Spy on the Side
Swimmers 'spy' on the teacher walking alongside by turning to breathe – a game that fixes lifting the head forwards.
- Stages
- Stage 3, Stage 4
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Aquatic Breathing, Front Crawl, Front Crawl Breathing
- Equipment
- None, Float
- Age
- 6–12 years
- Group size
- 1–8 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Walk slowly so the swimmer doesn't rush.
What it develops
- Breathe out in a controlled way underwater
- Swim about 10 metres on the front
- Show early actions for all four strokes
- Swim front crawl with side breathing
How to run it
- Swimmers swim front crawl (or kick) across the width.
- The teacher walks along the side holding up fingers.
- Each breath, swimmers turn their head to spy how many fingers are showing.
- At the wall, they report the numbers they saw.
Teaching cues
- Turn to spy.
- One eye in, one eye out.
- Bubbles out under the water.
Make it easier
- Kick with a float and spy.
- Stop at the wall to report after each breath.
Make it harder
- Spy on both sides (a second person on the other side).
- Breathe every three strokes.
Common faults
- Lifting the head forwards.
- Stopping to breathe.
Corrections
- If they see the far wall, they lifted – turn instead.
- Slow the stroke down.
Assistant / L1 role
- Be the spy target, walking alongside and changing the finger count on each breath.