WHAT IS THE LINE IN SWIMMING?

The idea of swimming in a line treats your body as if it is a stable object. If one end is lifting up, the other is pushing down.

Your line extends from your toes to the top of your head. It is important to be flat on the top of the water. This contradicts the established paradigm of common swimming advice where your body used to be treated as a speed boat, the faster you moved the higher your front end became to split the water.

Swimming the line decreases the amount of frontal and rear drag. Lifting your head high out of the water may feel like you are riding higher out of the water but you are lowering the bottom half of your body.

This goes for all competitive strokes. One line will move through the water faster and easier than the several broken lines of our land based body.

YOU MUST LEARN TO MANIPULATE YOUR BODY TO MAKE IT A LINE!

At first it is a difficult thing to do. It requires practice. One practice drill is to line yourself against a wall. All of your back should be against the wall as you drive your hips/pelvis forward. Your aim is to remove the curve of your lower back.