Treading On Water, An Important Life Saving Technique! (Swimming)

Let me start with a little story (a true one). For a long time I thought I could swim. I mean seriously, for a long time I was fooled by the fake confidence that I had about the very popular swimming Technique called "Freestyle". I used to think, I had figured it out all.

The thing was, once you started swimming in freestyle, you could just go forward and as long as you do the strokes, your body ... it would just float.

It's never too late to learn ...

Out of my fear, I never gave myself the chance to stop in the middle of the deep water (no pools dude... I'm talking about rivers... I'm a wild one me-self :P) and see what happens. This gave me the foolish assumption that I could float on water all the time thus will always be able to save my life if something bad happened that put me into a River or something ;-).

Anyway, one day I went for swimming, to a nearby River with few of my friends. There was a boat and you know, we just took it :) and went to the middle of the River. Now these weren't rainy days, so the current wasn't that strong yet, the water was deep enough to drown even a taller person, easily. Two of the dudes were expert swimmers (mariners actually). So they jumped out of the boat and started swimming.

Being a human being I observed this "phenomenon" in a way which gave me the notion of suddenly out of nowhere, they started "appearing" so much superior to me :P. So out of my my frustration, without thinking twice I too jumped in and "joined" them. Now I had no fear of the water because I really believed I could swim, until I hit the water that was.

As soon as I hit the water, I started my "freestyle" (the only thing I knew, partially, yuk) and after like 20-30 seconds I felt tired and though I'd stop for a moment and would "float" a little. And then as soon as I stopped "my freestyle", just a like a rock that fell on water, suddenly I was, drowning.

Then naturally I tried to start my "freestyle", but because I didn't actually knew even how to do that properly + because of the position of the body (vertical, ready to be drowned, wasn't funny actually, one of the most scared moments of my life) I couldn't do it, I simply couldn't get my body in a horizontal position so I could do my "freestyle" thing..

Luckily one of my friends were near me and at the third time I went down and came up, he grabbed me (I was actually a bit nearer to the boat as well) and helped me grab the boat. Forget about my fears... I felt so humiliated (oh we men are wretched creatures) but I couldn't do anything about it... heck, it was my fault who gotten into this "situation" because I wanted to prove that I was "something especial"... in a way, I was glad actually because this helped me learn a lesson otherwise I could easily end up trying to prove myself over others always for the rest of my life... a human life ... totally wasted, it would've been.

Little guys and gals ... they "just know" how to swim!. How come "growing up" destroys our intuitive senses?? 

And I'll always be grateful for my buddy who saved me too. Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that, just because you think you know how to swim... you simply may not. You can easily misguided by your pride as being confident and trust me you certainly don't want to end up like me to find out that you actually were wrong!.

So treading on water or the technique/s that can be used to help us float on water is a must learned lesson for everyone, because you never know what's coming next (not always true, but most of the time it is).

So please watch the below videos that I found on Youtube, sometime ago after the "incident". And remember, do not start "practicing" them in deep water. Find a pool that simply don't have the depth to drown you and practice in it first.

1. 



2. The Eggbeater Kick (below video).

This seems to be a very popular technique + in comparison with other techniques... this makes it easier to folat on water and doesn't need you to use your hands at all either.




Here's a closer look at the "Eggbeater Kick"... with slow motion.



If you could have an expert around, it's the best possible way. But still I think for most of us, we can learn how to float on water easily by using this technique, even without the help of a professional... and follow the advice of these trainers carefully. 

Not just treading on water, also learn about other swimming techniques that takes you forward such as "Freestyle" or Breaststroke, etc... because who wants to "float" on water without being able to reach ashore, especially under strong currents.

Also have a look at this swimsmooth.com web site where you'll find not just human beings but 3D graphical illustrations that shows advanced information about how you should move your arms, legs, etc... very informative.

As mentioned before, at first never use these techniques nor "try" them in deep water until you're confident about it. If you can find a swimming training school near you, then it is the best possible way. Be safe, and good luck.