The base at home, the sport at a club

Artistic swimming at home

A pool and a coach; at home, sculling, counting to music and shapes on land.

3 cards at home 6 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

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New to artistic swimming? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.

The sport in short: Swimmers perform a routine to music in a pool, alone, in pairs or in a team. They move together exactly on the beat, often upside down with the legs out of the water, holding themselves up with small hand movements and strong kicks.
How it is judged: Judges give marks for how hard the moves are, how well they are done, and how the routine looks and fits the music. Young swimmers also perform set positions called figures, one at a time, in front of judges.
How swimmers improve: Clubs follow grade schemes. A swimmer passes a grade by showing set skills to a coach, then moves to the next one.
Rules children learn first: Nobody is ever alone in the water; an adult watches every second.
No breath-holding games or contests: take a full breath before going under and breathe out under water.
Counting matters: every move happens on a count of the music.
At home is land work only: Sculling with paper, body shapes on a mat, counting to music and gentle flexibility. Everything in the water is learnt at a pool with a coach.

Words you will hear (21, in plain language)

Sculling: Small, quick movements of the hands, like drawing an 8 lying on its side, that press on the water to hold a swimmer up or move them along.
Eggbeater: A kick where the legs circle one after the other, like a whisk, to keep the body high in the water without touching the floor.
Routine: A whole performance to music, planned move by move.
Figures: Set positions and movements done one at a time in front of judges, such as the ballet leg.
8 counts: Counting the music "1 to 8" and starting again. Every move is planned on these counts.
Unison: Moving at exactly the same moment as the others.
Long arrow: The body stretched long: arms overhead, legs together, toes pointed.
Star: Arms and legs spread wide.
Tuck: Knees pulled up to the chest, body small.
Pike: Legs straight and together, body folded at the hips.
Ballet leg: Lying on the back with one straight leg lifted up toward the ceiling or the sky.
Back layout: Lying flat and still on the water, face up or face down, held up by sculling.
Star float: Floating on the back with arms and legs spread wide.
Glide: Pushing off the wall and travelling long and still through the water.
Boost: A fast rise out of the water, head first, driven by the legs.
Torpedo scull: A sculling movement with the hands above the head that moves the swimmer feet first.
Spin: Turning around in an upright position, upside down, with the legs out of the water.
Lift: A team move where swimmers push one swimmer up out of the water.
Nose clip: A small clip that closes the nose so water does not go up it.
Split: Sitting with one leg straight in front and the other straight behind.
Grade: A level in a club's test scheme.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.

Basic 4 cards · show· hide The child is happy with water on the face, floats in a few shapes, learns the sculling hand movement on land and in water and counts to music. National federations run figure and routine grade schemes; ask the club which one it tests.

Move on when the child can do the sculling and eggbeater tasks the coach sets for Grade 1.

Intermediate 3 cards · show· hide Routine skills trained one at a time: the eggbeater kick for a set time, the head-first boost, the torpedo scull, spins and turns, then the figures for competition age. These match the middle grades of a federation's scheme.

Move on when the coach confirms a clean pass at the next grade.

Advanced 2 cards · show· hide Technical routines, high lifts and throws, perfect unison. These match the top grades of a club's scheme, and the coach sets the difficulty.

Teaching this at home

Movement, safety and the words at home. The sport itself needs water, a boat, a horse or a coach.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.