1. Push from the side underwater and use breaststroke legs to propel
2. Sink, push away from side and touch bottom of the pool

Skill Development: Kicking while submerged

1. I can push and glide underwater
2. I can propel myself underwater using breaststroke legs
3. I can push from the side to touch the bottom of the pool

Compare performances with previous attempts

L Justify how they travelled further and improved performance
N Recognise increases/decreases in distances

Add-On – Pair swimmers up, giving them a small area away from others to work. The first swimmer should perform an action underwater, e.g. touch the bottom with both hands. The next swimmer performs the same action and adds something else, e.g. a roll. This continues until the sequence gets so long swimmers cannot hold their breath, or they forget what comes next.

Easier: Actions do not have to be performed underwater.

Harder: Mixture of underwater and above surface actions.

Kicking while submerged – When swimmers progress to using full strokes, there will be a period in which they will be submerged under water for example when they dive in, push and glide and kick. The earlier a swimmer learns these skills, the easier for them to link to more complex actions later on.

Task: Recap breaststroke leg action from lesson 6.  Then take pupils through the progressions below.

Progressions:

• Push and glide with your face in water at full extension.
• Push and glide and finish with one breastroke leg kick.
• Push and glide with a leg kick and arm action to finish pulling through the water.

With which technique did you travel furthest?

Max distance swim to the bottom – Repeat the steps above, but this time, instead of pushing directly forward, the swimmer should aim forward and down.  The water does not need to be too deep, the activity is to travel under water as far as possible before touching the bottom.

1. Push down and touch the bottom of the pool
2. Increase the distance to aim for still attempting to push from side to end by touching the pool floor
3. Working with a partner, mark out where they made it to each attempt

Extension: Basic max effort swim underwater.  Move to deeper water.

to propel ourselves underwater while using breaststroke legs.

Breaststroke legs

1. Start with straight legs and no movement
2. Bend legs at the knee moving the knees outwards, not forwards
3. Feet are then drawn towards the body with heels almost touching
4. In this flexed position legs are ready to extend quickly and fully to provide the legs kick action
5. Legs extend rapidly to the straight position with toes pointed
6. The kick finishes with a short glide (no movement from the body)

1. Why is it beneficial to be able to swim underwater?
2. What did you need to do to increase your distance? (hold your breath longer, kick and pull harder)
3. What did you do differently when you swam your furthest distance underwater?
4. Why do we use breaststroke legs instead of front crawl legs when swimming underwater?