It is a well-known fact that every superhero has to have a special suit, a cape or a mask to be taken seriously. Right? At the same time, he or she has to have a certain set of extraordinary skills that often are enhanced by their attire. Think Batman and his winged cape or his belt which never...

It is one of those days. The swimming lane I am about to plunge into is overcrowded and even though it is marked with the clearly distinctive letters "FAST SWIMMERS", the lane is plagued with leisurely swimming head up breaststrokers and wannabe swimmers standing by the wall and discussing the lat...

One of the basic skills of any beginner student of any activity is the ability to recognize if something is not done the right way. Be it the ability to notice spelling mistakes in written texts (I am sure there many in my posts :)), the know-how to acknowledge that a ski jumper’s form during the...

Hand paddles are commonly used in swimming pools around the world. In fact, you hardly ever see a pool deck or the infamous Lost and Found basket (yes, they do exist) without a pair of them laying around. They are either loved or hated. The main rudimentary idea behind the original hand padd...

Last time I talked about learning to swim slow to improve your swim technique, but how about swimming slow during warm down for recovery (also referred to as cool down). When I compose swim workouts where we swim faster sets which is almost all the time, there is a choice to add a lot of rest...

Many of us are caught up in our fast-paced society often forgetting to just stop and think. This causes us to do things over and over without realizing that there might be a smarter way to help us go forward. As a swim coach or a swimmer, you should always be trying to adjust your ways and exp...

This post is long overdue, but finally, I kicked myself to introduce you to the wonderful world of the Palm Paddle. I am not kidding when I say it is the world's smallest hand paddle. At first sight, the paddles are so tiny and cute that you just want to cuddle them in your palm :). Do not...

There is no doubt in my mind that anyone can learn how to swim and anyone can swim with ease if the right approach to learning is taken. In order to convey a certain feeling or a message to the swimmers and to keep swim workouts interesting, every coach should once in a while think outside the bo...

Being a beginner swimmer is definitely not easy. Where do I start? How do I do it? It seems much harder than it looks. How come? These are just a few questions I get asked all the time. As I discussed on many occasions, swimming is not as simple sport as it may seem. Sure, what is there...

After a short break, I am back with some highlights from the Swimator Blog archives for 2011. What swimming tips did you find the most interesting in 2011? That is the question. Below is a short list of the top 10 Swimator Blog swimming tips: 1) As traditionally, our novice and beginner swi...

Since I am on the topic of breathing while swimming, let me explain, what seems like an obvious procedure, how to breathe through the swimmer's snorkel. Before we get to that, perhaps a bit of an introduction of what the swimmer's snorkel is and how it can help you improve your swimming techniq...

Learning to float can be a daunting task for many novice swimmers. If you are just starting out or tried it out before and got discouraged because you couldn't get past the floating stage, perhaps the following piece of advice will help you to get over the initial learning curve. Whatever the reas...