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“Streamline, streamline, streamline”, if I had a dollar for each time I say this word, I’d be a multi-billionaire at this stage, live in a mansion and have my own private 50 meter pool with retractable roof. If you visit this swimming blog often, you have read it over and over in my posts. So, what is this mysterious streamline and why is it so important in swimming that everyone obsesses about it so much?

In laymen’s terms, streamline, in swimming, means manuevering your body into a position of least resistance while in the water. So when you swim through the water, your body is as stretched out and straight as possible. Just think of a regular 1 meter straight pole like a broomstick without the broom part as opposed to a small tree with branches sticking out. If you throw the broomstick in the water in a vertical position, then it nicely slices the water until it hits the bottom. If you do the same with the small tree, chances are that it will not even get fully submerged. The same principle applies to your body in the water, the more streamlined your body is, the easier and faster you can swim with less effort. So if you think, this is only for competitor swimmers and not for me, think again. The better you are positioned in the water, the more enjoyment you will have from swimming and the more you can swim and learn.

The main force that we are fighting in the water when we learn to swim is gravity. If we didn’t take a breath, our body would sink as a rock due to gravity. However, after we overcome the gravity factor and are strong and skilled enough to float without a hassle, we start focusing on reducing or eliminating other forces, mainly active drag forces. The swimming science experts have currently identified 3 types of drag: form drag, frictional drag and wave drag. The form drag is caused by our human non-fish like body shape which cuses the turbulance around our body when we swim. The friction drag is the result of the water flowing over your body and thus causing friction and slowing you down. The wave drag, as described in the Journal of Biomechanics in the scientific paper Wave drag on human swimmers is caused by the energy required to cause the waves which follow your body when you swim and it also accounts for a larger chunk of the drag on a human body from the three drag types. There are of course other forces that act on our body when we swim, but these are secondary in the streamline discussion.

Ok, now we know what slows us down in the water. So, how can we decrease these drag forces to become faster and more efficient in our swimming? Since the wave drag seems to play the biggest role on slowing our swimming down, let’s focus on it first. As described in the many scientific publications, wave drag increases as our swimming speed increases. In other words, as you swim faster, you are also causing more waves to be formed behind you. And as we said above, the more waves you generate around you, the more wave drag.

1) Push off the walls at lower depths. Do not push off the wall at the surface. The research has shown that the wave drag is very small or non-existant in greater depths, so if you push off at about 1 – 1.5m under water you will actually swim faster than if you were at the surface. That is one of the reasons why underwater dolphin kick is the fastest stroke out there and was unofficially coined the “fifth stroke”. This is also the reason why FINA has made a rule that a swimmer cannot swim more than 15 meters underwater from any turn or start.

Streamline by axeb

2) Hold your streamline when you push off the wall or right after start. Here we get into the term of real streamline and the form and friction drag reduction. When you read in my posts or hear your coach say, hold your streamline, this is what he/she means. Arms are extended above your head. Palms of your hands are on top of each other and are locked together by the top thumb. Arms are fully straight and are squeezing your head right behind your hears. If you are flexible enough, you can also try to overlay as much of a forearm over the other as possible and try to reach out of your shoulders as far as your body allows you to, so there are no airpockets around your neck.

3) Maintain a proper head position. Do not look where you are going and reduce the drag forces acting on your body at the same time. Always look down when swimming freestyle and up when you swim backstroke. On butterfly, your head is down for most of the stroke and only comes up to skim the surface during the recovery (when the arms come out of the water). On breaststroke, it is the same, your head is basically just an extension of your spine and it does not move at the neck it is still and only moves when your body moves.

4) Keep a proper body rotation. Rolling from side to side on freestyle and backstorke with one arm extended in front is another way to reduce the drag. By extending your body forward in a straight line we are aligning our body into more streamlined position, thus reducing our form drag and more than likely wave drag as well.

5) Wearing a swimming cap reduces the frictional drag as the surface on your head is more smooth. As well as wearing a more unconspicious goggle type helps reduce some drag.

6) If you ever wondered why competitive swimmers shave their bodies. Now you have your answer. Smoother, hairless skin reduces the friction that the swimmer body is subdued to in the water, thus making the swimmer glide better in the water.

7) Some swim suits also reduce drag and this is one of the reasons FINA (Swimming governing body) has band the full body suits from competitions and why there were so many world records borken in the last few years. The suits compacted the body into a more streamlined position and helped the body with friction.

And here you have it. So next time you are doing your laps or training in swim practice, remember, streamline is the key to success and repetition is the way you will get there. Why not learn more about how your specific swimming style can be improved to reduce drag?

See more swimming related articles at blog.swimator.com.

Swimator Blog

THURSDAY FEB. 24…..6:00 AM…

Another cold winter storm — possibly the coldest storm of the season — is on its way to Tahoe. We might see a few flurries and snow showers this morning, and the brunt of the storm should hit by this afternoon.

This low pressure system is coming on a line down from Canada, then sweeping just far enough out into the Pacific to tap into a moisture plume that will supply about an inch of precipitation, measured in liquid equivalents. Combined with the system’s own moisture and the very cold temperatures, we should see two to three feet of new snow at 7000 feet, and possibly more higher up. The liquid in this system will turn to snow at a ratio of 20 to 1 or even 25 to 1, a very efficient powder-making machine.

The snow should peak early Friday but continue throughout the day before tapering to showers Friday night. We might see a second surge Friday night as the front passes through and we get some action on its backside. Depending on how quickly the system moves on we could see some lingering showers into Saturday. But just like last weekend, Sunday should be mostly clear. And cold. Temperatures Saturday and Sunday behind the front will be 15 degrees or more below normal. Highs on Saturday at the mountain passes might struggle to make it out of the teens.

We should see a warming trend early next week, and possibly the return of more typical Sierra storms: warmer and wetter with rain at the lower elevations and snow above.

Temperature forecasts:

Tahoe City:

Thursday 27
Friday 25
Saturday 18
Sunday 31

At 7000 feet:
Thursday 22
Friday 20
Saturday 20
Sunday 29

\Regional radar with rain/snow mix:
9

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You want to see crazy uncle Bob, sweet Aunt Stella and all of the kids that have grown so much since the last gathering, but are unsure where to start in terms of planning your family reunion.

First things first:  choose the date. and location. When deciding on a date, consider school schedules.  Most people can rearrange other obligations, but schools dictate when families with children can travel. Doodle.com is a nifty tool that assists in planning a meeting for large groups.  Give it a try! The peak summer travel months are June, July, and August. Once you have your dates, think location, location, location! The importance of location is not just relevant to purchasing a house, but is also crucial when you are planning an event.  Nobody wants to go to Houston in the middle of July or Fairbanks in Feb. If your family must travel to get to the reunion, make it a vacation that all can enjoy!  Summer in the Colorado Rockies in is an excellent choice.  More specifically, Keystone Resort is perfect for young and old, active and not so active family members.

So, you have nailed your event down to June 23 – 30^th in Keystone, CO.  Now what?  Think about your lodging needs.  Will you rent one big home and enjoy hours of time with the family, or will you be better served by several condos in the same complex.  What amenities will you need? Maybe a swimming pool will entertain the kids enough to save everybody’s sanity.  Does Uncle Bob need to be steps away from the golf course at all times.  Consider your options carefully because appropriate lodging is the cornerstone to a successful family reunion.  SummitCove Vacation Lodging can assist you in making this important decision.

How about meals?  Does your family enjoy cooking, or are they happier to be pampered?  Start gathering menus and interviewing potential caterers at least 1 month out if you prefer to leave the cooking to the professionals.

Activities can also cause a bit of tension.  If Grandpa would rather fish than go on a river rafting adventure, make you schedule some fishing time.  If all of this coordination is not your forte, consider hiring a professional.  Your time is valuable and planning is certainly a time sink.  A planning expert in Keystone, CO can be reached to help you make important decisions about dates, accommodations, meals, and activities to take care of you clan from the date of arrival through the date of departure.  Although we may not be able to keep crazy uncle Bob from swimming in Keystone Lake in with his scuba gear, she can make sure all of your needs are met while you are there!

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Adventure Time in Keystone with Our Newest Employee!

It was the coldest weekend of February, but that didn’t stop us. My sweetheart James and I accompanied by our good friend Donna were headed up to Keystone for an awesome mini vacation! Life has been stressful so a ski getaway was just the ticket to some R&R and fun. Driving up the mountain, we were so excited we could hardly wait, fortunately the drive to Keystone is only just over an hour from Denver.

Next thing we knew, we were pulling into town. To celebrate our arrival and kick off our getaway we stopped at the Goat for a quick beverage . The Goat is a local watering hole serving apres ski to riders, skiers and visitors. Our bartender “Jimbo” was generous and entertaining. What a fun way to start things off!

Next thing you know, it was time to check in to our condo. Summitcove.com booked us into a beautiful 2/bed 2/bath condominium in Red Hawk #2261. Right away we were thrilled to have heated underground parking as it was well below zero outside. The lobby was warm and inviting, and the room itself was perfect from the mountain decor to the blazing fireplace near to sliding glass doors on to our own private deck. Donna and I headed right for the full kitchen and whipped up some warm and comforting chili. Another friend, Paul, was in town from Florida and he joined us for an amazing dinner with good food and great friends. Fortunately our condo had plenty of room for everyone and we slept like babies.

Early the next morning it was off to the slopes! Our condo was just a short walk to the gondola. My favorite thing about skiing Keystone is the long, long slopes which means more time skiing and less time on lifts! Fresh powder and fresh air, nothing else like it in the world! We laughed and laughed when Donna took a spill and looked like a yard sale with skis, poles, hat and gloves spread all over! After a full day of carving up the slopes, we headed straight to the hot tub for a soak. Nothing like hot, swirling water to warm a body up and sooth tired muscles.

We had a blast in Keystone- good friends, good times and incredible memories. Can’t wait to do it all again! Wanna come?

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The simple answer is “by learn to swim slow with correct technique”. This in turn reduces your body’s drag and increases your propulsion force. Swimming slower rather than faster is a bit against the common sense, however, it is the way to go trust me. It is actually the hardest thing you will have to learn on your journey to effortless swimming. Convincing swimmers to slow down and forget about how many laps they do and how fast they swim is also the hardest thing for coaches to be able to do. Most swimmers usually say “yeah right, you are crazy. Why would I swim slower?”, but when they make the switch and start seeing the progress, they usually buy into this concept and are better for it.

Before you go on, I have a small exercise for you. Next time you are in the pool try the following exercise for yourself and see that I am not just pulling your leg. While swimming your normal laps, slow down in your normal body position and stroke technique to a slow motion like movement and see what happens to your body. More than likely it will be very difficult for you to swim at that speed and stay afloat in the same way you are when you swim faster. This is actually one of the reasons why people do swim faster as they are compensating for lack of correct body position with speed. Do you remember the young thugs in the lane next to you that jump in and suddenly start to thrash at the water as fast as they can and stop all out of breath when they get into the other side? Well, this is exactly what I am talking about. Besides being very annoying nuisance in the swim lanes, they cannot keep afloat unless they thrash around like that with their muscular body .

There are a few reasons why we want to slow down initially. Let’s say you are learning how to tie your shoes and someone shoes you at their regular speed. You will not grasp the movements. However, if someone takes the time and shows you the movement one by one in a slow motion and even tell you the loop it and swoop it or bunny ears poem, you are more likely to have a better start and will remember how to do it. Then you practice it very slowly until the movements become natural. When the movement is imprinted into your motor skills you can tie your shoe in stealth speed without even thinking about it. With swimming, it is very similar. When you do not learn the proper streamlined body position, arm movement, head position, catch and relaxation while swimming slow, your body will produce too much drag and turbulence while you swim, thus making swimming a much harder activity then it actually is. Which in turn will make you slower as you cannot sustain speed over long period of time. Remember, water is much denser than air, so moving through it requires a much more streamlined and thought out movement then when you move through the air. What I want to teach you is to save energy while swimming by streamlining your swimming, so you swim effortlessly and are the flower among the thorns in the pool.

Now, are you with me here or are you still thinking I am nuts. I am not going to lie to you, slowing down and learning the proper technique and body position at a lower speed takes a lot of patience as your mind will always tempt you to go faster. You might feel you are not exercising enough and wasting your valuable time, however, if you are serious about learning how to swim properly, more efficiently and faster, I challenge you to bare with me. In the next articles, I will take you through a set of exercises (phases) which will help you build up your stroke and save valuable energy during your swims. Whether you are doing laps in the pool or stroking away in the open water, the slow down approach is a must.

See more swimming related articles at blog.swimator.com.

Swimator Blog

If you have gotten this far, you have seen the light and are serious about improving your swimming, so let’s get started.

There are many schools of thought regarding teaching swimming, some rely on repetitive swimming a lot of kilometers or miles to improve, some swear against it and focus only on certain aspects of technique and others combine both approaches in one way or another. However, none of them are perfect and never will be. The reason being, every person wanting to learn how to swim is different and respond to different stimuli, so one approach to teach all does not work. That said, some basic themes and principles do or should be present in all swim schools and that is to streamline your body as much as possible, in a way that you swim through the water in path of the least resistance with the least effort.

In my opinion, swimming many laps with wrong technique will not give you much improvement in the long run and might cause you injuries to your shoulders. So, improving your stroke technique comes first and as a matter of fact, it also provides the fastest visible improvement in terms of your speed (if you are to compete) or in terms of the distance you are able to swim without getting exhausted.

Enough blabber jabber though, let’s get to business. We’ll first focus on shaping your body to have the least resistance in the water and as simple as this sounds, it will take a lot of repetition and patience on your part until you get it right and it becomes second nature (especially if you have imprinted some bad habits into your swim stroke already). So let’s get to the basics:

Head and Body Position:

Contrary to an old school belief, the waterline should NOT be on the line where your hair meets your forehead and your eyes should NOT be watching what is in front of you (assuming you are on your belly). Your head should be suspended in the water where only the back of your head is barely dry, your neck is wrinkle free and your eyes are looking straight down to the bottom. You need to strain your head much more to keep it in the wrong position, so just relax it. There are many swimming drills and exercises you can do to practice this and below you will find a few to get your body in the right place.

1) Floating Tree Log

by merfam

As a tree floats nicely straight in the water, so should you. Note, I said, IN the water, not ON the water. What I mean by this is that you should NOT strive to get as much of your body out of the water as possible. Instead your goal should be to lay streamlined in the water, more than likely with a very small part of your body above the water, but this is fully individual. You might find yourself very slightly submerged than others and this is perfectly fine as long as you can keep your body in straight line. This is what you do: Gently push off the side or the bottom of the pool and get yourself in the position where your arms are resting relaxed at your side, your eyes are looking straight down to the bottom of the pool, your neck is nicely straight and has on wrinkles. You might even feel that you are suspended more in the water than above the water, but this is perfectly fine. Lay like this for a few seconds and than do it again and again. Suggested repetition is 10x at the beginning of each of your swim sessions. You can add a slight travel kick to keep you going forward very slowly. Important part is to get comfortable being one with the water and not trying to fight it. Let your self float in peace.

2) Extended Tree Log or Superman or both arm lead position
I do not like to call this exercise Superman as that is not what it is. Superman flies with his head looking where he is going and with arms at his side or one arm forwad, but as you read above, this is NOT the way to do it. So, let’s call it the extended tree log. Same as above, you can gently push off the wall or bottom of the swimming pool, but instead of your arms being at your side, you will extend them shoulder width apart in front of your head. So you extend your tree log further. However, the important part is that they your arms stay submerged in the water and a very slight angle towards the bottom of the pool. If the water surface is 0 degrees, then you can put them in -15 degree angle.  Again, your eyes are looking straight down in the water, your neck is extended with no wrinkles and relaxed. You can perform this exercise in two sets. First 10 repetitions, extend your arms and leave them relaxed, add a slight travel kick if need to be. By travel kick I mean, kick very slowly, just to help with keeping some forward motion. The second set of 10, instead of your arms being just loosely in front of you, try to extend your arms out of your shoulders, so you get them 5-10 cm further. Remember, keep them at your shoulder width to simulate the position your arm is in when you swim (so you do not learn to cross over). If done properly, you will find that it is much easier to stay afloat in the Extended tree log floating position than in the regular Tree log drill and if you extend your arms out of your shoulders even further, floating has become even more easier. The reason here is that you are adding more weight to the front of your body (muscles and bones weigh more), thus moving your center of gravity and center of buoyancy closer together and that is what you want to achieve to swim in a streamlined position.

by Brother’s Keeper Comic NOTE: Dead man’s float is actually performed on your stomach

3) Dead Man’s Float
As morbid as it sounds, this swimming drill is very good at learning to feel the positions of your body in the water and learn to streamline it. I have already described the logistics in tips for beginners post, but let me try it again. Start in a deep end of the pool, take a deep breath, put your face in the water and totally relax your arm and legs. The air in your lungs will keep your chest afloat, but your arms and legs will sink towards the bottom of the pool. When your body stopped moving and you are totally relaxed, start SLOWLY moving your straight arms to the same position as in the Extended Tree Log swimming drill described above. Remember, make sure the hands/arms do not break the surface of the water. Keep them under in about -15 degree angle (even -30 if that is easier for you). When your arms are in the Extended Tree Log swim position, then extend your arms out of your shoulders again, so you reach further. Note: your head is still relaxed looking at the bottom of the pool with no wrinkles in your neck. What you will notice here is that your legs will start slowly rising towards the surface of the water. How far will your legs raise? Well, this is fully dependent on your body composition. If you are all muscle, they will not rise to the surface, but if you have a bit fat which you should, the will rise up. You can then help to keep them there with a bit of a back muscle strength, but this takes a while to practice. If your legs are not rising, try to burrow your head and arms a bit deeper into the water and your legs should move up. Try this about 5x at the beginning of your swim workouts and when you think you got it, do it 1-3 times each time you swim, so it becomes a second nature to you.

Happy floating and remember, slow is better than fast until your streamline is perfect and you will be very satisfied with the results. After you have mastered these exercises, come back for the next lesson.

See more swimming related articles at blog.swimator.com.

Swimator Blog

I want to learn to sail, but I only have a master’s degree in engineering. Don’t you have to be a PHD or something like that to learn how to sail? Of course not! Sailing is not that hard. Everyone should try it. It is an adventure that can last you a life time of honing your skills. Or a weekend of getting your feet wet – sometimes quite literally. Looking around for sailing lessons can sometimes be tricky, and here are 7 tips that you can used to guide you.

1. The classroom. Sailing lessons are done in a different kind of classroom, it’s a boat. Since this boat will be introducing you to sailing on the next few days, make sure that the vessels is in good condition and has passed local government safety standards.

2. The campus. The location in where you will learn how to sail is a very important factor. You will be exposed to this campus most of your learning time and it is best to check the weather conditions, commercial traffic, and accessible medical and emergency facilities. There are some locations that will take some waiting time for sailing conditions. Make sure that you choose a location that will allow you to sail as soon as you cast off from the dock.

3. Will you be able to sail a boat from the school that taught you? When sailing once you have finished your sailing course, you will surely be excited to rent a boat and try out your newly learned skills. It would be best to rent a boat from the same sailing school that you went to, for the convenience of asking some questions and just in case you get the shimmies you can always revert to your instructors for support and encouragement.

4. Student to instructor ratio. Find out from your chosen sailing school how many students each instructor handles. Ideally it should be 4 students to an instructor. Why? Because there are 4 main tasks in sailing, the main sail, working the jib, tiller and chart work. Having 4 will give the chance for every student to be in charge of these 4 tasks. This procedure is very effective as the students will not be overwhelmed by the processes and have the chance to get familiarized with them one at a time.

5. Guarantee or credentials. Check if the school of your choice is duly registered and licensed with your local government maritime authorities. Track record involving boating accidents and achievements are important. You can also ask around from sailing aficionados and experts.

6. Course length and schedule. Be particular about the learning schedule that you are signing up for. The course format will depend on your learning requirements. If you intend to have sailing as an important part of your life, then you must be looking at more extensive and in depth courses that take more than 4 to 5 days. Longer learning gives you more of the non-formal education which will primarily be involved in you asking your instructor random questions and having more time to really get the answers that you need. Shorter courses put much of the tasks on the student as they need to cope with a lot of learning in a short period of time.

7. Courses during a time of year with consistent wind conditions. Another tricky part in choosing sailing lessons is finding a location that will be easy to learn how to sail in. Wind conditions are crucial to sailing and it is best to choose a location that has consistent wind and weather conditions.

Anything seems difficult and often times dangerous when you know nothing about it. Having knowledge and doing your part in finding out can be a very useful step in enjoying your sailing adventure to the maximum.

Steven Washington is a lover of sailing. He is also an experienced writer and enjoys sharing information and tips on sailing with other like-minded people. Steven Washington has experienced and tried sailing all around Australia and recommends anyone interested in sailing lessons to give it a go!!

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Learning To Sail