butterfly swimmers don't want to do as beep, or go as far forward below, as breaststroke swimmers. And even in the same stroke category this depth and distance will vary with the individual; heavily built swimmers may use their greater inertia to advantage and stay below longer than their smaller, lighter competitors.

F

Free “flip” turn

ast turns also save a swimmer time. Freestyle and backstroke swimmers use the flip, or somersault, turn. In this turn, they make an underwater somersault to reverse their direction after touching the end of the pool. Breaststroke and butterfly swimmers use an open turn, in which they keep their head above the water while reversing their direction.

Remember English Metric Conversions

You must know that:

in		inch		дюйм
yd		yard		ярд
Ft		foot		фут
mile		mile		миля

1 in = 2.54 cm

12 in = 1 ft = 30.48 cm

3 ft = 1 yd = 0.914 m

1,760 yd = 1 mile = 1.609 km

Vocabulary and Speech Exercises

Ex. 1. Match the word with its Russian equivalent:

1. pool 2. lane 3. regulation 4. float 5. medley relay 6. medley 7. lap 8. flip turn 9. somersault turn 10. reverse

а) инструкция б) бассейн в) поплавок г) дорожка д) комплексное плавание е) этап ж) поворот переворотом назад з) комбинированная эстафета и) обратный ход к) поворот оборотом вперед согнувшись

Ex. 2. Find English equivalents for the following Russian words and word-combinations:

1. поворот 2. дорожка 3. толчок 4. поплавок 5. инструкция 6. обратный ход 7. оборот вперед согнувшись 8. поворот переворотом назад 9. бассейн 10. судья на линии

a) lane b) hit c) turn d) regulation e) float f) somersault turn g) reverse h) pool i) lane judge j) flip turn

Ex. 3. Read and translate in Russian the following word-combinations:

the FINA, long-course pool, short-course pool, lane, line, front crawl, individual medley, equal distance, individual freestyle races, butterfly event, freestyle relay, medley relay, different strokes, qualifying times, chief official, outside lane, starter's gun, electronic timing and judging system, starting block, starting signal, flip turn, somersault turn, underwater somersault, open turn.

Ex. 4. Look at the picture and make inscriptions:

Swimming pools are divided into lanes for races, one lane for each swimmer. Wall targets, lane lines, and lane markers guide each swimmer. Near each end of the pool, a flag line is hung over the water to warn swimmers in backstroke races that they are approaching the end of the lane.

Ex. 5. Say what you know about:

• kinds of pools;

• long-course pool;

• short-course pool;

• the records the FINA recognize;

• water in a swimming pool;

• swimming competitions;

• starts;

• turns.

Ex. 6. Speak on the topic:

• the FINA;

• the pool at the Olympic Games;

• kinds of races;

• swimmers participation in the competitive swimming;

• the officials at swimming competitions;

• the starts in the race;

• turns in the race.