Floating is the single most useful water-safety skill there is — it's what keeps a swimmer calm and breathing if they ever end up in water unexpectedly. This lesson covers floating face-up, floating face-down, and rolling between the two without needing to stand up.
Meet Sally Starfish
Step by step
1. Learning the back float
Back float (supported)
- Stand behind the swimmer in waist-deep water, one hand under their back and one under their head.
- Lean back slowly until their ears are in the water, chin up, belly toward the sky.
- Now bring in Sally Starfish — stretch arms and legs out wide so more of the body rests on top of the water.
Back float (unsupported)
- Start with a supported Sally Starfish — belly, hips, and chin to the sky.
- Slowly change one-hand support to just a fingertip on their back, eventually no support at all for 1–2 seconds.
- Bring them back up to standing the same way each time so it feels predictable.
- Build up the unsupported time gradually as they get comfortable.
A common hiccup: when the belly dips, the legs follow. The fix isn't lifting the tummy alone — it's lifting the hips toward the sky.
A kickboard makes this easier to feel. Hold it flat at the surface and have the swimmer press their hips and belly up until they touch it — that contact tells them exactly where "the surface" actually is. Once the position starts to become a habit, fade the board out (or ease off your supporting hand) so they can hold it on their own.
Practicing alone? Grip the pool wall with one hand for support, and slowly let go as your comfort increases.
2. Learning the front float
Front float (supported)
- Have the swimmer hold the pool edge or your supporting hands.
- While supported, get the legs into Sally Starfish position.
- Take a deep breath, then guide them into a face-down float — chin tucked, eyes on the pool floor, exhaling bubbles.
- Once comfortable with the face in the water, repeat steps 1–3, but this time spread the arms into starfish position too, and shift support to just one hand on the belly.
This is the flip side of the back float: instead of pushing the hips up, let the belly and hips relax and tuck slightly. Watch for an arched back — it's the most common mistake here.
Use the same kickboard or hand method as before, but now aim for the opposite feeling: a flat back at the surface instead of a raised belly.
3. The flip
Rolling front to back
- From a front float, guide one hip and shoulder to rotate upward.
- Let the head tip back as they roll into a back float, without needing to stand up.
- As the body flattens out on the surface through the turn, settle back into Sally Starfish position.
- Keep a hand under their back through the roll until they're settled floating face-up.
Rolling back to front
- Start in a back float, taking a big breath in to get ready for the flip.
- Guide one side of the body — hip and shoulder together — down toward the pool floor, using the head and arms to help build momentum.
- As the belly turns toward the pool floor, tuck the chin slightly and spread out into the Sally Starfish shape.
- Blow bubbles the whole way through, to stay in control of breathing and keep water out.
Floats come before flips — a swimmer should be solid in both the back and front float before trying to roll between them. Keep your arms nearby and ready to help at any point during the flip.
Before trying this in the water, practice the rolling motion out of it — like rolling down a hill or across a bed — to help a swimmer get a feel for the motion first.
Float, flip, float
- Start in a front float.
- Roll to a back float and hold for a few seconds.
- Roll back to a front float.
- This combination is the real goal — it's what lets a swimmer recover and breathe if they end up face-down unexpectedly.
Track progress
0 / 6- Back float, supported
- Back float, unsupported
- Front float, supported
- Front float, unsupported
- Rolling front to back
- Rolling back to front
- Float, flip, float