Free

Colchian In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally thoug ...

( ka, კოლხური, ლაზური) is the name of a swimming style from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

(aka

and Iberian) was revived by the swimmer Henry Kuprashvili by swimming 2 kilometers using military-training style of swimming “Hands and Feet bound

” on January 28, 2001. In 2002, for the first time in history, he swam across the

Dardanelles Strait The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont ( ...

in 3 hours and 15 minutes using "Hands and Feet bound

" on August 30. Henry Kuprashvili laid foundation of Georgian styles of

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

study process and established the

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

of swimming. The Georgian style of swimming comprises several styles unique to

: “Lazuri” (Free

), “Hands and feet bound Colchian” (Military Colchian), “Apkhazuri” ( Abkhazian), “Okribula”, “Iberiuli” ( Iberian), “Takhvia” and partly “Khashuruli” and “Kizikuri”. More traditional movements of the extremities are restricted or barred and forward motion is accomplished by

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the b ...

-like undulation of hips and paired feet. These styles emulate the motions of mammals such as the

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

, dolphin,

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

, and

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

, which have evolved adaptations to water that enable them to attain an optimal swimming ability. For those familiar with competitive swimming styles, Free Colchian most closely resembles the butterfly stroke, but with the arms remaining at the swimmer's sides.

Technique

While swimming Lazuri (Free

) or sport style: * The legs are pressed tightly together, the arms are pressed closely along the bodyline, the elbows should not jut out (to avoid excess resistance). The palms are touching the thighs; * The pelvis-waist takes a particularly active part, the legs are also active supporters, especially from the viewpoint of balance, the arms do not take any part at all; * Swimming starts with a simultaneous energetic lifting of the waist upward and movement of tightly placed legs downwards, during which the shoulder and the head move forward horizontally. At the same time feet get out of the extremely low position (they are not deep in water: not more than 10-12 degrees), the faster they leave the low position the weaker are the brake factors; * The second phase starts instantly afterwards, during which the swimmer already in the initial position. Energetic blow is maximally powerful, forward sliding in water active and quick, which becomes more effective with energetic simultaneous movements, twice (or more times) of joined feet; * Breathing in is made possible at the third movement of the pelvis and the feet, during which the shoulder zone usually moves straight, and the head is slightly raised above water with face and sight forward so that the mouth is slightly above the surface of the water to breathe in (it is possible to move the head right or left). The swimmer should follow the stream, without making any rough movements in order not to “disturb” water and cause unnecessary excessive hydrodynamic resistance. The swimmer should be in such control of this process, as well as water, to avoid occurrence of excessive hindering waves. (it’s possible to breathe in-out in 3 or more cycles, while breathing the swimmer may turn his head to right or left, at the swimmer’s convenience); * To start a new cycle of the pelvis and feet movement the head returns to the initial position (breathing in and out can be made for 2-3 phases); * During this phase the legs, movement forward is weaker than during the previous two and to overcome the rising waves resistance the feet glide on the water surface more, trying to keep the balance of the body in the upright position.

Start

In Lazuri (Free

) swimming starts like Free style (crawl), breaststroke and butterfly. But at initial condition, while start and going into the water hands are moved up straight to the body File:Free Colchian start 1.jpg File:Free Colchian start 2.jpg

Turning movement

Turning movement while swimming Lazuri (Free

) is similar to that of the

front crawl The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as the Australian crawl or American crawl, is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a f ...

. File:Free Colchian turning movement 1.jpg File:Free Colchian turning movement 2.jpg

Technique

Start

Turning movement

Further reading