Don’t swim alone. Always go swimming with one other person who is a strong swimmer, if not several other people. An area with a lifeguard is usually the best place to swim. Don’t start out swimming in moving water. If you’re learning to swim in an ocean or river, you’ll need to be more aware of the motion of the water. If you must learn to swim this way, try to make sure you’re with someone who knows what he or she is doing, and be sure to read the step about getting out of a riptide or a rushing river (below). Use proper safety gear until you have enough water experience and are reasonably comfortable in the water. Stay within a depth you can handle. When you’re first learning how to swim, don’t venture into water that’s too deep for you to stand in. That way, if something goes amiss, you can simply stand up and breathe. Avoid swimming during inclement weather conditions. Swimming in a light rain shower should be fine, but if you see or hear a storm approaching, get out of the water immediately. This rule is to be followed regardless of how well you can swim. Don’t swim in water that’s too cold. Moving your limbs to paddle can become suddenly difficult if you’re in frigid water.
Try floating on your back or your stomach as soon as you’re ready. Stay in a shallow depth so that you can simply stand up if it’s not working out. It might feel weird to have water around your ears while your nose and mouth are in the air, but you’ll get used to it. For extra stability, put out your arms at a right angle so that your body is in a “T” shape. When floating for the first time, you can try taking a deep breath and then floating. If your lungs are full of air, your body will float for sure. Do this until you’re more experienced.
A good tip for floating on your back is to hold your breath and have lungs full of air. Another good tip is to stick your stomach out. [3] X Research source
If you’re uncomfortable exhaling through your nose, you can hold it closed or wear a nose plug and exhale through your mouth.
Try a flutter kick. Point your toes out like a ballerina, keep your legs mostly straight, and alternate legs as you make small kicks. You should feel the most flexion in your ankles. Try a whip kick. Keep your legs held tightly together from your hips to your knees, and from your knees to your ankles. Bend your knees so that your shins come up to about a 90-degree angle, then quickly bring your shins apart and move them in a circular motion, keeping your thighs together the whole time. (That is, trace half a circle with each leg, moving your right leg to the right and your left leg to the left. ) Bring your shins back together at the bottom of the circle, and lift them up again to restart the kick. Try an eggbeater kick. This kick is commonly used to tread water, and stay in a vertical position with your head and shoulders above water. Start with your knees bent and your legs slightly wider than hip-width apart. Then “pedal” each leg as you would on a bike, only they’ll go in opposite directions: while one leg pedals “forward,” the other leg should pedal “backward. " This one takes some practice to get used to, but it’s handy for “resting” when your feet can’t touch bottom.
Try a backstroke first. Float flat on your back, and do a flutter kick with your legs. With your arms, do the “crawl” motion, lifting one arm straight into the air and keeping it straight as it re-enters the water next to your head. Once it’s underwater, bend it to bring it back to a straight position next to your side, and repeat. Alternate arms as you swim, and try to keep your fingers together and your hands as flat as possible. Try a front stroke (also known as a freestyle or American crawl). Floating on your stomach, do a flutter kick with your legs and use your arms to “crawl” forward. Bring one arm out of the water so that it’s “reaching” forward, then bring it back down and use your cupped hand to “push” the water behind you. Alternate arms. To breathe, turn your head to one side under the arm that’s currently crawling, lifting enough for you to take a breath. Take a breath under the same arm each time, so that you’re breathing once every two strokes.
Learn the dolphin stroke. The butterfly stroke . Swim the breaststroke. Do the sidestroke. Try swimming laps.
Always make sure the water is deep enough before you dive. At a bare minimum, the water should be 9 or 10 feet (2. 7 or 3. 0 m) deep; if you’re a tall person, make it at least 11 or 12 feet (3. 4 or 3. 7 m).
Do not panic. This is, by far, the most important step of all. By flailing and panicking, you could actually keep yourself under the water. Swim sideways. Do not try to swim directly to shore or directly out further into the ocean. Instead, try to swim in a line that’s exactly parallel to the shoreline. Swim in a stroke that allows you to breathe. Swim with the strongest stroke you can do that also allows you plenty of room to breathe. This might be a sidestroke, front crawl, or breaststroke. Keep swimming until you’re out of the rip current. You might have to swim quite far before you’re safely out of the rip current, but keep going. You don’t want to undo the good work you’ve done so far by heading for shore at the wrong time. If possible call out for help. If you can, motion to the lifeguard or yell “Help!” as soon as possible. However, don’t do this if it means sacrificing a breath or if you have to stop swimming - it’s better to keep yourself moving.
Don’t flail or panic. As with a rip current, panicking and flailing your limbs can push you deeper into the water. Try to take even breaths and remain calm. Aim to swim diagonally toward the shoreline. Swimming toward the shoreline at a 90-degree angle will force you to fight with the current too much, and might cause you to become exhausted quickly. Instead, plan to get to the shoreline at a diagonal angle that goes with the current. Don’t try to swim upstream. You’ll spend too much energy for not enough results. Only try to swim upstream if there’s immediate danger downstream, such as sharp rocks or a waterfall. If you are being rapidly carried downstream by the current, point your feet in the direction you are being carried. This may prevent you from striking your head on a rock or other obstruction.
