H2O Swimming

07/09/2026

HEAD POSITION IN FREESTYLE – PART 1: BREATHING

Want to improve your freestyle? Don’t start with your arms. Start with your breathing and your head.

Modern swimming places enormous importance on spinal alignment. Get the head position wrong and the consequences flow through the entire stroke: poor body position, increased resistance, asymmetry, compromised arm mechanics and potentially greater stress on the neck and shoulders.

Swimming is good for you. Swimming WELL is better.

One of the biggest mistakes swimmers make is trying to fix what they can see — usually the arms — rather than correcting the problem that is causing the error.

Think of it like building a house. There’s little point trying to fix the walls and roof if the foundations are crooked.

THE HIERARCHY OF CORRECTIONS

Stroke faults need to be corrected in the right order. Fixing something further down the chain without addressing what is causing it often achieves very little.

1. BREATH CONTROL

Breathing comes first.

If you rush your breath, hold your breath, or mistime your inhale and exhale, the rest of the stroke has to compensate.

For comfortable swimming, aim for a short inhale and longer, controlled exhale, similar to the breathing patterns used in yoga and meditation. The exhale should be gentle and continuous, predominantly through the nose.

Poor breathing affects head position. Poor head position affects body position. And from there, problems multiply.

2. HEAD POSITION

This is critical — both when your face is in the water and when you turn to breathe.

A common mistake is lifting the head to get the mouth clear of the water, often looking backwards or towards the ceiling.
Instead, when breathing:

Look directly towards the lane rope — not behind you and not towards the roof.

Aim to have one goggle underwater and one above, with your eyes looking just over the lane rope.

Here’s a simple test: What do you actually see when you breathe?

Your answer can tell you a lot about your head position.

Try thinking about dropping the top of your head and lifting your chin slightly as you turn. It may initially feel completely counter-intuitive — but that’s often because you’ve spent years doing the opposite.

3. BODY POSITION

Head position directly influences body position.

If you can’t maintain a long, horizontal, aligned body, the legs tend to sink. More of your body is then pushing against the water, increasing resistance, slowing you down and making swimming harder than it needs to be.

Better alignment = less resistance = less effort.
Streamlining is a huge part of this and deserves a post of its own.

For the full article click here to go to my Mastering Swimming FB Page.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577096578143

Anita Killmier is a former National Coaching Director of Masters Swimming in Australia. She was twice awarded the Masters Coach of the Year as well as the Australian Sports Award for services to swimming. She authored the book Mastering Swimming.

29/08/2026

☀️ YOUR CHILD CAN SWIM 50 METRES. BUT COULD THEY DO IT WHEN IT REALLY MATTERS?

Summer is coming — and so are beach days, rivers, lakes, holidays and backyard pools.

Swimming 50 metres in a warm, calm, familiar swimming pool is a great achievement. But an unexpected fall into cold or moving water is a very different situation.

Wind. Waves. Currents. Cold water. Clothing. Rocks. Fallen logs. Unfamiliar surroundings. And PANIC.

All can dramatically reduce a child’s ability to use the swimming skills they have learned.

Even more concerning, research from Royal Life Saving Australia has highlighted that many parents overestimate their child’s swimming ability.

That’s why learning to swim well shouldn’t be treated like just another sport or hobby. It’s a life skill that one day may need to work in conditions that are anything but perfect.

🏊 TERM 4 BOOKINGS and SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY INTENSIVES AT H2O ARE NOW OPEN

Term 4 is traditionally our BUSIEST TERM and classes often BOOK OUT. Don’t wait until the hot weather arrives to discover your preferred class is full.

💦 Build stronger skills. Build greater confidence. Get your child better prepared for summer.

👉 BOOK TERM 4 NOW.

H2O Swimming
PHONE 0401 987 081 or go here to BOOK
https://www.h2oswimming.com.au

Learning to swim well is a MUST HAVE, not just a NICE TO HAVE.

24/08/2026

Why Stopping Swimming Lessons Too Early Can Leave Your Child Vulnerable

By Anita Killmier

Being able to swim 50 metres in a warm, calm swimming pool is a wonderful achievement — but is it enough?

Most families dream of holidays by the water — swimming and snorkeling at the beach, waterskiing, kayaking, boating or fishing at a favorite river or lake.

But open water is unpredictable. A river current or an ocean rip can quickly challenge — and sometimes defeat — even a strong swimmer.

Real water can be very different
For many parents, seeing their child confidently swim 50 metres of freestyle feels like the finish line. And understandably so. They look comfortable, capable and happy in the water.

But swimming well in a warm, calm, familiar swimming pool is very different from being unexpectedly immersed in water.
An accidental fall into the water can dramatically reduce a child's swimming ability.

When a child is frightened or panics, the swimming skills they demonstrate so confidently in a lesson may not be available to them in the same way. In an emergency, their ability to swim effectively can be reduced by 50% or more.

So, a child who can comfortably swim 5 metres during a lesson may struggle to swim even 2 metres if they unexpectedly fall into the water and panic.

Real-life water is very different from a swimming lesson

Children learn to swim in an environment where the water is warm, calm and predictable. But the situations they may encounter outside the pool can be very different.

Several factors particularly poor weather conditions and bad visibility, unaccustomed cold water and currents can quickly make swimming much more difficult in outdoor environments:

• Cold water: Sudden immersion can cause cold shock, resulting in an involuntary gasp, rapid breathing and panic.

• Choppy or turbulent water: Children accustomed to calm pool water may become disorientated when waves, currents or swirling water are involved.

• Clothing: Wet clothing becomes very heavy and can significantly restrict movement, increase fatigue and making swimming much harder.

• No goggles: A child who normally relies on goggles may find swimming without them disorientating or frightening.

• Fatigue: A child who swims confidently when fresh can become exhausted surprisingly quickly, and fatigue can lead to panic.

These are precisely the kinds of circumstances that children are unlikely to experience during a normal swimming lesson.

Swimming lessons are about much more than learning to swim 50 metres

This is why we encourage families not to stop swimming lessons as soon as their child can swim a particular distance.

Learning to swim is a progressive journey. As children become stronger and more experienced, we can introduce greater distances, different strokes, survival skills, water safety and situations that challenge them beyond the comfort of a warm swimming pool.

Our aim is to help children develop strength, endurance, confidence and adaptability — so that if they ever find themselves in an unexpected situation, they have a much larger bank of skills to draw upon.

Swim Australia recommends that children should be able to reasonably complete a 400-metre swim. This is equivalent to our Advanced level 7.

There is no such thing as "drown-proof"

It is important to remember that no child — or adult — is ever completely drown-proof or water-safe.

Even a highly competent swimmer can get into serious difficulty. Swimming ability is only one part of water safety, which is why supervision, sensible behaviour around water and an understanding of different aquatic environments remain essential.

Water Safety skills gives swimmers the opportunity to rehearse some of the situations they may encounter and learn how to respond. Rehearsing these scenarios is valuable because panic can cause people to revert to instinctive "land" behaviours that may actually make the situation worse.

The more experience and skills a child develops, the better prepared they are to respond when something unexpected happens.

Sometimes parents need to make the decision for them
We understand that not every child loves swimming lessons all the time.

Swimming takes effort. Progress can sometimes feel slow, and there may be plenty of other activities competing for a child's attention. Some children will happily negotiate about almost anything — including whether they really need to go swimming!

But swimming is different.

Being able to swim confidently and competently is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children.

Just as we don't allow children to decide whether they attend school every week, there are times when parents need to make the decision to continue with swimming lessons, even when their child would rather do something else.

The good news is that children often reach a point where their skills catch up with their confidence. They become more independent, discover that they can do things they previously found difficult, and begin to see the water as a wonderful playground rather than something they have to work at.

Don't stop at the first milestone

So, when your child proudly swims their first 25 or 50 metres, celebrate it — it's a fantastic achievement!

But don't necessarily see it as the end of their swimming journey.

Think of it as the beginning of becoming a stronger, more capable and more adaptable swimmer.

And if your child eventually finishes formal lessons, remember that swimming skills and fitness can decline the longer they stay away from the pool. It’s a good idea to check in on their swimming throughout the year — particularly before holidays or activities involving open water — to make sure their skills and confidence are still where you expect them to be.

The goal isn't simply to have a child who can swim 50 metres in a swimming pool.

The goal is to give your child the skills, strength, experience and confidence to cope when the water isn't warm, calm, predictable or familiar.

That is why continuing swimming lessons matters — and why developing swimming ability should be considered an essential life skill, not just another after-school activity.

04/08/2026

A great message for all parents
Please watch.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18vj3DhuJu/

30/07/2026

27/07/2026

If you can only do ONE strength exercise, this would be it!

Most serious Masters swimmers would likely have a full strength and conditioning program if they were serious about competing.
However, if you have never specifically done strength work for swimming; are returning to strength work and/or don't have time for dry land, this one exercise can give huge benefits and will reduce your times.

You can include this into your regular swimming program and it does not need any special equipment or gym memberships.

It increases your strength by using your own body weight and gravity, using the specific muscle groups and sequencing of activation needed for Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly.

It will also teach you HOW to get the early vertical forearm so important to all strokes but difficult for many to achieve.

For the full article by Anita click here .

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577096578143

05/07/2026

LEARNING THE TOUCH TURN.

The fastest turn for general swimming and racing in Freestyle and Backstroke is the Tumble Turn or Flip Turn.

Freestyle has very little rules to abide by but the main rule is you have to touch the wall when turning with some part of your body.

This means you don't have to touch it with your hand and can turn BEFORE you get to the wall so you don't swim quite as far as the other strokes. In other words, a Freestyler can turn at 49 meters instead of 50m or at 24m instead of 25. Also, because the legs move through air there is less resistance than the touch turn which drags the legs underwater. These 2 reasons make it faster when done well.

However, a novice swimmer who has not yet perfected a flip turn can still perform a decent turn in training or racing by learning a touch turn. As with all swimming skills the efficiency of movement to reduce as much drag as possible, leads to a better, faster and more fluent turn.

Breaststroke and Butterfly must abide by the rules of symmetry when racing and must touch the wall with both hands simultaneously AND symmetrically. It is easy to get disqualified if not done correctly.

Here is a breakdown of learning the Touch Turn and I recommend learning the Freestyle Touch Turn first which segues nicely into the Breast/Fly turn.

The full article including step by step videos can be found on my other page Mastering Swimming. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577096578143

Anita Killmier is a former National Coaching Director of Masters Swimming in Australia. She was twice awarded the Masters Coach of the Year as well as the Australian Sports Award for services to swimming. She authored the book Mastering Swimming.

24/06/2026

Recently, a parent of a young boy in our learn to swim program asked if he should cease lessons to join a squad with his friends. Here is my reply.

In my opinion from over 40 years experience in the competitive swimming industry it is a volume driven sport. The larger the number of swimmers coming into squads at low levels the greater the chance of that one great swimmer being found.

What happens is young coaches typically take these entry level squads and they focus on fitness and building laps to the detriment of their strokes and many go backward as they get tired and the strokes break down. Typically these squads are coached by young entry level coaches who either don't have the knowledge or the experience to manage technique sessions with large groups. Some just want to get results so they can build a name. I have, time and time again swimmers come to me saying their coach never gives them feedback or they never do stroke work, it’s just endless miles. No great swimmer has poor technique. Fitness will only get you so far. There is also a high drop out or burn out rate through volume based programs. These ages need fun to keep them interested to then want to continue.

Typically, the naturally talented swimmers get good early on. They might be good because they are bigger and stronger than their peers. Post puberty is where those who have good technique and have spent the time to develop it, really start to shine.

I ALWAYS think swimmers should finish our program before moving into a squad to ensure the greatest chance that their strokes have become habit so when the heavier laps kick in they can hold it together.

My squads (when we had them) was always technique first, fitness second. There is a small window of opportunity to get strokes right before bad habits become ingrained. Fitness can always be built.

Just my opinion.

If you are interested in other swimming related posts please see my other page Mastering Swimming

03/06/2026

Just for fun.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/audio/27713942008190656?igsh=dDExcm9zZm9hOW5x