MANHATTAN MARLINS

Missouri Valley Swimming
Level 2

Fall 2025 Week 1: Technical and Conditioning Focus: September 1 – September 7

Reid Carlson

Fall 2025 Week 1: Technical and Conditioning Focus: September 1 – September 7

  • Macrocycle: Fall 2025: September 1 – December 14
  • Mesocycle: September 1 – October 12: Stroke & Aerobic Orientation
  • Microcycle: September 1 – September 14
    • Aquatic Posture; Freestyle Body Position & Rotation; Streamlines

 

Hello Swim Families!

 

Welcome to the 2025-2026 Marlins swim season! We are so excited and grateful that you are a part of our team and community!

The Manhattan Marlins is the only USA Swimming member club in Manhattan, Kansas, and, in fact, within 95 miles of the Manhattan area.

2025 is our 65-year anniversary and we are so proud to still be going strong! Our membership has surged since 2021 and we have achieved incredible success within our league, Missouri Valley, or “local swimming community,” or LSC, as it is abbreviated by USA Swimming.

Summer 2025 was a great season for the Marlins, and we cannot express our excitement for the upcoming season!

Seeing a swimmer achieve their goals and take pride in their accomplishments is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a coach.

All that said, please let me explain the upcoming four weeks, as well as this week.

First and foremost, we are going to spend the next five weeks placing a heavy focus on technique.

  • September 1 – 7: Freestyle; Aquatic Posture; Freestyle Body Position & Rotation; Streamlines.
  • September 8 – 14: Aquatic Posture; Freestyle Body Position & Rotation; Streamlines.
  • September 15 – 21: Aquatic Posture; Backstroke Body Position & Rotation; Streamlines
  • September 22 – 28: Aquatic Posture; Butterfly Body Position; Streamlines; Underwaters
  • September 29 – October 5: Aquatic Posture; Breaststroke Body Position; Streamlines; Underwaters

A common theme throughout the first five weeks of the season is aquatic posture. What is that?

Aquatic posture is the basic body position a swimmer needs to maintain to float the best—the best swimmers are the best floaters!

Aquatic posture refers to the link between a swimmer’s head and hips, though it truly requires a full-body connection; however, to achieve ideal aquatic posture, a swimmer must essentially “keep their back dry” when they’re swimming—surprisingly, this is also essentially the same for backstroke, though flipped over.

Aquatic posture requires a slightly tucked chin, a slightly folded ribcage, and a pelvis that is pulled ever-so-slightly forward towards the ribs and chin. The entire body is a chain, connected by the spinal column—as stated earlier, keep the back dry!

Neutral head. Neutral spine. Neutral hips (except in butterfly… kind of).

Freestyle is the stroke a swimmer will practice the most, regardless of their specialization, therefore, we will spend the first two weeks focusing on freestyle, a long-axis stroke. Week three we will work on backstroke, another long-axis stroke. Week four we will transition to butterfly, a short-axis stroke. Week five we will focus on breaststroke, another short-axis stroke which was the progenitor to butterfly, though from a technical perspective, more difficult to master.

Enough rambling from me—please let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll see you at the pool!

 

-Coach Reid