Swimming Starts: The Complete Guide

What Are Starts?

Each swim race begins with what’s appropriately known as a start. In freestyle, butterfly, and breaststroke races, the start is typically performed from outside of the pool; in backstroke, the start is performed in the pool. You can, however, start any race from the water if you prefer to not dive in.

Although any type of entry into the water is legal, headfirst entries are typical, even during backstroke starts. Because you’ll be swimming headfirst, you’ll want to enter the water headfirst to ensure you can quickly transition to swimming at the surface. 

Despite being able to begin any race from the water, most swimmers choose to begin from outside the water. Doing so allows you to dive out over the water, increasing your speed and saving time. The farther you can dive out over the water, the shorter the distance you have to swim. Even in backstroke, you should try to start from outside the water—elite swimmers lift themselves out of the pool during their backstroke starts and dive backward over the water. 

Starting techniques and equipment have evolved to take advantage of the opportunities to generate speed that the start provides. These refinements allow you to dive as far as you can as fast as you can to create as much speed as possible. As a result, the start has become a highly technical skill designed to optimize performance. 

Three Types of Starts 

The three main types of starts are the forward start (also called a dive start or block start), the backstroke start, and the relay start (more accurately termed a relay exchange or relay transition). 

The forward start is used in freestyle, butterfly, and breaststroke races. It’s done from the top of a starting block on the start end of the pool, or on the deck or gutter. The backstroke start is done during backstroke races and from inside the pool while holding on to the starting block, wall, or gutter. 

The first swimmer in a relay does a regular forward or backstroke start. The second, third, and fourth swimmers must start their races by coordinating with the finish of the incoming swimmer, in an exchange or transition. 

Although there are significant differences between these starts, they all consist of the same basic phases: the starting position, the start itself, the flight phase, the entry, and the transition from the start to swimming.  

The starting position is what you assume while you wait for the start command. Upon hearing the start signal, you begin your start. This phase continues until the moment you leave the block. 

Once you leave the block, you’re now in the flight phase. You’re in the air, traveling toward the pool, and preparing to enter the water. The entry is a critical component of the start because it determines how much speed you’re able to carry into your swimming. Once you enter the water, you’ll transition to the surface to begin swimming. 

Although conceptualizing these phases as separate can be helpful, they’re actually intricately linked. What happens in one phase will influence the remainder of your start. For instance, if you make a mistake in your starting position, that will affect your start itself, which affects your flight, your entry, and your transition to the surface. This is an example of why starting can be such a challenging skill to learn. 

Competition Awareness 

There are rules and procedures for starts that are important to be aware of when you’re competing. One of the most important is the referee’s whistles. Once the previous heat has finished, the referee will blow a series of short whistles signaling that you should be prepared to start your race. A long whistle then signifies that you should mount the block in breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle races and await the starter’s command. For backstroke races, the referee uses the same series of short whistles to signal you to be ready for your race, but then there are two long whistles: the first to direct you to enter the water, the second for you to get into your backstroke starting position. 

In larger meets, fly-over starts will often be used to save time between heats. In a fly-over start, the swimmers from the previous heat will complete their races and then remain in the water at the wall. The next heat will then start, and after those swimmers have dived into the water, the swimmers from the prior heat will exit the water. If you’re getting ready to start your race at a meet doing fly-over starts, be ready for the referee’s series of short whistles once the slowest person in the heat before you finishes. 

There are clear rules for how relay participants must exit the water after swimming their leg of the relay. In international competitions, swimmers are expected to quickly swim to the side of the pool and exit there. In American competitions, swimmers are expected to exit from the end of their lane. In U.S. Masters Swimming races, you have the option of remaining in the water for the remainder of the race and exiting at the conclusion of the race. If you do this, make yourself small and don’t move around too much so you don’t touch the touchpad or interfere with other swimmers. 

Muscles Used in a Start 

The start is an explosive, full-body movement that involves just about every muscle in your body. Not only are all your muscles taking part in the start, they’re also all used at a high level of intensity. It takes a lot of force to project your body over the water as far and as fast as possible. 

Your biceps and deltoids are engaged when you’re holding your starting position, ready to explode off the block or do your backstroke start. Once you hear the start signal during a forward start, your biceps and lats will pull your body forward. Once your initial pull is completed, your deltoids will work to throw your hands into a streamlined position. In backstroke starts, your pectorals and triceps will help you with the quick push away from the blocks. As with forward starts, your deltoids will then swing your arms into streamlined position. 

To launch yourself in the air, all the muscles of your lower body work together to create the necessary force. Your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves work to extend your hips and legs to launch you over the water. These muscles do much of the work in a great start. In addition, your spinal erector muscles work hard to extend your spine, helping you move from a crouched position to a fully straight position during forward starts and to an arched position during backstroke starts. 

Throughout the start and as you travel through the air, your abdominal muscles control your spinal position. Everything needs to be moving down the pool and into a streamlined position. All these muscles are critical for ensuring that this happens. 

How to Incorporate Start Work Into Workouts 

As with any skill, developing great starts requires consistent, effective practice.  

Although swimming itself is a relatively low-intensity movement repeated over and over, the start is a high-intensity movement that happens once in a race. Swimming while being fatigued can be beneficial because it helps you work on swimming fast while tired. But the best time to work on your starts is when you’re not fatigued. Because swimming and starting are very different, determining where to place starts in your workout to optimize development can be difficult. 

In most cases, the best strategy for improving starts is to work on them separate from swimming sets. And because starts are best learned in a state of minimal fatigue, placing start work right after warm-up can be effective. This ensures that you’re sufficiently prepared for high-intensity activity without the fatigue that will accumulate throughout the workout. Practicing starts as part of racing sets can also be beneficial but this is more likely to provide you with practice in racing conditions rather than improving your start itself. 

A common mistake is to do little to no start work for most of a season and then try to make up for it during the last two or three weeks before an important meet. A better approach is to commit to spending five to 10 minutes to work on starts one to three times a week. Exactly how much time you spend working on starts will depend on how much training time you have and how important the start is for your goals. 

Improving your start doesn’t take a lot of work on any given day, but it does take a consistent approach. Spending time working on key aspects of your start each week will allow you to patiently develop this skill. Small amounts of work performed consistently are most helpful. 

Why Can Improving Your Start Be So Difficult? 

Starts can be difficult to improve. One of the main reasons why is that they can’t be done slowly. With many swimming skills, you can slow down, take your time, and isolate the different parts of the technique. Not so with starts. This can make it hard to really understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and even harder to make it happen. 

Because everything happens so fast, each aspect of the start has a significant influence on other components of the start. If you make an error in one component, that error tends to get magnified throughout the remainder of your start. Although there are start drills that can emphasize certain components, it’s more challenging to truly isolate these skills compared to other swimming skills. 

An optimal start depends upon certain physical characteristics. Starts are much easier if you have the necessary range of motion in your hips, knees, and shoulders. Likewise, the more force you can produce with your legs, the more potential you have for an excellent start. If you have a 40-inch vertical leap, your start is probably going to be better than if you have a 4-inch vertical leap. At that point, it’s not just about skill, but also your physical capabilities. The better they are, the easier it is to perform a great start. Fortunately, those capabilities can be improved with dryland training. 

Although starts present unique challenges, you can overcome them. You just need a slightly different approach than what you might take to improve your swimming skills. Land training and varying your starts help improve your skills over time.  

Technology Differences in Blocks

Starting block technology has evolved, making starts faster and more consistent.

A major innovation has been the introduction of the wedge, much like those seen in track and field races. It allows for a stronger and more comfortable position to push with your back leg and allows you to start faster and with more power.  

The wedge can be adjusted forward or backward depending on your limb length and range of motion. The goal is to find a position in which you feel most comfortable and can push as hard as possible. 

Many starting blocks now also have grab bars on the tops of the blocks. Grabbing these can make pulling yourself forward during the initial part of the start easier. The grab bars are particularly beneficial if you have limited range of motion in your hips and back. Because the grab bars are elevated, you don’t have to drop down as low to get into your starting position. This puts you in a better position to create force that is more appropriate for your range of motion. 

One of the most common problems with backstroke starts is slipping on the wall. To have a great start, you need to push into the wall and down. If there’s not enough friction, or you push down too hard, your feet can slip, which will make your start dramatically slow. 

At many competition pools, backstroke ledges have been added to the starting blocks so that swimmers have a small, sturdy object to push down onto. This greatly reduces the frequency of slips. These ledges can be adjusted up and down, so each swimmer can find a position that allows for an effective push with minimal risk of slipping. 

How to Perform a Good Finish 

Great starts are important for fast swimming, but so too are great finishes. There are several key components of an effective finish.  

Maintain speed. Although it may seem obvious, the most important aspect of a great finish is to maintain speed. A lot of swimmers struggle to maintain their stroke rate into the wall. Ensure that you’re holding your speed. Trying to accelerate into the wall can help you do so. Knowing that you’ll be experiencing a lot of fatigue, trying to increase your stroke rate can help to ensure that you’re maintaining your speed.  

Finish on a full stroke. Many races have been won and lost because swimmers did or did not do so. If your last stroke is too far from the wall, you’ll have to kick or glide to the wall. If your last stroke is too short, your body will end up closer to the wall than necessary. In both cases, that will waste valuable time. Try to adjust your stroke when you’re outside the flags to ensure that you can finish on a full stroke. 

Do a legal and optimized finish for your stroke. There are some individual differences to good finishes for each stroke.  

In butterfly and breaststroke races, you must touch with two hands simultaneously. This can make ending on a full stroke harder, so getting your timing down is even more critical.  

In freestyle races, roll and reach with your last stroke while keeping your head down. This can help you get an extra bit of length to stop the clock slightly sooner.  

In backstroke races, you can use the same movement as the freestyle roll and reach, but you must stay on your back and not go past vertical toward your front. Or you can recover your final stroke over the top and quickly dive back toward the wall. If you choose this strategy, make sure everything is moving forward and not down.