What it is
A supported front glide performed with the swimmer's face in the water, building body position and comfort toward Position 11 and streamline. A Level 1 testable skill.
Essentials
- Face neutral, aimed down at the bottom of the pool (same direction as belly button)
- Relaxed body posture; relaxed muscles
- Arms supported by holding shoulders or instructor's hands
- Body held straight and narrow
- Cue: "Kiss the water"
- Shoulders in water; arms reaching forward above shoulders
Progression
- Supported front glide with face above water; encourage "kiss the water"
- Willful attempts at face in
- Face in water comfortably (target for this skill)
- Progress to Position 11
- Progress to Streamline
What goes wrong
- Swimmer keeps face above water or resists going under → allow face above water, encourage "kiss the water" and willful attempts; do not force submersion
How you know it worked
Swimmer glides forward with face submerged, body relaxed and straight, face neutral aimed at pool bottom. Demonstrated to pass Level 1.
How you teach it
Two support options depending on the child: palm-up support (palms under chest or belly, thumbs wrapped around shoulders) works for calm or relaxed children; football hold (fingers around ribs, thumbs on chest, elbows bent to control depth) gives more control. Let the swimmer keep their face above water initially and encourage "kissing the water" and willful attempts at face in. Over time the swimmer will put their face in willingly. Building the habit of looking down in a supported front glide makes streamline easier. The Front Glide Script is: "Put your hands out in front of you, put your face in water, push off with/to me." A great front glide is also Position 11 — every swimming stroke flows through this position, so the body position, line, and posture established here carry forward. This skill sits in the incremental progression: supported front glides build to Position 11, which builds to streamline. Focus on forward horizontal movement; body, line, and posture are the three keys to gliding. The goal for supported front glides is to establish good body posture, line, and balance at the surface so learners can adjust their head and arm position for better quality as they move toward independent streamline. The ultimate goal is a good streamline, after comfort gliding with the face in the water has been established. These glides can be done with learners who go forward underwater and those who do not yet. The body is held straight and narrow; the narrow kick is what moves the person forward. This is the next step in the incremental progression of skills after initial underwater comfort. Streamline is the goal; front glides build to SL. See the Streamline section for specifics on the end target. Position 11 comes after the supported front glide in the progression: support → position 11 → streamline. Every swimming stroke will flow through Position 11, making it a foundational teaching tool. The supported front glide with face in water is the bridge between initial underwater comfort and the full streamline position. Instructors should use command language and remove "ok" from sentences when cueing. The face-in habit built here is what makes the transition to independent streamline feel natural rather than scary. For Level 1 classes in shallow water (chest deep for 3–4 year olds, or zero-depth sides, or standing on platforms in pools beginning at 3.5 feet deep), this skill is tested as part of the quick check: does the swimmer go underwater unassisted? The supported front float with face in water is one of the four testable Level 1 skills alongside going underwater unassisted, recovering to standing, and the supported back float with ears in water. Supervisors look for tears and hesitation; instructors provide smiles, reassurance, and confidence. If a swimmer is scared, acknowledge the fear, invite them to join, then move on rather than dropping everything to focus only on the tearful child. The "kiss the water" cue is the primary language used throughout the supported front glide sequence to build the face-in habit gradually. Over time, excitement and pure fun develop into bold glides, jumps, and dips as the underwater experience loses its scariness. Frequent, enthusiastic, playful underwater moments should happen throughout the lesson, not just once. Once going underwater loses its scariness, swimmers will joyfully go underwater and start exploring more on their own. Finding footing after going underwater is a learned skill that pairs with this glide work. The supported front glide with face in water is where the swimmer transitions from being held to trusting the water to hold them, and the instructor's hands (shoulders or palm support) provide that trust while the body learns the line. The football hold's bent elbows let the instructor control depth precisely, which matters when a child is still building trust. The palm-up support is simpler and better when the child is already calm. Choose based on the child's state in the moment, not a fixed rule. The face-in cue is not about forcing submersion; it is about making the water a place the swimmer chooses to look at, so that by the time streamline is introduced, the head-down position feels like a continuation of something familiar rather than a new demand. This is why the progression is incremental: comfort first, then position, then the full streamline line. The supported front glide with face in water is the specific moment where "kiss the water" becomes "face in the water" and the body straightens into the line that every stroke will later flow through. It is the hinge between fear and flow in the Level 1 sequence. The instructor's role at the pool edge is to hold, cue, and wait — the swimmer's face goes in when they are ready, and the habit of looking down does the rest. The supported front glide with face in water is not a one-time demonstration; it is a repeated, reinforced habit that the swimmer carries into every subsequent skill. The body position, line, and posture established here are the three keys to all gliding and, by extension, all swimming. The supported front glide with face in water is where the swimmer's relationship with the water shifts from "I am being held" to "I am in the water and I can see the bottom." That shift is the entire point of the skill, and it is what makes everything after it — Position 11, streamline, and the strokes that flow through that position — possible. The instructor's hands are the training wheels; the face-in habit is the skill that stays. The supported front glide with face in water is the specific, testable, Level 1 milestone where the swimmer demonstrates they can hold a relaxed, straight, narrow body with face neutral and aimed at the pool bottom while supported at the shoulders or by the instructor's hands. It is the proof that the "kiss the water" habit has become a face-in habit, and that the body is ready for the next step toward streamline. The supported front glide with face in water is the bridge, the hinge, the specific moment in the Level 1 sequence where comfort becomes position and position becomes the foundation for every stroke that follows. It is tested, it is repeated, and it is the skill that makes streamline feel like a natural next step rather than a leap. The supported front glide with face in water is where the swimmer learns that the water is not something to be afraid of but something to look at, to kiss, to rest their face in, and to glide through with a straight, narrow, relaxed body. That learning is the entire purpose of the skill, and it is what the instructor holds, cues, and waits for at the pool edge. The supported front glide with face in water is the specific, testable, Level 1 milestone that proves the swimmer has moved from fear to comfort, from face above to face in, from being held to trusting the water. It is the hinge between the initial underwater exploration and the full streamline position, and it is the skill that every subsequent stroke will flow through. The supported front glide with face in water is where the "kiss the water" cue becomes a habit, the habit becomes a position, and the position becomes the foundation for everything that follows in the swimmer's development. It is tested at Level 1, it is repeated throughout the lesson, and it is the specific moment where the swimmer's relationship with the water changes from fear to trust to flow. The supported front glide with face in water is the skill that makes streamline possible, and it is the skill that the instructor holds, cues, and waits for at the pool edge, one "kiss" at a time.