My legs Sink When Swimming

by Maury Conklin
(Monterey County, California)

Why do my legs sink when swimming? I am a 75-year old male who has gone back to swimming after 60+ years because arthritis doesn't allow me to do much else. I am doing ok, but it seems I have to kick excessively hard to keep my body level. A friend suggested I use a float or body buoy just above my knees to lean what it feels like to keep the body level. I do that, but it hasn't seemed to do much to teach me how to kick. In fact, my times are better with the buoy using only my arms (about 2 minutes for 100 meters) than they are when I am doing the regular freestyle stroke with my arms and legs.
Could it be that my legs are unusually dense? When I try to float on my back or stomach, my legs sink to where I am almost in a vertical position.
What do you think? Is it something about my physique or am I doing something very wrong? Do you have any suggestions for me? I kick with straight, but not rigid, legs.
Thanks.

Hi Maury, thanks for contacting us.

Your problem could be related to a combination of technique and your relative density. First and foremost, you must relax when you swim. The golden rule is to feel your way through the water, not fight through it. More often than not, the harder you try, the more you are likely to sink.


Not everyone is naturally buoyant in the water and in fact most males sink. This does not mean you will never be able to swim properly. You just have to adjust your technique accordingly.

The leg kick for freestyle swimming technique is required to provide balance to the whole stroke and is not required for propulsion, especially over longer distances. Freestyle arms provide the power and drive for the overall stroke.

Pointing your toes and kicking with a relaxed ankle is essential, firstly to keep the legs streamlined, but also the relaxed ankle gives a fin-like kick. You could maybe try some fins as they will force your toes to point and give you a feel for kicking in a slower more relaxed way. Do not become dependent on them though!

Our best selling book 'The Complete Guide to Swimming Front Crawl' contains 22 separate exercises for improving your whole freestyle swimming technique from body position to leg kick to breathing. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

We hope you find these tips useful. Good luck.

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