THE START

You won’t need to learn how to execute a start unless you choose to swim in competition. So if you are swimming solely to improve your health and fitness, you may want to skip this section.

A word of caution: as you practice your starts, make sure you dive into deep water—at least seven feet. Beginners often dive too deep. To avoid injury it is important to give yourself plenty of room for error.

Fast starts are an important part of competitive swimming. A good start can give you an advantage of one or two feet over your competition before the first stroke is taken, sometimes providing the margin of victory in a tight race.

In freestyle, as in breaststroke and butterfly, the start is made out of the water from a starting block. (The backstroke start, explained in Chapter 8, is made in the water.) There are a number of starting techniques. Here I will concentrate on the most widely used: the grab start (see Figure 7.8).

After mounting the block, curl your toes over the front edge, placing your feet at about hip width. Then, when the starter says, “Take your mark,” curl your fingers around the front edge of the starting block. Your hands can be placed either between your feet or outside them, whichever feels more comfortable. Bend your knees slightly, and move your center of gravity forward without losing your balance.

Concentrate on listening for the starting signal, usually a gun or horn. As soon as you hear the signal, snap your hands forward and push off the block with your feet. Do not make a winding motion with your hands!

The key to a successful start is to minimize the resistance you make when you enter the water. A big splash means a lot of resistance. So try to enter the water cleanly, with your body diving through the hole your hands made when they entered.

 Keep yourself in a streamlined position, head between your arms, as in the flip turn. Begin kicking vigorously, and angle yourself toward the surface of the water. After about three seconds you will surface, ready to take your first stroke.