Swimming and Diving

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Competitive swimming and diving can take a lot of work, but you can get better if you keep trying. Competitive swimming and diving isn't for everyone, but just give it a try!

You can never be to old or to young to start competitive swimming and diving. The recommended ages to start competitive swimming at are ages 8-12. You can start diving when you feel ready and have someone to teach you. Don't try to dive by yourself if you don't have someone experienced watching because you could get really hurt. Once you now you can swim, it doesn't matter what age you start.

Introduction Chapter 1- Equipment Chapter 2- Safety Chapter 3- Rules Chapter 4- Strokes Chapter 5- Types of Dives Chapter 6- Age to Start Conclusion

Competitive swimming and diving are great sports to do if you love the water. Swimming and diving takes a lot of work, but it can be fun. You need some equipment, you need to know safety, rules, strokes, and types of dives.

Team USA. United States Olympic Committee, 2019, www.teamusa.org/USA-Diving/About-Us/Diving-101/Types-of-Dives. Usadiver. usadiver.com, 2000-2002, www.usadiver.com/dd_table.htm. Tateswim. tateswim, 2016, www.tateswim.com.au/new-blog/2016/11/1/is-my-child-ready-to-start-competitive-swimming. Pixabay. pixbay, 2019, pixabay.com/images/search/swimmers/. Pxhere. pxhere, pxhere.com/en/photo/905274. Wikimedia. wikimedia, 13 May 2018, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MGS_Swimming_Pool.jpg.

                                      Strokes

There are 4 major types of strokes. They are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Freestyle is the first stroke you will learn and one of the easiest. The first step is learning how to kick your legs up and down. Start by holding onto the side of the pool and kick. Next, they need to learn how to move their arms. You want fingers closed and arms to go out of the water. One goes then the other goes when the first one hits the water. The last step is breathing.  Start by holding on to the side of the pool and putting their head in the water and moving it up and to the side. Now put them all together and you can do freestyle. Butterfly is the hardest stroke for most people. Your legs have to move together as one. Your arms are lifted out of the water and extended. Your palms are down  and ahead of the body. For breathing, when you are bringing your arms out of the water bring your head too. When you put them all together, it may be tricky at first, but after sometime you will get it right. These tips from 2 of the strokes will help you do them correctly.

There are 6 groups of dives and 4 body positions. The groups are froward, backward, reverse, inward, twisting, and armstand. The four body positions are pike, tuck, straight, and free. There are 251 types of dives. Some examples are, forward dive with 3 1/2 somersaults in a pike position, reverse dive with 2 1/2 somersaults in a tuck position, and back dive with 2 1/2 somersaults and 1 1/2  twists in a pike position. Diving can be fun but it's not for everyone.

For swimming and diving you will need some equipment. You will need goggles, 2 swim caps (one for practice, one for meet), towel, nose plug (optional), water, and a bathing suit. The kind of goggles you should get are Swedish goggles. They are the best rated and are very strong. You should get two swim caps. For practice you can pick you own, but for meets your coach gets to pick your swim cap. Some brand options are Speedo Silicone Solid, Speedo Silicone Long Hair, Tyr Wrinkle Free Silicone, the Speedo Solid Latex, the Tyr Lycra, and the Friendly Swede Silicone Long Hair.

For towels, you can use your own or you can go get one that is just for swim. Some are Arena Micro-fiber, Tyr Dryoff Sport, Flow, and Speedo towel. Nose clips are optional. They help you keep the water out of your nose. Options are Speedo Liquid Comfort, Speedo Competition, Tyr Ergo, Blupond, FINIS, Arena, Cress; Swim accessories, and Aquasphere. You might want a water to drink because you will most likely get tired. The last thing you need is a bathing suit. Some brands are Speedo and Tyr. Equipment is a necessity.

Whether or not you think you are a good swimmer you need to be safe. When you are very tired stay out of the water and drink very slowly. Don't eat food or chew gum while swimming. It can cause you to choke. Make sure there is a life guard or an older person who can swim. Don't do a flip turn too close to the wall because you could get a concussion. You should be safe wherever you go, not just in swim.

Everyplace you go to swim has some sort of rules. One rule is long hair should be tied back or put in a swim cap. No horseplay around the pool. Someone could slip and get hurt. Stay out from under or around the diving board when someone is diving. You could get seriously hurt. One person on the diving board at a time when diving. These 4 rules should help you get to know basic rules well swimming and diving.

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