Feet-First Surface Dive
From treading water, swimmers push down with the hands and sink feet-first with a streamlined body to reach the floor.
- Stages
- Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Submersion, Surface Dives
- Equipment
- None, Sinkers
- Age
- 7–99 years
- Group size
- 1–8 swimmers
- Time
- About 4 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Deep water: swimmers stay within reach of the wall or a helper, with a noodle or float ready.
- Keep surface dives short; no breath-holding challenges; watch every swimmer surface.
What it develops
- Submerge with controlled breathing out
- Streamlined underwater push-off with kick
- Surface dive feet-first and head-first
- Surface dives and object recovery
How to run it
- Tread water upright.
- Kick or scull up slightly, then bring the arms to the sides and sink straight down.
- Push the hands upwards to go deeper, breathing out gently.
- Touch the floor or pick up a sinker, then push up.
Teaching cues
- Kick up, then sink.
- Arms by your sides.
- Push the water up.
Make it easier
- Start in water just over head height.
- Sink from standing on a step.
Make it harder
- Recover a sinker from deeper water.
- Head-first surface dive.
Common faults
- Bending at the hips so the body lies flat.
- Holding breath and bouncing up.
Corrections
- 'Pencil straight.'
- Breathe out slowly as you sink.
Assistant / L1 role
- Watch from above and confirm each swimmer surfaces before the next goes.