Slow Leak
Swimmers let air out slowly through the nose underwater, like a slow puncture – the exhale they will need for strokes.
- Stages
- Stage 3, Stage 4
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Aquatic Breathing, Submersion
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 5–99 years
- Group size
- 1–12 swimmers
- Time
- About 3 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Swimmers breathe whenever they need to.
What it develops
- Breathe out in a controlled way underwater
- Submerge with controlled breathing out
How to run it
- Holding the wall, swimmers take a breath and put their face in.
- They let air out slowly through the nose – a thin stream of bubbles.
- The teacher counts; the aim is a steady stream, not a big burst.
- Progress to mouth-and-nose leaks while gliding.
Teaching cues
- Slow nose bubbles.
- Don't hold it – let it leak.
- Breathe in on top.
Make it easier
- Hum out loud to start the leak.
- Shorter count.
Make it harder
- Leak for the whole length of a glide.
- Leak, then finish with a 'burst' just before breathing.
Common faults
- All the air out at once.
- Breath held then released on surfacing.
Corrections
- 'A slow puncture, not a pop.'
- Watch the bubble stream together.
Assistant / L1 role
- Crouch beside a swimmer with goggles on and give a thumbs up underwater when you see a steady stream.