Mazinaw Lake Swim Program
Bon Echo Park
Level 6
Challenge of the week is: treading water for 1 minute.
Treading water is keeping yourself afloat with a combination of sculling and egg-beater when you cannot touch the bottom. You need to keep your head above the water, and only use your legs to keep you afloat. It is very tricky, but if you are looking for even more of a challenge, try raising your arms straight up out of the water. This will help your legs get stronger to help you stay above water and improve stamina.
(Egg beater: each leg is rotating in opposite directions simultaneously. It will be difficult at first but practice makes perfect! Try it sitting on the edge of a dock or pool first to get the movement familiar)
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Monday, July 5th 2021
Treading water
Practice egg beater
Practice Scissor kick
Scissor kick is another type of kick commonly used in swimming. To do scissor kick, you want to move your legs criss crossing like a scissor. You’ll float on your side with one arm up with your ear resting on it and the other arm will stay at your side. Then, one leg will go forward and one leg will go back. Then at the same time bring them together where they meet in the middle. Once you do that keep going!
One way to practice is getting a yoga mat and laying on the ground. You’ll lay on your side and practice the form and the movement of the kicks. It may feel weird- but it is very helpful.
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If you have a sibling, you can try and challenge one another to see who can do it the longest. If not, even challenging your parents may be fun. It will be a friendly competition and will get the whole family joining in.
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Tuesday, July 6th 2021
Treading water
Practice front crawl
Practice back crawl
Front crawl is when you’re in water where you can’t touch the bottom. You will be on your stomach in the water. You will have your face in the water and you’ll be doing flutter kick. With your arms it will be a crawl like motion. When one arm is entering the water the other arm is being pulled back. You’ll want to time your breathing with your arm movement. When you breathe you’ll look to the side without taking your head out. You’ll breath and stick your face back in the water.
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July 7th 2021
treading water
practice egg beater
distance swim
we have already practiced egg beater this week but it is a very important skill in the bronze levels. Another way to practice is to sit somewhere you legs can dangle. Then just practice the leg movements and it will help with muscle memory. The more you practice the faster it will feel more natural.
to start off the year the distance swim will be 50 meters without stopping. the further into the lessons we will add more to the length. the reason why we are starting at 50 is because we want to build the endurance up. Have fun!
July 8th 2021
treading water
stride dive
dives
A stride dive is where you are jumping into the water where you cannot touch. You will jump of the dock or side of a pool and while you jump your arms will be straight out to the side. Once you hit the water you will want to pull your arms together in a straight line. Another way to think about it is once you hit the water to clap your hands together.
The goal of a stride dive is to keep your head from going under the water. A good way to practice is to tie a pool noodle on your head. If you do it properly the noodle should not pop off.
To dive you want to have water where you cannot touch the bottom if you jump in normally. You will stand at the edge of what you are jumping off of. You will put both your arms over your ears so you fingers touch above your head. When you jump you will have to kind of flip your body in a way so your hands and head will hit the water first and your legs and feet hit last. It is a very difficult thing to do so the more practice the better!
July 9th 2021
treading water
front crawl
back crawl
Front crawl is when you’re in water where you can’t touch the bottom. You will be on your stomach in the water. You will have your face in the water and you’ll be doing flutter kick. With your arms it will be a crawl like motion. When one arm is entering the water the other arm is being pulled back. You’ll want to time your breathing with your arm movement. When you breathe you’ll look to the side without taking your head out. You’ll breath and stick your face back in the water.