Home › Artistic Swimming – Stage 8
Synchronised Stroke Swim
Pairs or trios swim a width of front crawl, backstroke or breaststroke side by side with arms entering at exactly the same time.
- Stages
- Artistic Swimming – Stage 8, Artistic Swimming – Stage 9
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Stroke Timing, Synchronisation
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 2–18 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Skill Development 2, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Enough width between swimmers so arms don't clash.
What it develops
- Move in time with a partner
- Move to counts and rhythm
How to run it
- Swimmers line up side by side, about two metres apart.
- Choose a stroke and a slow tempo; one swimmer counts the strokes aloud at the start.
- Swim the width trying to match every arm entry.
- Partners on poolside judge 'in time' or 'out of time'.
Teaching cues
- Slow and even.
- Watch from the corner of your eye.
- Same stroke length.
Make it easier
- Breaststroke, which is easier to see.
Make it harder
- Trios; or add a synchronised tuck at the halfway point.
Common faults
- Faster swimmer pulls ahead.
- Swimmers drift together.
Corrections
- 'Match the slowest swimmer.'
- 'Keep your lane.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Judge timing from poolside for one pair and give 'in time' or 'out of time' feedback.