I have been trying to find-out if this swimming technique
can work and for what distances. Perhaps I stay too long
underwater during a part of the cycle, or I am not using the
right movements. If I am right, It is what you call the dive-
kick: A diver lowers his torso into the water, extends his
arms and lifts his legs in the air so he can dive under his
own weight.
My attempt was to dive rather at an angle, something like 45
degrees, so the dive-kick will give me some forward
propultion for a short distance under the water. This
technique gives a good initial speed at low expense,
something which is important if you do part of the time
under the water. I would dive for a few seconds and then
float back to the surface, so I have to arch my back in
order to be more streamlined. Because of the arching motion,
my flutter kick becomes useless, since I cannot perform the
hip rotation. I would rather do the scissors kick instead.
My arms are kept extended until my hands touch the surface,
and then I stroke in order to lift my head and take a
breath. The motion is fairly similar to that of the
breaststroke. After each breath, I would dive the same way
over and over again. I have noticed that my speed when
resurfacing is low, and my resurfacing angle might be too
high. I have tried to do a back-dive-kick, but my nose fills
with water no matter how hard I exhale. How would I improve
this techinque, and is it practical for competitive or long-
distance swimming?