Brush up on Your Swimming Technique

Doing the front crawl with poor technique can put a serious strain on your shoulders

If you’re hopping in the water this summer, keep these tips in mind and swim like a pro

For those planning to spend most of the summer season submerged, keep these swimmer’s tips in mind.

• Avoid wasting energy when you do the front crawl. Keep elbows high, but hands close to the water surface as you bring each arm out of the water to prepare for a new stroke.
• The muscles in the shoulder area (particularly the rotator cuff muscles) are highly prone to injury. Poor technique and overuse can damage the shoulder area.
• Most swimmers concentrate on efficiently moving the arms through the water and forget to move other parts of the body. It’s necessary to rotate all the way from your hips up to your head so that the shoulders rotate as much as 45 to 60 degrees. This enables an increased stroke length and reduces water resistance, reducing strain on the shoulders and increasing the speed of the swim.

Take a refresher lesson at your local recreation centre to improve your technique.

Checking Outdoor Swimming Water Quality

Canada has over 30,000 lakes where you can enjoy outdoor swimming. Each province follows its own standards for testing water quality. Contact the city’s public health department, or the provincial ministry of the environment to see the reports for lakes you’d like to visit.

Alternatively, visit swimguide.org for a list of Canadian beaches and water quality ratings.