Swimming Strokes

Introduction & Assessment

Swimming is one of the best full-body skills you can have — and Utah has tons of places to use it, from the pools at the Steiner Aquatic Center in Salt Lake City to open water at Bear Lake up north. Before you dive into technique, figure out where you are right now. Jump in a pool and swim one lap of freestyle without stopping. Note how far you got, how your breathing felt, and what felt awkward. Watch a short video on the four competitive strokes — freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly — just to see what they look like at full speed. You do not need to do them yet, just get a mental picture. Ask a lifeguard or coach to watch you swim and give one honest piece of feedback. You're ready for the next step when you can describe the four competitive strokes and identify at least one thing you want to improve in your current freestyle.

Foundation Building

Now learn the anatomy of a good freestyle stroke. The three things that matter most are your body position (flat and horizontal, not angled down), your breathing rhythm (exhale underwater, quick inhale to the side — not straight up), and your kick (loose ankles, kick from the hip, not the knee). Practice each piece separately: kick drills with a kickboard, catch-up drill for arm timing, and side-drill breathing. The Steiner Aquatic Center offers affordable drop-in swim times and sometimes free open lanes for youth. USA Swimming has free drill videos at usaswimming.org. Write down what clicked and what still feels off. You're ready for the next step when you can swim one full lap of freestyle with a steady breathing pattern and a relatively flat body position.

Skill Development

Time to add strokes. Spend this week on backstroke and breaststroke. Backstroke key points: stay flat, keep hips up, and rotate your body slightly with each arm pull — do not just windmill your arms. Your eyes look straight up. Breaststroke is all about timing: pull, breathe, kick, glide — in that exact order. The glide at the end is where most beginners rush and lose efficiency. Practice at least 30 minutes in the pool per session, three sessions this week. Drill each stroke broken into pieces before putting it all together. Bring a water-resistant notebook or use waterproof sticky notes to jot what you want to fix before you leave the pool deck. You're ready for the next step when you can swim one full lap of both backstroke and breaststroke with correct timing and basic body position.

Practice & Refinement

Now tackle butterfly — the hardest stroke — and start putting all four together. Butterfly is a dolphin kick plus a simultaneous arm pull. Start by mastering the undulating body motion with just your legs (dolphin kick drills). Then add the arm pull: both arms sweep out and back at the same time. The timing is: kick as your arms enter the water, kick again as your arms exit. It takes repetition to feel natural — that is completely normal. After each butterfly practice, swim a set of all four strokes in order (called an Individual Medley or IM). You're building endurance and stroke memory at the same time. You're ready for the next step when you can swim a 100-meter Individual Medley (25m each stroke) without stopping, even if butterfly feels rough.

Challenge Mode

Speed and efficiency are your targets now. Learn about Drag and Propulsion — every wasted movement in the water slows you down. Focus on streamline position off every wall: arms locked overhead, hands stacked, head tucked between your biceps. Time yourself on a 50m freestyle and try to beat it by the end of the week using technique improvements, not just harder effort. Practice flip turns for freestyle and backstroke — a clean turn can shave seconds off your time. If your pool allows it, challenge yourself with open-water conditions at Jordanelle Reservoir or Bear Lake, where currents and waves make everything harder. You're ready for the next step when you can execute a proper flip turn and have reduced your 50m freestyle time using a technique change you can identify and explain.

Mastery Demonstration

Now demonstrate what you know — and give back. Swim a timed 200m Individual Medley (50m of each stroke in order). Record your time and film it if possible so you can review your own technique. Then teach a basic swimming skill to someone who is less experienced than you — help a younger sibling or friend with freestyle breathing, or demonstrate correct body position to a peer. Submit a swimming log covering at least four weeks, your 200m IM time, and a short written reflection on how your technique changed from start to finish. Bonus: sign up for a local swim meet through Salt Lake City Recreation or look into youth programs at the Steiner Aquatic Center. You're ready for the next step when you have completed your 200m IM, submitted your training log, and taught at least one skill to another swimmer.