Swimming Terminology

Hypoxic – Distance where the swimmer breathes only after a given number of strokes or works on his breath hold. For example a 400 hypoxic freestyle could mean the first 100 the swimmer breathes every 3, the second 100 the swimmer breathes every 5, the third 100 every 7 and the last 100 every 9 strokes.

Breathe every 3, 5, 7, and 9 – These numbers are the amount of strokes to take between each breath.

Descend – This is a set where each one of the repeats whatever the distance may be gets faster. The term descends comes from the time it takes for the swimmer to complete the distance. The swimmer gets faster each one until the last one is the fastest.

Streamline – This is what is expected off each wall and the initial push off. This is a tight position with your arms extended over your head and your legs tightly squeezed together.

Warm down – This is at the end of practice to cool down the muscles. The warm down could be done as slow as the swimmer would like. They should not race through it because that does not help the body cool down. It is also very important not to skip this part of practice because if the muscles do not cool down properly they may get tight and this is very commonly the reason for injuries.

12.5 – is a half pool length sprint focusing on exploding off the wall or finishing into the wall.