The document discusses five basic swimming skills: breathing, gliding, coordination, breaststroke, and diving. It explains the techniques for each skill, such as timing breaths while swimming, gliding through the water by pushing off the wall, coordinating limb movements, and the motions for breaststroke. The document also covers basic rules for swimming strokes, noting that officials observe for infractions like incorrect kicks or strokes that could result in disqualification.

1. Basic Rules and SkillsBasic Rules and Skills
in Swimmingin Swimming

2. Five Basic Skills in SwimmingFive Basic Skills in Swimming

3. Breathing
• An often overlooked basic skill in swimming is the
ability to time your breaths. If you're not
comfortable breathing while swimming, you'll
struggle to make streamlined, coordinated
movements. The basic idea involves breathing out
through both nose and mouth when your head is
underwater, then lift your head to the side,
taking a full breath before plunging your face
back down under the surface. In his book
"Swimming: Steps to Success," David G. Thomas
suggests practicing this motion when holding onto
the side of the pool with your arms outstretched.

5. Gliding
• Gliding through the water is a basic skill to
master before you even consider kicking and
paddling, according to swimming instructor Ian
Cross, speaking to "The Guardian." Gliding helps
you to get used to the sensation of moving
through the water headfirst. Try gently pushing
off the side wall of the pool with your arms
stretched out in front of your head. Keep your
head face-down in the water and glide until you
slow down.

7. Coordination
• Beginner swimmers often find themselves messily
chopping through the water with their limbs.
That's fine. It takes a while to get a feel for
moving your limbs in time. You must also get used
to moving muscles in your lower back, abdomen
and hips to power you forward. Similarly, try to
let your legs come up behind your body, and keep
a slim, streamlined position. Over time, this
reduces drag from the water and makes you a
more efficient swimmer.

9. Breaststroke
• Once you feel confident with basic swimming
techniques, mastering a specific stroke is your
next challenge. Breaststroke, while requiring
slightly more coordination than front crawl,
offers a stable, gentle stroke that's ideal for
beginners. To do the breaststroke, you need to
stay straight at the water's surface, holding your
head up. Pull your arms in together with the hands
almost touching. As your hands reach your chest,
bend your knees and lift your feet up in a frog-
like shape with the soles of your feet pointed out
to each side. Push back with your legs and reach
forward with your hands simultaneously. This
double-propulsion should help you surge through
the water.

11. Diving
• Diving into the pool is a basic swimming skill --
even if it starts out of the water. Always practice
diving in a deep pool with a lifeguard on duty.
When you begin, diving may only involve putting
your hands together above your head and gently
curling your body forward toward the water until
you fall in, headfirst. As you progress, try jumping
slightly and straightening your legs behind you as
you dive to enter the water smoothly.

13. Basic Rules for swimmingBasic Rules for swimming

14. A Rules Primer
• The technical rules of swimming are
designed to provide fair and equitable
conditions of competition and to promote
uniformity in the sport. Each swimming
stroke has specific rules designed to
ensure that no swimmer gets an unfair
competitive advantage over another
swimmer.

15. • Trained officials observe the swimmers
during each event to ensure compliance
with these technical rules. If a swimmer
commits an infraction of the rules that is
observed by an offical, a disqualification
(DQ) will result. This means that the
swimmer will not receive an official time
and will not be eligible for an award in that
event.
• A disqualification may result from actions
such as not getting to the starting blocks
on time, false starting, performing strokes
in an illegal manner, or unsportsman­like
conduct.

16. DQs are also a result of technical rules
violations.
They include but are not limited to:
• Freestyle: Walking on the bottom,
pulling on the lane rope, not touching
the wall on a turn, or not completing
the distance.

17. • Backstroke: Pulling or kicking into
the wall once a swimmer has turned
passed the vertical onto the breast.
Turning onto the breast before
touching the wall with the hand at
the finish of the race.

18. • Breaststroke: An illegal kick such as
flutter (freestyle), dolphin (butterfly), or
scissors (side stroke); not on the breast;
alternating movements of the arms; taking
two arm strokes or two leg kicks while the
head is under water; touching with only one
hand at the turns or finish.

19. • Butterfly: Alternating movements of
the arms or legs; pushing the arms
forward under instead of over the
water surface (underwater
recovery); a breaststroke style of
kick; touching with only one hand at
the turns or finish.

20. Thank you for Listening
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