In-Water Stretching Drills for Swimmers

Staying flexibile is a critical skill for swimmers because it improves streamlining, stroke mechanics, and resistance to injury. But staying flexible as we age isn’t always easy. 

These four quick stretching drills can help. You can do these in the pool to supplement your dryland flexibility program.

Before getting started on the specific stretches, there are a few things to know about stretching in general:

• Perform these drills after you are well warmed up, either between your work sets or during your cooldown. Stretching while still cold and tight can lead to injury.
• These drills target areas where swimmers typically get tight, but you can add others as needed. If something feels tight, work to loosen it up with some stretching.
• Focus on gentle stretching—you should never push to the point of pain when stretching.
• Hold each stretch for up to 30 seconds, visualizing the target muscles getting longer and relaxing.
• Don’t bounce during the stretch. Just hold it and breathe into the stretch.
• Breathe deeply and slowly, and feel free to close your eyes if it's safe and comfortable to do so.

Streamline Stretches

The streamline stretch drill looks the same as your normal streamline, but your focus should be on stretching your shoulders and lats rather than on drag reduction.

To do this stretch:

• Push off in the water on your back (or your front) and kick gently while locking your hands together in a tight streamline.
• Squeeze your biceps behind your ears.
• Optionally, you can undulate sideways or cross your hands to extend your full range of motion.
• Try it face down and on your back, working to make your body as long and narrow as possible.

A variation on this stretch that can be helpful is the one-arm streamline, which isolates each side. To complete this stretch, push off in streamline (either on your front or your back) and drop one arm to your hip while keeping the other raised up against your head in a tight streamline.

By focusing on just one arm, this allows you to think about stretching your lat by moving your deltoid as far forward against your head as you can without the hand crossing over.

Handcuff Stretches

The handcuff stretch loosens the chest, enabling an easier recovery motion, especially on butterfly.

To do this stretch:

• Push off the wall on your back and kick gently.
• Bring your arms behind your back with elbows bent, as through you’re wearing a pair of finger cuffs.
• Lock your hands or forearms behind your back and squeeze your shoulder blades together to bring your shoulders away from the center of your chest.
• Move your locked hands up and down a few inches along your spine and notice how the stretch changes.

As you get better at this stretch, you may find it easier to move the hands up and down.

Quad and Ankle Stretch

For the quad and ankle stretch:

• Push off the wall on your back and float at the surface.
• Reach your arms behind your back and bend your knees so that your heels come up toward your butt.
• Grab the tops of your feet and gently draw them towards your bottom.

This stretches your ankles, thigh muscles, and hip flexors.

Starting Block Stretches

Starting-block streamlines are the same as the swimming streamline, but gravity provides the gentle force. The backstroke handles also provide a solid platform for hamstring and calf stretches.

To do this stretch:

• Plant your feet on the wall and grasp the backstroke start handles on the block like you would if you were about to race a backstroke event.
• Drop back into the stretch. You should feel a stretch along the backs of the thighs, the calves and the ankles as you push your heels toward the wall.
• You may also feel a stretch in the backs of the shoulders and along the upper arms as you drop into the stretch.

Start with both feet on the wall and then drop one leg down and with knee bent toward the bottom of the pool. Flex the foot so that your toes are pointing toward the bottom and the sole of your foot is parallel to the opposite wall. This helps extend the stretch to your core.

You can also do these leg stretches in any shallow water. To do that, place your hands on the deck with one foot flat on the bottom close to the wall. Then step the other leg back as though you’re doing a reverse lunge. While keeping that back leg strait, drop the back heel towards the bottom. Here, your body weight provides the gentle stretching force.

Remember, no single stretching set will make an immediate difference. The key is to make flexibility a habitual priority and to repeat these drills every time you get in the water as a supplement to your dryland flexibility program.

Be patient and stick with it, and you'll soon find you’re a healthier, faster, and happier swimmer.