Who is excited about The Olympic Games this year? Yes, I am.
In the world today, especially in countries such as Australia,The Great Britain, USA, Japan,The Russian Federation, and some African Countries such as South Africa and Nigeria, Competitive swimming has become a great deal judging by their various exploits at the Olympic Games for the past two decades.
Let me take you briefly through a journey in the shadows of Dive;
All of the four major swim strokes require a dive , and this is done to give swimmers a smooth entry into the water as well as a prospective start in their race.
It is done from a diving/starting block by keeping one’s powerful leg just at the front tip of the board and the other leg far behind.
The two hands are used to grab the board right to the front, beside the leg in a bent position.
The head is also expected to be kept down low so as to allow the vertebrae achieve a slant position relative to the water.as shown below.
Plunging is done with a short phase of spring which is generated by the most powerful leg, with the two hands above the head , and the head itself is directed in no other manner but that of effective entry.
The entry phase is achieved by keeping the body as straight as possible; hands/shoulders very closely to the head, legs closed together behind and the face down In readiness to be welcomed by the water.
Note that for the swimmer, a fast conscious movement is initiated upon entry into the water , this is to avoid diving too deep into the bottom of the water. It is called the Dolphin kick, using the two legs and an essentially flexible waist.
I was right under the water doing the action in the picture below;
Break out; This is the first major stride of stroke performed by breaking the water surface and starting a complete swim. Usually the break out is a powerful action and some swimmers believe that this phase is the most important aspect of dive as much as competitive swimming is involved.
What is you take on that?
See my break out here with my first hand stroke and head out of the water with so much bubbles.
From this end, another phase begins. This and many more are things that make swimming very interesting. Do you like to swim? Do you dive?
How do you like your dive?
Thank you for reading through.
Note that diving in shallow waters are very dangerous for amateur swimmers, I remember hitting my teeth down the tiles some years back while training for a swim meet lol. A tooth shook for days and I had feared the reality of the loss of my permanent tooth at that age. It was a painful experience.