Swimming Games

Swimming games put you in the water to race in the pool, dive off the springboard or play water polo. There are about ten, all free and with nothing to download: a small section, but with quite different water sports.

What you can do

The races are in Swimming Pro, Swimming Hero and Swimming Championship. The usual mechanic in this kind of game is to set a rhythm with the keys, but it depends on each one, so check the instructions before you start. In real swimming, an Olympic pool is 50 meters long and races are swum in four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. The games on the list don't usually go into strokes unless they say so.

Flip Diving is closer to diving, where the flip and the entry into the water are what matter. Summer Sports: Water Polo recreates a team sport played with a ball, where you try to score in the other team's goal without touching the bottom of the pool. There are seven players per team, goalie included.

Princess Synchronized Swimming offers synchronized swimming, a sport officially called artistic swimming since 2017. Water Slide Rush Racing Game and Aquapark Shark are closer to water slides and the water park, with more of a racing feel. Wake Boarding is a board sport on the water.

Diving and water polo in real life

In Olympic diving you jump from a 3-meter springboard or a 10-meter platform, and judges score each dive from 0 to 10 on execution and entry into the water, the part you notice most if you make a splash. In water polo you can't rest your feet on the bottom, which is why players spend the whole game treading water. Even if the games simplify things, knowing this helps you understand what they're asking of you.

Tips

• In races, rhythm rules. Steady tapping usually works better than mashing without order.
• In diving, watch the timing of the flip so you enter the water well.
• If there's a stamina bar, don't burn it in the first stretch.
• Try the events separately: each one needs a different rhythm.