Swimming Jargon

I often find myself talking about swimming and using jargon around people that aren’t swimmers. So for anyone that’s ever been confused by a swimmer, here are a few things we talk about and what they mean:

3 beat kick: For every stroke you make (in freestyle) you should have three kicks. The beat in your head should be ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three...etc. Each number gets a kick and to accent that ONE you pull with one arm and enter the water with the other.

Catch: This refers to any stroke. Your catch is the action of pulling the water in your stroke.

Drag: Anything that slows you down is considered drag. This can include hair, jewelry, loose or baggy suits, and sometimes even body fat. Anything that makes you less aerodynamic is considered drag.

Hypoxic: This relates to breathing. If the set says “hypo 3” (hypo being short for hypoxic) then you are going to breathe every third stroke that you take.

Paddles: These are training aids strapped onto a swimmer’s hand. It’s usually bigger than their hand so that way it can improve catch and give a feel of a better catch.

Pull: You don’t kick, you only pull. Basically, all you’re using is your arms.

Pull buoy: A flotation device put in between the legs to keep the legs from sinking while pulling.

Recovery: The period when a swimmer’s arm moves out of the water during the stroke.

Streamline: A body position that reduces drag. A correct streamline means you have your arms straight above your head with one hand over the other. You squeeze your ears with your arms as well. Streamline is used off the blocks and out of the turns.

Time trial: A test of how fast you can go. Time trails are usually done the second or third week of the swimming season to get a picture of where everyone is at.

Turnover rate: How fast your stroke is.

Side note: When I say stroke, I mean what your arms are doing while you’re swimming.

Swimmers are usually pretty good about being able to explain what they’re talking about, but if you don’t want to ask I hope that this was helpful.