Difference in speed; head above water and head under water.
Former Member
I have folowed a lifeguard course and we always had to swim with our head above water.
2 requirements for the exam were:
- From the side jumping into the water, one lap entirely under water, 2 25 meter laps on back with arms above water (to prove that the kick is efficient enough) within 100 seconds.
- 200 meters in 4 minutes and 15 seconds (which is even quite doable with the breaststroke), of course with head above water.
At the university swimming pool I noticed a list for the sportmasterstudents (they study sport at an academic level) with required times and laps.
This got me wondering. How much faster can you swim a lap when you swim with your head under water compared to when you swim with your had above water?
I suspect that the relative difference in speed will be larger for a sprint than for an long distance.
Parents
Former Member
Head up front crawl I have done lots when playing waterpolo. But we swim faster with the face in the water and the body in a streamlined position.
The higher the head the legs drop lower. We then are swimming up hill and that is hard to do.
I take it that you are talking face down in the water, not the head completely submerged.
I know it can be confusing as I have seen a person talking about the head being submerged when he swims but when I watched a video of his swimming in a race it was not completely submerged. It was low but not much lower than mine. I saw other videos of instruction that he produced and the head was submerged in fact it was very exaggerated. Head too deep will not make you faster.
Head up front crawl I have done lots when playing waterpolo. But we swim faster with the face in the water and the body in a streamlined position.
The higher the head the legs drop lower. We then are swimming up hill and that is hard to do.
I take it that you are talking face down in the water, not the head completely submerged.
I know it can be confusing as I have seen a person talking about the head being submerged when he swims but when I watched a video of his swimming in a race it was not completely submerged. It was low but not much lower than mine. I saw other videos of instruction that he produced and the head was submerged in fact it was very exaggerated. Head too deep will not make you faster.
