Swimmers buoyancy

Question
Hello Carrie

I am fit and active and can swim but not very well. I have also taken swimming lessons which did help but I am sure that I will never be a good swimmer as I think my buoyancy is low.

Is good buoyancy a necessity for efficient swimming? I feel I spend half my energy in not sinking!

If I float, totally relaxed, I am almost vertical in the water with just my face above water (I have to bend my head back to achieve this).

Are there any good swimmers with low buoyancy?

Thanks

Will  

Answer
Will,
I have never met a person for whom swimming was impossible due to low boyancy.  Therefore, I'm sure that your problem is much less related to your body type and more about technique.  While you were taking swimming lessons, I'm sure that your teacher taught you some simple drills to help with technique, so I will just touch on a few...

1. The deceiving thing about floating on your stomache is that it's not very realistic.  When you are actually swimming, you are neither holding your breath the entire time nor completely motionless and spread eagle on top of the water.  Therefore, this drill is probably not too useful.

2. A better idea would be to get a kickboard and just do a few lengths of the pool kicking.  Any type of kicking is fine (flutter, frog, or dolphin).  This will give you a much better idea of how your body reacts to moving in water, and I guarantee you that you will not sink with a kickboard.

3. Another drill (and one I'm sure you have done before) consists of holding the wall on the side of the pool and extending your body completely outward.  Next, start flutter kicking and put your head in water, occasionally moving it from side to side to simulate breathing.  This will be helpful for you, because I have a feeling that your boyancy problem has very little to do with arm motion, and much more with body placement.  Thus, by isolating your lower body, you are able to focus on the real problem.

4.  When you feel that you're ready to include more of an actual stroke, here are a few things to keep in mind:
     *Pretend like there is a board attatched to your back, continuing down to the back of your knees.  This section of your body should remain stationary when you swim, because once you start arching your back or bending at the waist, boyancy problems will almost surely occur.
     *Also remember that other strokes require less "boyancy".  Breastroke and backstroke are often easier for people just starting out, because accuracy in technique is not quite as essential.
     *Stretch your arms and make sure they are always moving (aka: don't do a "catch up stroke")  This will not only propel you further in the water, but also ensure that you don't stay in the same place for very long (a major reason why a lot of people sink)
     *Finally, remember to also keep kicking your legs, but not too vigorously.  Hard kicking often makes you sink because it displaces the water from your front half.  A nice straight-legged flutter kick will definitely sufice.

If none of these seem to work, I would consult a swim coach or teacher.  It is hard to "diagnose" the problem unless someone can actually see your stroke.  This will also allow the person more hands on help with your problem.  I hope this was helpful!  Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Carrie