{"id":265125,"date":"2017-07-17T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T21:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=265125"},"modified":"2017-07-12T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T19:13:45","slug":"introducing-the-little-known-combat-side-stroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/introducing-the-little-known-combat-side-stroke\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing The Little Known Combat Side Stroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Samantha Dammann, Swimming World College Intern.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

If someone told you there was a seventh stroke, would you be able to name it? Most swimmers could count off the first six: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, corkscrew and sidestroke. The seventh stroke is only known by a small group of people called combat swimmers, and the stroke is called, you guessed it, the combat side stroke.<\/p>\n

COMBAT SIDE STROKE (CSS)<\/h3>\n

Navy SEALs and other specialized military personnel use the Combat Side Stroke (CSS) during water-based missions when swimming below the surface isn\u2019t an option, and when combat swimmers must swim through surf. According to the Official Naval Special Warfare Website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Combat Side Stroke allows the swimmer to swim more efficiently and reduces the body’s profile in the water in order to be less visible during combat operations when surface swimming is required.\u201d<\/p>\n

CSS is a combination of breaststroke, freestyle, and sidestroke. The top arm pull and breathing pattern after the top arm pull are the same as a freestyle stroke; the bottom arm pull is the same as the breaststroke arm pull; the kick is the traditional sidestroke kick. When done correctly with a five to ten-yard glide off the wall, a swimmer should be able to reach the other side of the pool in about three strokes.<\/p>\n

TIME TO LEARN<\/h3>\n

While seasoned swimmers might assume that learning a new stroke is easy, the dozens of instructional videos online would beg to differ. The U.S. Navy SEAL and SWCC Scout Team put together a deeply thorough article<\/a> for swimmers interested in learning this specialized stroke.<\/p>\n

Check out this instructional video for a visual depiction of CSS:<\/p>\n