Body Positions – swimming activities

Artistic swimming positions such as back and front layout, tuck, side layout and leg-lift preparations.

Activities

• Artistic Swimming Taster – Sculling, a ballet leg and a short group pattern to music – a taster of artistic swimming built on core skills.
• Artistic Warm-Up Swim – An easy warm-up linking strokes, sculls and layouts – one width each – to loosen up and switch on body control.
• Back Layout Hold – The basic artistic swimming position: body straight on the surface, face, chest, thighs and toes at the surface, held with a support scull.
• Bent-Knee Lift Preparation – From a back layout, slide one foot up the other leg to a bent knee and hold it – the preparation for leg lifts, kept firmly at introductory level.
• Front Layout Glide – Hold a straight front layout with the back of the head, shoulders, bottom and heels at the surface, sculling gently under the chest.
• Layout, Tuck, Layout Transitions – A short chain of positions – back layout, tuck, front layout, back layout – moving on counts without losing height.
• Log Roll in Layout – Roll slowly from back layout to front layout and back again, keeping the body straight like a log.
• Mini Routine Showcase – Pairs or small groups perform a short routine they have built for the rest of the class – celebrating presentation, timing and creativity.
• Position Chain Calls – The teacher calls positions in a random order and swimmers change smoothly – testing control, memory and transitions.
• Routine Review Circle – Finish with a calm back float in a circle, then each swimmer names one move they're proud of and one to practise.
• Shape Freeze in the Water – A game: swimmers move freely, then freeze into the shape the teacher calls – layout, tuck, star, pencil – and are scored on control and stillness.
• Side Layout Hold – Float on the side in a straight line with the top arm along the body and the bottom arm sculling – builds balance in a new position.
• Tub Turn – Sitting in a 'tub' (knees tucked, shins on the surface), swimmers scull to spin round – great for control and confidence.
• Tuck Sink and Surface – Sink slowly in a tuck, then open and surface in a chosen position – practising controlled underwater shapes and graceful surfacing.
• Tuck to Back Layout – From a back layout, draw the knees in to a tuck on the surface and extend again – the first transition in artistic swimming.
• Wall-Supported Leg Extension – With the hands holding the wall behind, swimmers lift one extended leg towards vertical from a back layout – an introductory, supported version of a leg-lift position.