Equipment is very important in the summers in training. There are many different types of equipment. There are pull buoys. Pull buoys allow you to swim with out kicking. This really works arms and upper body and  makes them stronger. This piece of hard foam is placed between the legs just above the knee. Another arm strengthener is hand paddles or also called hand gloves. You use these when you work with your pull buoy or you can just use them when you pull. They serve the same purpose as the pull buoy, to strengthen your upper body. Kick boards are another way to strengthen your body. But, instead of using your upper your body you are using your lower body and legs. You hold on to the kick board and kick. this keeps you from using your arms.
There are three other pieces of equipment I forgot to mention and these are the most important. First, I there are the lane lines. These are important because they keep the swimmers from running into each other while they are swimming. they also help break waves which cause wakes which slow swimmers down. They are usually plastic disks on a thick wire. Second, there are are the starting blocks. these are important because they help swimmers get into the water faster and it helps them not to slip. Swimmers also get a more efficient dive.  Sometimes the blocks have speakers underneath them so the swimmers can here the starters better. The speakers can really give the swimmer a scare, which is good because you will have a good reaction time. The blocks also have numbers on the sides for identifications purposes. Last, and most important piece of equipment of all....drum role please da da da di da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!  The pool of coarse! With out the pool the swimmer couldn't swim. The deeper and colder the pool and water the better. These conditions allow swimmers to swim faster.
During competition swimming is both fun but serious. There are many rules. You must follow normal pool rules ( like no running ), you must follow meet rules, such as no talking during the start and no flash photography and last you must follow swimming rules, like two hand touches for strokes like butterfly and breaststroke and rules like fault starts. There are many judges, starters, and timers who run the meet. The judges make sure you are not cheating or breaking any of the rules. If break the rules you can get disqualified. The starters start the race and the timers time your race race to let you know if getting better. In higher level meets there can be a judge to each lane. But at my level there are many that walk around. Meets can range from seven days to one. Meets are fun, despite all the rules I mentioned. You get to be with your friends, watch yourself improve, and show what you have learned in practice.

   

Evolution of the bathing suit

Strokes ,starts, and techniques

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