Diving | First Exercise
The child stands in chest-deep water, facing away from the pool wall. They dive straight down to the pool floor, push off with both feet from the wall, and then glide through the tunnel, which is 1.5 to 2.5 meters away from the wall. During the glide, no leg or arm movements are made.
Preparatory exercises
Holding ring lower and lower
Hold a gymnastics hoop at the water's surface so the child can glide through it, then gradually lower it until the child glides through like a submarine along the pool's bottom. The child learns to push off at the lowest point and hold that depth — body posture controls the swimming direction, and the varying diving depths make the exercise more effective.
Touch the bottom
In a hip- to chest-deep children's pool, the child stretches both arms upward and touches the pool bottom with a different body part each time. Announce each step, count to three, then go: right hand, left hand, both hands, backside — and as a challenge, the nose (warn the child to avoid injury). The gradual difficulty teaches how to reach a specific depth and provides both success experiences and a rewarding challenge.
Holding breath
The child holds a pool noodle or kickboard on the water with one hand and joins a diving competition: at your signal, they submerge until you remove the noodle. Start with two seconds and gradually increase. This fun exercise builds small successes and the ability to stay underwater longer — important for the core exercise airplane, which requires holding the breath for at least five seconds.
Common mistakes
Raised head and unextended arms
Many children lift their head or bend their elbows, which greatly increases water resistance and makes the exercise impossible. The entire body must stay fully stretched and aligned like an arrow. If this happens, revisit the "water arrow" exercise with a completely stretched body.
