Swimming Tips

Posts Tagged ‘Need’

so im taking the lifeguard test in a couple weeks (im 15).

I dont swim on swim team or for the school or anything but i am a good swimmer.

my problem is freestyle swimming. i get tired really quick when i freestyle swim. i can breathstroke for ages but front crawl i get real tired sooo quick lol

what am i doing wrong?
^BREASTSTROKE^

okay today for swimming class i had to swim alot of laps each week and i get really tired. i need an efficient method that will allow me to swim faster during endurance without getting tired so easily. i usually do front crawl all the way and than back crawl all the way back. like last week i had to swim 34 laps i was like OMFG. what strokes do you usually do when doing endurance of that many laps?

So my parents has been trying to make me become a lifeguard ever since I was little. They have put me in so many swimming classes and made me swim a lot. I’ve passed junior lifeguard training and all I have to do now is pass the final training.

The pretest (the test before the real test) is very close in September and I have no idea how to do the breast stroke. I have to swim 4 laps front crawl, 4 laps breast stroke and choose 4 laps of my own to do. Then I have to swim halfway in the pool, dive underwater, grab a 10 pound brick and swim back to the beginning. I have absolutely no problem with grabbing the brick or doing front crawl. Problem is, I have no idea how to do the breast stroke and can’t swim 12 laps without stopping.

I hate swimming so much and don’t want to do it anymore. I need advice, please help! = What should I do to become a better swimmer?

The swimming pool safety is a major determining factor in building a pool. Besides learning how to swim, and having someone who oversee people in the pool, it is equally important to have safety equipment installed within the pool area.

Relative to people’s needs and preferences, there is a wide selection of pool safety equipment. The pool fence is the major one. The ideal pool fencing height is four feet. It should also be free from hand and foot holds. Having a tall safety fence can prevent the kids from getting into pool area.

The pool fence must have a self-closing gate with automatic latch. If there are vertical slats, they should be four inches on center to make it impossible for kids to squeeze their heads through them. All swimming pool safety fences come in different style to fit the pool’s surroundings. Just make sure that it can hold a lock on its top portion so that the kids cannot reach it.

The pool fencing alone is not sufficient if the pools are located in the backyard. Houses that have doors leading into the pool area must have locks and pool alarms. Pool alarms come in different types and styles.

There are perimeter pool alarm projection beams, which are installed at the walls of the pool. This pool alarm gives off a sound, when people pass through it. The surface pool alarm is mounted to monitor any movements in the water.

Swimming pool safety alarms do not guarantee 100% security, since children can walk down the pool steps and not cause a water disturbance. The only alarm that can provide safety to children is a personal alarm. It is worn on a child’s wrist and produces sound whenever the child comes into contact with water from a pool or bathtub.

Reaching poles are another type of safety equipment. Depending on the size of the pool, reaching poles must be installed at regular intervals so swimmers can reach then when they need them.

Some households put safety ropes or lines as part of their swimming pool for safety measures. The function of safety lines is to draw a boundary to warn swimmers not to go beyond a certain point. The safety ropes come with floatable objects to keep them above the water. They are securely hooked at the edges of the pool.

Pool covers are also important safety equipment, and they are used to cover the pool’s surface. They are tightly harnessed across the pool, to prevent children from crawling under it. To choose the right pool cover, select the one that can hold the maximum weight capacity of two persons.

If there are children in the household, it is a good idea to have life jackets and ring buoys next to the pool. Get the lifejackets and ring buoys approved by the Coast Guard.

The first aid kits complete the swimming pool safety device. They should be constantly replenished. Anything that has expiration date should be replaced when it expires.

This summer, (exactly from July 17 to August 2) Rome will be hosting all the passionate swimming fans ready to attend the thirteenth edition of the FINA swimming championships. FINA is the organization that advertises acquatics sports in all its disciplines and organizes the international competitive activities of swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo.

According to the organization but also the Rome tourist board, this will be the most important 2009 sports event in the city. These Championships, differentiated for the competitions held not only in pools but also for diving, synchronized swimming, swimming in open water and water polo, will travel to Rome 2.500 athletes, 1.500 coaches and representing managers of over 170 Countries from all over the world.

This special sport event, that was already hosted in Rome in 1994 at the Foro Italico, isn’t only important for the competitive expressions and for the great world and olympic champions that will take part, such as Alessia Filippi , Michael Phelps, Federica Pellegrini andTania Cagnotto, but will also be very important for the economic aspect of roman tourism. Many Rome Hotels will be waiting to host these fans in their facilities.

The Opening Ceremony will be taking place on the 18th of July at the magnificent Stadio dei Marmi, located in the heart of the Foro Italico. Those interested in this great sport event in Rome may carry out their own pre-emption purchase by filling out the booking form at the official website http://www.roma2009.com/?pag=tk&lang=en and then send it to :ticketingoffice@roma09.it.

Ticket sales for the Championships will start up on April 1st and there are 180 thousand total tickets available.

Which exercises would you recommend? (Weight lifting? Calisthetics?)

Thanks!

I swim 2 to 3 times a week averaging 750 meters per swim. I mostly swim the front crawl. I have no problem breathing on the right side (I am a righty) but when I breath to my left side it feels very awkward and my whole stroke is messed up. I am looking for exercises to help me breathe on my left so that I can alternate my breathing between my left and right sides.
I also need help with my kick. When doing the front crawl I feel like it adds nothing and mybe even slows me down. When I swam a few laps with a float between my legs and I didn’t kick at all I seemed to go faster. I also tried a few laps with a kickboard and I got nowhere.
Any advice and suggestions and/or recommendations of books, videos, websites etc. which can help would be greatly appreciated.

You’ve been to every local fish store in your area. You’ve spent hours online looking at Discus galleries. You’ve started thinking of things you can sell to pay for the Discus fish and aquarium set up. You’ve put your couch in the garage to make room for the aquarium. It sounds like you’ve been bitten by the Discus bug. Now, how do you get started?

There are as many opinions on how to properly raise Discus as there are websites devoted to them. You will find debates over planted tank vs. bare bottom, tap water or RO, what to feed them, how often to change the water and how much, it goes on and on. These debates contribute to making Discus keeping fun or a real pain. It really depends on your likes and dislikes. If you enjoy the excitement and challenge of learning something new and are able to successfully translate many different opinions into “what works best for you”, then keeping Discus will be a fun rewarding undertaking which you can enjoy for years to come. With that being said, the following are some guidelines to what I’ve learned over the years and what works best for me in setting up a new Discus aquarium.

Equipment
In choosing the tank, start with a minimum tank size of 50 gallons. Make sure you have a suitable place to set up your aquarium. You will want a very sturdy support for your tank which you will position in a location that doesn’t receive direct sunlight. The filtration system will be made up of two extra large sponge filters run by an air pump along with an external box filter such as an Aqua Clear properly rated for your tank size and containing a pre-filter sponge on the intake tube. You will need a heater with a ratio of 5watts/gallon, meaning a tank size of 50 gallons would require a 250 watt heater. The tank needs to be covered and there are hood options available when you purchase your tank. You will want one with a lighting strip as well as a cover for the tank. In a pinch you can always pick up a piece of Plexiglass from your local hardware store and cut it to fit. In order to keep the tank clean and maintained, you will need a siphon hose, a five gallon bucket and a clean utility sponge.

Preparing for Your Discus’ Arrival
You will want to have your aquarium cycled before adding your Discus. This means that the beneficial bacteria has been established in your filtration. There are many methods of cycling your tank so be sure to do your research and choose the option that fits for you. It is a very important step and is absolutely necessary. Putting your new Discus in a tank that hasn’t been cycled is a death sentence for the fish.

Buying Your Discus Fish
An absolute must is starting with healthy Discus. If you are lucky enough to have a reputable breeder in your area you are ahead of the game. If not, mail order is also an exciting option. There’s a real rush and excitement to having Discus delivered to your front door. Make sure to research any online vendor you may want to order from. There are some great breeders out there with a great selection. On the downside shipping usually runs from $50-$75 depending on the service. If mail order isn’t an option and you are left with your local fish store you’ll need to take some precautions and do your best to pick out healthy fish. If possible try to find a shop that specializes in higher end tropical fish and avoid chain stores. Find out what the shop’s quarantine and guarantee policies are. Ask them how long the Discus should be quarantined once you get them home. If their answer is “you don’t need to”, this is a major red flag. Ask questions to get a feel for how well they support and care for their product.

So, what does a healthy Discus look like? Here a some things to look for in the Discus you buy:
When you walk by the tank, the fish should be active and come up to greet you. Avoid fish that are dark, hiding or hanging behind uplift tubes. The water in the tank and the tank itself should look clear and clean. If there are dead fish in the tank keep walking. Now, (if you haven’t left the store) look at the fish, they should have a full body that doesn’t look sunken and is free of scrapes, bumps, visible injuries and or parasites. The body shape should have a nice round appearance void of bent, stubbed tails and flat foreheads. Check the skin and make sure it doesn’t have a dull, matte, or slimy look to it. The fins should look healthy and not have a cottony or milky appearance. The fins should be intact with no white specs or splits and not be clamped to the body. The Discus should be using both pectoral fins to move about. Watch for how the fish are breathing. An overly rapid gill rate or if the Discus looks to be gasping is a good sign of gill parasites. The fishes movement should be fluent and have no problem with balance. You don’t want to pick a fish that can’t hold itself level. The eyes of your Discus should have a healthy clean look to them. The eyes are a good indicator of how well it’s been taken care of. You will want a fish with small eyes compared to its body with a centered pupil. Big or bulging eyes are usually a sign of neglect. Ask to see the Discus eat. Be wary if they feed live blood worms or tubiflex worms. Watch to make sure the fish are able to easily get the food into their mouth. Avoid fish that continually miss the food that is right in front of them or don’t seem interested in eating. Most 2″-3″ Discus wont have full body color or pattern at this size.

Installing Your Discus
For the proposed 50 gallon setup you will want to purchase from six to ten, two – three inch juvenile Discus. Young Discus like the security of numbers. Make sure you follow standard acclimation procedures and that your tank is fully cycled as stated above. As your fish grow and mature a pecking order will develop. Eventually the smaller weaker Discus will need to be removed in order to keep a 10 gallon to 1 Discus rule. In order to provide an easy way to keep a clean environment for your new fish, use a bare aquarium. That means no gravel or plants. The bare bottom tank makes it easy to vacuum fish waste and wipe down the glass. If you’d like, you can add a ceramic pot or two to give your Discus an anchor to establish territories but the pots will need to be moved and wiped down with your water changes to ensure they aren’t trapping waste. Once a week you will want to clean your pre filter and every few weeks, your sponge and box filters, being careful to use de-chlorinated water as to not harm the beneficial bacteria. A good tip here is to syphon some tank water into your five gallon bucket and use that for your filter cleaning water.

Discus Water
Clean water is a crucial element in growing out your fish. You will want to match the water conditions as closely as possible to that of the source of your Discus. Daily changes of 50 to 60 percent is recommended and at least on an every other day schedule. You will want to provide new tap water that has been de-chlorinated and matches closely to the tank water in temperature at 84 degrees. Avoid using RO water for young Discus, they need the minerals of harder water to aid in there development. Once they have matured and if you’re interested in breeding them you can dabble with softening their water. If you have purchased Discus from different places you will need to keep them quarantined separately for 4 – 6 weeks. Don’t Cheat!

Feeding Your Discus
Your new Discus should greet you at the front of the tank with a voracious appetite. Happy healthy Discus are always hungry. You will want to break up their feedings over several times during the day adding up to six small feedings. Feed a variety of foods using quality brands of dry and frozen foods. A good tip is to feed dry foods which your fish may not like as much early when they’re hungry from their overnight fast. Feed messy or frozen foods later in the day closer to your water changes.

The Discus hobby is a great one. It has its ups and downs just like anything. If you enjoy not only the beauty of the fish but actually watching their behavior, growth and and interaction, Discus keeping will stick with you. There’s a lot to learn and this is just a small start. Make sure you do a lot of reading and ask lots of questions. Start with healthy Discus, keep their water and tank very clean, feed them well, and you’re sure to succeed!

A back yard swimming pool is the ultimate addition to a sybaritic lifestyle! There are three kinds of pools: Above ground, on ground, and in ground, and there are landscaping possibilities for each one.

Do you have a pool in your backyard? Whether it is an above ground pool, an on-ground pool (half in the ground and half above) or an in-ground pool, there’s no need for it to dominate the rest of your landscape unless you want it too.

Safety Tip 1
The first landscape item you’ll need to add to a pool is a safety fence. Pools are considered an “attractive nuisance”, and it doesn’t matter how many “no trespassing” signs you may have on your property. If an intruder – child or adult – gets into your pool and is harmed – you will be sued for negligence. The only way to protect yourself is to have a fence surrounding the pool.

Safety Tip 2
It’s imperative that you keep the area around your pool clear of bric-a-brac. For one thing it will detract from the attractiveness of your pool, but even more importantly it could cause someone to trip, fall into the pool, and perhaps get injured. Even if there’s no question of a lawsuit, it’s always best if your visitors have a good time and don’t hurt themselves!

Alright, that’s the grim stuff out of the way. Now let’s get to the fun stuff. You’ve got a pool! What should go with it?

Above Ground Pools
Landscaping around an above ground pool is quite different than around one that is on-ground or in-ground. The above ground pool is so huge and dominating that there’s not really any way you can minimize it, so why not place potted plants around it. (You don’t want to plant trees or bushes near the pool, as the root system can find it’s way underneath the pool and push upward – and the pool must be absolutely level.)

On-ground and In-ground pools
Whatever you have around your pool – furniture or other ornamentation – make sure you place these items more than four feet away from the edge of the pool. This will prevent people from accidently tripping. Have a little shed where you can place all the tools needed to care for your pool, and replace them as soon as you’re done using them. Make sure the shed has a lock on it, as you’ll be storing chemicals inside it and you don’t want them to disappear.

Wicker furniture placed strategically around the pool, perhaps a table with an umbrella pole in the middle…those are the traditional sights seen around a pool. But you can add so much more – a border of decorative stone, potted plants, statuary…even a fireplace.

You can place lights around your pool to illuminate it at night, but beware – if you can’t see the bottom of your pool, then you must not go swimming. That’s a simple safety precaution. But there’s a certain esthetic satisfaction in watching light play across the shimmering surface of water.

You’ll want to enjoy your pool for a long time to come. So, safety first, and esthetic values second. But with a little imagination, you can make your pool the shining jewel in your landscape.