Bent-arm extension is meant for swimmers who have reached a point in their life where the shoulders simply aren't as flexible as they used to be, and who find it difficult to reach full extension in freestyle..

One of the first requests we received on the iPhone app, was to discuss, or illustrate, how the hand should enter the water on freestyle.

Here's a quick drill to help learn good sighting techniques for open-water and triathlon swimming.

When working with great swimmers, it's always interesting to see what specific things they do that we can all learn from. Working with Fran Crippen showed us a great breathing drill mixed into an old standard.

Do you limp when you swim freestyle? Do you lean too much to one side or the other because you breathe to only one side? While these things are easy to correct for a short period of time, a permanent fix requires greater focus over a longer period of time. Here's a quick way to experience what a proper, balanced freestyle pull should feel like.

Talk about a quick drill, here's one. This drill can be done during a kick set, or as a stand-alone drill.

If it weren't for the breath... that darn need for air... just about anyone could learn to swim a beautiful freestyle. This drill, which asks you to connect the shoulder to the breath, can help you establish better rhythm and timing.

Moving fast through the water requires a couple things: a great catch and a high-speed turnover. Sometimes, the harder you try, the less return you get on the water. By using tools, this becomes easier to feel.

Developing an early catch in freestyle is extremely important for all swimmers, but it's just not easy for all swimmers.

While this drill can be used with all kicks, the stability of flutter kick makes it the most effective for this particular exercise.

The argument will go on forever... coaches want swimmers to SWIM off the walls, while swimmers want to grab some well deserved AIR! All agree, however, that the fastest you'll be going as a swimmer in a race, is off the walls.

Wanna work your legs and body position, and have fun with some tools? Here's a fun drill that allows you to vary your flutter kick a few times on each length.

Wanna swim fast? Wanna swim for a long time efficiently? Experiment with cutting out the dead spots; it may be for you.

Getting stuck in a swimming mantra, or a generally accepted "way" to do things, is very typical of all swimmers. Breaking through to find the way that works specifically for YOU is atypical, but necessary for you to reach your potential. The mantra that yours eyes should be looking DOWN is one of those mantras that each swimmer needs to examine for him... or her self.

Our final part of a short 3-part series for newcomers to open water swimming. We hope you've enjoyed this, and hope that it's helped some of you that are new to this form of swimming. We ask your continued support for Swim Across America.