The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the head position on passive drag with a towing-line experiment in a swimming pool. The tests were performed on ten male swimmers with regional level swimming skills and at least 10 years of competitive swimming experience. They were towed underwater (at a depth of 60 cm) at three speeds (1.5, 1.7 and 1.9 m/s) and in two body positions (arms above the swimmer`s head and arms alongside the body). These two body positions were repeated while the swimmer`s head was positioned in three different ways: head-up, head-middle and head-down in relation to the body`s horizontal alignment. The results showed a reduction of 4-5.2% in the average passive drag at all speeds when the head was down or aligned to the swimmer`s arms alongside the body, in comparison to the head-up position. A major significant decrease of 10.4-10.9% (p < 0.05) was shown when the head was down or aligned at the swimmer`s arms above the swimmer`s head. The passive drag tended to decrease significantly by a mean of 17.6% (p < 0.001) for all speeds examined with the arms alongside the body position rather than with the arms above the head position. The swimmer`s head location may play an important role in reducing hydrodynamic resistance during passive underwater gliding.
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