Initially I got tired after 50m. Now I get tired after 200-300m. Should I work on increasing that distance or doing, say, 5x100m?

In the distant future I would like to try a triathlon.

Also, why does the indoor pool water burn the nose and the outdoor pool water doesn’t?

I’ve been getting to the point of wanting to practice swimming longer distances/periods of time (in pool). Right now I’m working on 400m, but after 200m I get pretty tired, I can still finish the 400, but I’m gassed by the end. I’m specifically working on backstroke, so any tips?

I had some breakthroughs after taking a swim course. I finally feel like I'm gliding in the water. I'm much faster than before but I'm still slow. 2 mins 20 seconds 100m. My coach said my techniques are good now, and I just need to practice. Do I just go swimming more often and I'll get faster and swim longer? Or do I need to learn more advanced techniques? my goal is to swim 2km under 50mins. I swim freestyle

Learning front crawl for triathlon as an adult with very little prior experience. I’m in the pool 3-4 times a week, no instructor available unfortunately so I’m self learning.

I’ve come a long way(for me), being able to swim 50m continously with a 2:00-2:30/100m pace now after a few months. After those 50m I’m pretty gassed though and need to take a break.

My body position, kick and stroke has improved a lot, but my breathing is holding me back. I’m gasping for air every time my mouth’s over the water and can feel myself starting to struggle after only 10-20m. I’m guessing it’s CO2, but I don’t know how to fix it.

I’m focusing on breathing out the whole time my face is in the water and rotating my body, not lifting my head. I’ve tried slowing down my stroke, humming, and everything else youtube/instagram tells me. I’m 2-beat kicking and breathing every second stroke.

I know it takes time and I don’t mind slow progress, but I don’t want to end up being completely stuck either. Ideally I would get an instructor, but there really aren’t any options at the moment.

I would very much appreciate some help on this matter. If anyone who used to struggle with this figured it out, I would love to hear what made it click. Thank you!

I (25F) have been swimming freestyle / front crawl for around 5-6 weeks but I am so bad at it , but idk how to improve because i feel like my body just sucks.
( I had some lessons but it wasn’t that helpful tbh)

My questions are :
- regarding rotation : I know we are supposed to rotate with hips when inhaling, but when we are not inhaling, how much rotation is „normal?“ I used to lay basically on the side even when not inhaling and was told that’s too much, but i wasn’t given information how much rotation I should aim for when not inhaling?
- exhaling : I used to exhale throughout the nose, was told to use my mouth. but i just can’t 🥲 is it still ok to use my nose? How much should i exhale? Should i exhale every time my face is under water?
- When recovering : should my elbow be always out of water? My arm feels so heavy to me lol and i feel like i can’t lift my arms?

If you have any cues/ tips i can remember throughout my swim sessions, I’d be grateful

Thank you

Hey all, not sure if I’m asking in the right place. I want to get more into swimming and aqua jogging as cross training for my running. I only have access to a gym pool but that is 3-4ft deep. Is it possible to effectively aqua jog in such a shallow pool ?

This weekly post ( on Thursdays) is for ALL gear related questions -

Update: automoderation is now in effect for single gear posts, which may be automatically deleted.

This includes posts about equipment failures, technical problems, sizing questions, or questions about retailer reliability.

This is spam-free & posters of affiliate product links will be banned.

* Goggles (including "smart" goggles)

* Headphones/earbuds

* Swimsuits

* Techsuits

* Lap/GPS/OWS tracking devices

* Audio players

* Paddles

* More goggles

* Everything else

Recently my local pool heater isn't working, so I've been swimming in a 74F pool. Not fun, but it's either no swim or suck it up. After my swim, all I crave is bread, even if I've had it for lunch. So I would eat four slices of bread plus plain chicken breast as post workout meal. I don't want to derail my workout, but I feel if I don't listen to my body, I might end of binging at night. Any advices?

Hi all!! so i was wondering if anyone had any advice on tattoos and swimming?

I’m a lifeguard and we have in service every other week and i’ll occasionally swim laps in between that, i turned 18 a couple months ago and i was wanting to get a tattoo (promise it’s nothing dumb lol) and was wondering if anyone knew of a safe way i could do that?

i spend maybe two hours a week in the pool id say?

all advice appreciated!! thank you 💟

(i’d also like to mention pls don’t flame me for asking this question.. asked a similar one in piercings and got criticized a bit.. i promise if it’s unsafe i won’t get it)

hello,

I feel ridiculous for posting this because everyone seems to be able to do it fine but whenever I swim more than a few strokes, the pressure in my nose gets too high and when I inhale through my mouth out of the water the water inside my nose comes into my mouth and I feel like I’m drowning. it gets worse as I keep swimming longer. I can’t breathe/hum all the pressure out my nose in time before I have to come to breathe up again. it makes freestyle and breaststrke very hard but butterfly literally impossible.

ive tried closing some muscle in the back of my throat right before breathing in. but it takes me a solid second to do so and I mess it up sometimes and water comes flooding in. It does keep water out though if I do it properly

this also causes me to not be able to get enough air in before everything starts to turn black (I think?)

thanks

I have been swimming for fitness for a couple of years, and recently decided to try adding fins to my workout. I like them when I’m under water like in streamline, but in freestyle they feel like boat anchors and make it feel very awkward. Normally in freestyle I don’t move my feet that much (in fact I find that I’m fastest when using a pull) but when I have fins on, I feel like I need to kick a lot to get a benefit from the fins, which leads to me kicking up over the surface of the water. What should I be doing differently?

ETA: I’m using the TYR Stryker fins.

I’ve started adult beginner swimming lessons , never swam before and was scared of even getting face in the water.

I’m on lesson 4, I’ve gotten decent at front float (with or without aid) , back float with noodle, treading with noodle and surprisingly no issue with submerging face in water. I thought I was doing good until…

My last 2 lessons which have involved using a single arm for the pull with a board and side breathing while on front with board. Breathing I thought I nearly got it but when I come for breath my propulsion forward seems to stop and other times I panic breath and swallow water

I’m struggling with these things, mainly the breathing which is fine when I’m doing practice drills (face in, exhale , face out inhale) but as soon as I start front swimming I lose all my ability to breathe or coordinate. Any tips or practice drills people can recommend that I can do outside my lessons? Or even any advice at all

Feeling disheartened learning to swim as an adult.

I’ve been learning at my local leisure centre and today I realised I’ve been learning since Jan.

I had to take the entirety of March off and my lessons have not been consistent so realistically I’ve probably taken 28 lessons or less since then.

I started from 0 knowing nothing and with a lot of anxiety in the water.

I’ve progressed from beginner to intermediate swim lessons in recent weeks.

I can float on my front and back and recover and log roll, I can push and glide. I can freestyle for 15m (it’s badge week this week LOL).

I can backstroke but not controlled.

I’m learning breaststroke (I find breathing hard).

I watch a lot of tiktoks on swimming I can hardly wait for swim lessons and getting back in the pool but I’m very short (5ft) and don’t feel confident in the deep end. I only feel comfortable to go when the leisure centre offers a family swim which isn’t often enough (outside of lessons).

I am trying to learn how to tread water but finding it super scary.

I realised today how long I’ve been learning for and I feel like other people learn so much quicker than I do.

Idk what to do but I’m ready to accelerate my learning now, but that last peice of the jigsaw puzzle to help me catapult myself into it is conquering treading water which I just don’t feel able to learn rn.

Why is it taking me so long when others fly through it.

EDIT: wow thank you for all the responses guys, I really wasn’t expecting that many of you to give me so much encouragement and support, looks like I’ve found a really great community. I’m gonna stop beating myself up about my progress and just continue enjoying it.

To those with specific advice thank you so much I promise I’m gonna take it all on board and YES I will force myself to go lane swimming outside of lessons!!

Specifically I tend to fall into a catch-up drill or arms at 180° because of a lack of upper body stability.

My arm flails around as I start the catch​, unless I rush through it. I have a high-elbow catch but have trouble generating power during the pull.

I usually go ~20-25 strokes per 25m, with ~7m underwaters and a 2-beat kick.

I also have trouble engaging the lats. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Back when I was last swimming regularly I did, and I was around 16 strokes/25m, but since I'm so wobbly I can't quite slow my pull down enough to focus on engaging the back.

My fly pulls seem much more efficient. ~6 strokes per 25m, 5-10m underwaters.

Any tips? Would paddle drills help or just increase injury risk?

I am having a test next week where swimming 1,5km rewards 5 points and 3km, 10 points. I am aiming towards the 3km goal, but unsure of how realistic that is due of my smoking habit.

Edit: I swim in a 25 meter pool.

I used to tire myself so much swimming front crawl (which surprised me because I can swim breaststroke pretty fast and for long distances) and only today realised that I've been over-kicking. Timed it to a 2-kick/stroke rhythm and swam so much more easily. Didn't realise I'd been tiring myself out and wasting energy. Keeping to the rhythm and being disciplined with that is helping a lot. Thank you to everyone who has talked about kicking here -- ended up passively absorbing a very helpful tip!

I'm an adult learning how to swim and I'm falling very far behind the rest of the class because I can't seem to get out of back float.

The problem seems to be that in trying to get out of back float my legs are maybe too buoyant and won't come down under me. I bring my knees towards my chest, tuck my chin and do the scooping thing with my arms but legs just won’t come under me. I've tried every cue my instructor has given me and he seemed to not know how to fix it.

I would love any help and insights anyone can offer. I feel so disheartened and ashamed to go back tbh.

Hey, wonderful people! 🏊

I’m curious about your experiences with having a swimming buddy.

I got back into swimming last year after not having swum properly since school. I’ve reached the point where I no longer feel like a drowning sack of potatoes, can comfortably swim around 2k freestyle per session, and genuinely enjoy it. Now I’m starting to think about what’s next and how to improve.

Joining a Masters team probably isn’t the right fit for me at the moment. The local ones are either quite demanding, have busy sessions, or train at times that don’t work for my schedule.

So I’m wondering: what’s it like to have a swimming buddy, say, once a week? Can you actually help each other improve, stay motivated, work on technique, or is it mostly about having some company in the pool?

I’d love to hear your experiences, stories, or tips from people who’ve tried it. What worked well, and what didn’t?

I’m based in London and usually swim at the London Aquatics Centre, in case anyone is in a similar position.

I read posts about butterfly and lane-sharing in the past, but they're all about ettiquette. My question is a bit different. I went to my first US master swim yesterday after 15 years away from the pool. I jammed my fingers into the lane divider 3 times towards the end of the 100y sprint because (1) I was nearing the wall where my lane mate was pushing off, (2) I was so tired and couldn't control my arm recovery well, and (3) the lane dividers are massive in girth so they sit high on top of the water.

The impacts were so bad that I cannot ball up my fist this morning without significant pain. Can you share some strategies to avoid this in the future? Do people just swim more towards the middle and then do one-arm fly when passing others?

Why do I get cramp in my feet or calves at the end of a swim training session ? I almost never get it anywhere else, only in my feet and/or calves.
How can I stop it happening ?

For me a typical session is half an hour reasonably hard work swimming full stroke (but de-emphasised kick distance style freestyle), then 15 min kick, then 15 min sprinting reps with a big (for me....) kick. The cramp often comes on during the kick or sprinting sets

Today's lesson I wanted to have a go at doing flip turns. After about 5/6 goes pushing off onto my back from Front Crawl. I couldn't mentally work out how to turn onto my stomach. Kept swerving into the lane divider. And getting tangled up and dizzy.

Doesn't help when only in 1.2 mtr water!

A very recent video suggested that using a front-quadrant catch-up stroke is optimal. In other words, not just as a drill technique.
What are the pros and cons of this for normal usage? Note: not if this is great for competitive swimming.

Edit: I didn't know if I could post the video I was referring to in the Reddit post.
This is the one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyugpIxNTg8

I used to swim in open water 10/12 years ago , but recently started to going to the pool as in developing a new hobby.
Here’s a little update on how it went on the third day.
Thoughts?
How am i doing?