I’ve encountered a few students who sank when they were swimming.
This “sinking” often happened right after they took their breath while they were swimming.
There are a few reasons why this “sinking” happened particularly after taking a breath during swimming.
1. RAISING ONESELF TOO HIGH DURING TAKING BREATH.
What I always share with my students is that when raising oneself to take in their breath, it is best to either raise oneself with the water just right under their chin or at the most their shoulders.
When students raised their chest above the water, and when they get back into water, their body dropped deeper into the pool.
2. RUSHING TO COME OUT OF THE WATER TO INHALE AIR.
What we teach in our classes is to relax when breathing and swimming.
Rushing to inhale air doesn’t really help at all. Because rushing to inhale air will cause less time to breath in air and their body dropped faster too.
Often I see students who raised themselves too high are also rushing to take their next breath.
3. TENSE BODY.
Tense body happened when students aren’t relaxed during their swim.I find that when students are tense somehow their body is heavier and therefore prone to sinking.
The moment students are relaxed, they float despite having heavier legs.
4. HEAVY LEGS. I find this is common among students who are doing sports involving feet such as running. Possibly the legs have less fat, more muscle, and higher density from doing impact sports.
Now how to deal with sinking when swimming.
1. THE BIG THING THAT I WANT TO STRESS HERE IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU SINK AND TO NOT MAKE YOUR SINKING WRONG.
You need to keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with sinking or being a sinker.
Sure being a sinker has its own challenges.
Sinking while swimming doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.
What’s needed is for you to add one or two movements to help you float.
I admit it’s a lot easier to learn to swim when you’re a floater.
2. PRACTICE BEING COMFORTABLE SINKING.
I know that sounds weird.
But the moment you accept that you sink and you are comfortable with sinking, learning to swim becomes a lot easier because your mind isn’t busy making sinking wrong.
Then you’ll start to work with the techniques we teach.
3. KICK AFTER BREATHING.
This is a trick that I teach my students who sink after they take their breath.
I ask them to kick after they take their breath regardless whether they are doing alternate or simultaneous movements.
Most are able to float on the surface of water after 1 strong kick.
And there are those who needed to kick twice or even three times for them to float again.
What doesn’t help at all during learning and experiencing sinking is the question why do I sink.
I personally feel it’s pointless to ask that question.
Because the answer to that question is a dead end. It doesn’t provide solution to solve the sinking “problem”.
Instead, it’s best to focus on the techniques such as how to breath calmly and effortlessly during your swim instead of rushing to inhale air, or practice kicking powerfully or work on your form and also practice the right techniques so you can swim relax.
I see in my classes, those who are relaxed during swimming tend to grasp the techniques fast. These are the students who often able to swim at the deeper side of the pool and also crossing the 50 meter pool after their 4th session with us.
I get it, by reading this post, it’s most likely isn’t enough to address the sinking “problems” that some of my students experience especially without supervision and proper guidance.
It would be good to have live sessions with us so we can give feedback on how you can improve your swim.
If you've decided to give the tips above a try, all the best.
Hayatti Rahgeni The Effortless Swim Team