Front crawl is the fastest stroke and gives you the feeling of being powerful in the water.

It is often hard to get the hang of at first because fitting in the breathing can be difficult.

Swim with all of your body close to the surface of the water, keeping your hips and legs behind your shoulders.

Imagine you are trying to swim through a narrow tube without touching the sides.

A good way of doing this is to put your face in the water and keep your legs kicking all of the time.

Try to use long fast kicks, making sure all of your leg is moving up and down.

Your knees should bend a little bit and your feet should make a small splash. Try counting to six quickly and kicking your legs in time with this.

Your arms provide the power for the stroke, so one arm should follow the other through the water and over the top.

Try putting your hand into the water in front of your head and stretch it forwards as far as it will go, slicing it into the water with your thumb first - the less splash the better.

Increase your speed by bending your elbow and pushing your hand towards your feet, keeping it going until it reaches the top of your leg.

Lift your arm out of the water and try to control it as it goes back to the starting point.

Breathe regularly. Your face is in the water so you need to remember to turn your head when you want to take a breath.

Try to turn your head smoothly, leaving the side of your head resting in the water.

Breaststroke is a traditional stroke popular with people who like to swim for fitness.

It is the slowest stroke, but that does not mean it cannot be swum powerfully and at speed.

The most important thing about breaststroke is to keep your body level at the surface.

Your shoulders need to be in line and your hips also need to be flat in the water.

Now move your feet and legs together like a frog - this is usually the most troublesome area of breaststroke.

It is the only stroke which uses these movements and can be difficult to get both legs to do the same thing at the same time.

Here are a few tips to help synchronise your legs:

You can try this sitting on the side of the pool with your legs dangling in the water

Alternatively, you can do it in the water holding on to the rail with your legs stretched behind you.

　

STEP TWO

Take long stretches between each stroke with your arms.

A really good tip is to make sure you can always see your hands. This will help to get the arm action right.

Start by stretching your arms out in front of you, just under the surface of the water.

Then press both hands out and round to draw a full circle, making sure your hands stay in front of your shoulders.

Your hands should finish by stretching forwards again.

Your arms and legs should stay in the water all of the time, making no splash at all.

　

STEP THREE

Breathe in as you finish the circle, lifting your face out of the water.

Put your face back into the water as you stretch your arms forward to begin the circle again.

　

STEP FOUR

The last step is to put the stroke together, so:

　

The back crawl is different to most strokes because you cannot see where you are going.

It is a good idea to count how many strokes it takes you to swim a length so you will know when you are getting close to the end of the pool.

Try and swim with all of your body close to the surface of the water, almost like you are lying on your back in bed with your head on a pillow.

It is difficult to keep your body travelling in a straight line if you don't kick your legs.

Use long fast kicks, making sure your legs are moving up and down.

Keep your knees underwater and bent a little, and your toes should make a small splash when you kick.

The arms provide the power in back crawl, making a circling action as they move in and out of the water.

You start by putting one arm in the water in a straight line above your shoulder.

Once your hand is in the water it should push down and towards your feet. Bend your elbow slightly and pull your arm by your side to your thigh.

Keep pushing your hand towards your feet until your elbow is straight. Then lift it out of the water, back to its original position and repeat the motion again.

Keep the arm straight all of the time it is out of the water.

Butterfly needs both stamina and technique, but the body movements are not difficult because you will have done many of them before in other strokes.

When racing butterfly, your arms must come out of the water on every stroke.

They must not drag through the water when they move from your hips to the entry position.

Both of your arms work at the same time and keep moving throughout the stroke.

Put your hands in the water in front of your shoulders and pull them towards your feet.

When your hands reach your thighs, lift them out of the water and throw them back to the start.

You should keep your head in the water all the time, except when you need to breathe in.

If you lift your head up at other times it will be almost impossible to get your arms over the water.

The easiest way to breathe in is to push your chin forwards so that your mouth comes out of the water.

It is best to do this when your arms are almost at your thighs.

The difficult part is getting everything in the right order, so: