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Marathon swimming (open water) · Basic · b3

Swim straight and head-up sighting

Park or court 10 min 1 and a grown-up Pool or water

Ready when: Breathe both sides and sight (b1) started.

Start a session

What you are learning

Finding out how far you drift with the head down, and head-up front crawl with the eyes on a flag, shortened step by step to a quick look just before a breath. Swimming straight saves distance in a race.

Words on this card Sighting, Drift, Head-up front crawl, Lane line
Sighting
Lifting the eyes just above the water for a moment to see where you are going.
Drift
Swimming off the straight line without noticing.
Head-up front crawl
Front crawl with the head held out of the water and the eyes forward.
Lane line
The floating rope that divides a pool into lanes.

Set up

A lane to yourself; a towel or flag at the far end to sight on.

Weather: a lifeguard on duty

The base setup for marathon swimming (open water)

Show it first for the one teaching

  1. Push off and swim 20 strokes with the head down, then stop and look: how far from the line are you?
  2. Swim 10 strokes with the head out, eyes on the flag.
  3. Swim again, taking only a quick look up just before turning to breathe.

Your part while they practise

Stand at the side and say which way the swimmer drifted.

Step by step

  1. Swim 20 strokes with the head down, stop, and see how far you drifted from the line.
  2. Head-up front crawl: 10 strokes with the head out, eyes on the flag.
  3. Take 2 fewer head-up strokes each round, until it is a quick look just before a breath.

How much: 3 drift swims and 4 head-up rounds 10 min a session 2 days a week

Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.

The game: Guess your drift

Before you look up, say which way you drifted; a point when you are right and close.

Who plays: the swimmer against their own best; you judge from the side.

How to play, turn by turn
Turns
  1. Swim 20 strokes head down along the middle of the lane
  2. Stop and, before looking, say "left", "right" or "straight"
  3. Look: you tell them how far they drifted
  4. 6 swims
Fair play
A grown-up swims 30 strokes.
Points
1 point for the right guess; 1 point for finishing within one lane width of the line.
Fouls
No points for that swim
  • Peeking before the guess
  • Touching the lane line
  • Stopping before 20 strokes
Winning
Beat your best from 6 swims.
Stars
  1. 4 points for 1 star
  2. 8 points for 2 stars
  3. 12 points for 3 stars

Easier or harder

Easier

10 strokes head down.

Harder

Sight every 6 strokes for a full length.

What you will see, and what to say

  • the hips sink when looking Quick look, then breatheLook, then turn to breathe.
  • the swimmer drifts the same way each time Look a little the other wayAim off to correct.
  • the head moves while head-up Head still, eyes on the flagFix the eyes.

Self-check

3

3 head-down swims of 20 strokes that finish within one lane width of the line.

Stop and get a coach when

The swimmer tires or swallows water; rest at the wall.

Fitness for this

Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.

This card trains swimming straight, sighting.

awiseathlete.com/sports/marathon-swimming/marathon-swimming-b3