I'm not sure who or how to address this, but the place I swim allows more than two swimmers per lane, but people will actively wait if there are two people in a lane at a time. Most busy pools will have up to 5-6 people at a time. How can I let the lifeguards/admins know to encourage people it's okay to have more than two?

Once again the pool at our Wellness center has heating problems. It's been this way for a week now. Today it was 76°. So I bought a wetsuit (61F, 135 lbs, I get cold easily). Today I swam laps in it for the first time. Happily, I didn't shiver for 3,200 yards. So that was nice. I was ridiculously buoyant and flew through the workout, shaving about 10 minutes off my usual time. I had trouble with breaststroke a bit because my legs were so... floaty. Anyone else workout in one?

Hi, I made a post about my brother's sinking legs previously and it only got one reply... So here I am for more drills ideas, since I don't really have this problem.

What effective drills are there apart from kicking with a board?

Also, we live in a country where we can't tape in swimming pools, so we had to wait for summer time to film ourselves at the campsite pool, which makes it hard to get visual feedback. So we didn't really realize how his legs were sinking until we compared our footage side by side. Are there any ways to keep track of your mistakes in the water without any footage? I don't really think so but who knows...

I was competitive swimmer from age 8 to 16 and think it impacted me in a negative way. I was a girly girl and the change I saw in my upper body compared to girls that didn’t swim caused me extreme distress and body image issues that I still carry as an adult.

I just want to hear coaches and parents perspectives as to why this is not talked about more openly.

When I voiced my concerns as a young girl about that my coach and parent convinced me it’s a myth and nonsense. But it is not.

Swimming changes the growing girl physique and phenotype. Why is this such a taboo topic that nobody wants to recognize?

70 yo distance swimmer. I am using AI (Claude) to plan my training for a 10k next summer after successfully using AI to train for a 5k. Below is this week's training plan. What are your thoughts?

Day 1: Aerobic (~3,800)

• Warm-up: 400 easy
• Drill: 4×50 on 1:10, RPE 3, working on breathing to the left:
  1. Side kick, left breathing. Lie on your right side, right arm extended, left arm at your hip. Kick face down and roll your head left to breathe, with one goggle staying in the water. Fins are optional.
  2. 6-kick switch. Do 6 kicks on your side, then one stroke to roll over. Breathe only when you’re on your right side, so every breath is to the left. Fins are optional.
  3. Left-arm single-arm swim. Keep your right arm extended out front, stroke with your left arm, and breathe left on every stroke, turning your head with the pull.
  4. Full stroke. Breathe left every 2 on the first 25, then breathe right every 2 on the second 25.
  5. If you’re gulping water, slow your kick instead of lifting your head.
• Main: 3×1,000 on 18:00. Hold 16:50–17:10 (about 1:41–1:43/100). RPE 5. Open turns are fine.
• Cool-down: 200 easy + 200 choice

Day 2: Threshold (~2,600)

• Warm-up: 400 easy, then 4×50 build on 1:00 (RPE 3 building to 6)
• Main: 6×200 on 3:30 at CSS. Hold 3:04–3:08 and keep the reps even. Flip turns. RPE 7. If you’re over 3:10 by #5, stop after #5.
• 200 easy
• 400 pull, steady (RPE 5)
• Cool-down: 200 easy

Day 3: Pull / open-water skills (~2,600)

• Warm-up: 400 easy
• Main: 5×400 on 7:20. Odd reps are pull. Even reps are swim, with the last 100 as 25 head-up plus sighting every 6 strokes.
• Pace cap: no faster than 6:45 (about 1:41/100). RPE 4–5.
• Cool-down: 200 easy

Day 4: Long swim (~4,500)

• Warm-up: 300 easy
• Main: 2×2,000 with a feed stop of 30 seconds or less between them. Practice taking the feed quickly.
• Target 1:42–1:44/100, which is about 34:00–34:40 per 2,000. Open turns. RPE 4, letting it drift to 5 in the last 500.
• Cool-down: 200 easy

53F here. I have been swimming off and on for my whole life. I swim only breast and back strokes. Yesterday for funsies I started to breathe every two strokes instead of every one. Are there any benefits to doing this or am. Am I just doing parlor tricks?

I have realized there is a lot of people on my pool training with swimming fins. Is this a new trend? Does it add any benefit or extra training? Is it a way to compensate for people with some physical problem?

when I was swimming competitively (a very long time ago) we never used them and I barely saw them in any pool, so I am surprised seeing them so often now.

Hey friendos, need some help here, I’m kinda baffled.

When I do longer non stop swims, let’s say over 600m I start to feel bloated when I get out of the water.

Today I did 3km non stop, felt fine in the water (could’ve done another km) but 5 minutes after I got out I felt so bloated it was actually painful for like half an hour until I got home and lied down. Now after some burps and farts 😄 it’s better 😅

It feels like it’s gas / air but I’m confused at to what I’m actually doing to cause it. I breathe alternating sides every three strokes and have a two beat kick. Breaths are fairly shallow and my head is one goggle under and one over the water when breathing. I guess I’m swallowing air somehow(?). I’ve asked a bunch of people but no solution so far 😅

For reference my pace was 2min/100m which is fairly comfortable for me.
I can do 10x100m with like a 2-3min break at a 1:37 pace and my full out 100m is probably around 1:24ish.
So I’m not a pro by any means but not a beginner either.

Hi all,

I've been trying to teach myself to swim freestyle for the last few weeks. I've finally learned to breathe well enough to not feel like I'm running out of breath all the time and I've gone from about 4:45m/100m to about 2:45m/100m, so I feel like I'm making good progress and I'm pretty proud of that.

The thing I'm trying to work on now is when I go to rotate to breathe on my right side, my left arm bends and drops, I'm having a really hard time keeping it straight out in front of me (and please correct me if it's not supposed to be straight, that just seems like what other people do from watching videos). Does anyone have any tips or dills I can do to try and fix this?

Thanks! :)

I did 15k yesterday over two sessions, actually felt pretty solid and held steady pace. Only source of pain during the last 3-4k was in my ankle from extended plantar flexion.

Anyone else have this? I have been doing some light resistance training on my tibialis anterior as noticed it when I used fins for extended periods too.

Any tips for strengthening this muscle? I know it’s quite a niche question but worth asking maybe.

Other question was hydration. I just had water for the swim and was tryna just micro hydrate throughout but kept on getting so thirty and wanting to just chug the bottle however I had to restrain as I new it would not end well. Would having an electrolyte drink help this?

I drink a lot on a day to day anyways so might have just been general thirst.

Thanks for any input and happy swimming!!

The only swimming I’ve ever done was a few years of weekly lessons as a kid
I’m a pretty average swimmer but only ever did it to learn the basic strokes, and for safety of course as a child
I do really enjoy swimming though and would like to start now (I’m 22) I think it’d be great exercise and also relaxing and an opportunity to zone out
The problem is I’m pretty anxious and hate new situations, and I’m pretty scared to go on my own
I’m not sure what to expect, and even thinking about what to wear is freaking me out a bit
I usually swim in trunks and a sports bra (I’m a woman) is that ok at a lap pool? Or will it look weird? Do I need a cap and goggles? I’m assuming those are mainly for comfort but would it be weird to not have them?
I think I understand lane splitting and what not but I’m not sure of my pace, so do I just swim in the slowest looking lane if I have to split until I know my pace better?
I’m probably overthinking this by a lot but still, it’d be nice to have some of these stupid questions answered so I’d feel a little less awkward

i swam the 200 fly this weekend and ended up going a 2:02 which is a PB for me. I did end up slowing down a lot on the last 50 especially. I went out in a 56.00 on the first 100 which is a bit too quick i believe. Towards my last 25 yards my hips sank pretty low in the water which started slowing me down a lot. I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how i could train myself to maintain my body position even if i’m tired

next time i swim it i’m definitely going to try going out with slightly less effort because that has worked for me in the past

Also, any other tips for 200 fly? I do swim a good amount of 200s fly in practice which has helped me improve as i’m relatively new to the event but what other stuff should i be focusing on?

My 8 year old daughter is a swimmer. She swims 3 squad sessions a week at 75 - 90 mins and a 30 min private technique session. She has been dealing with tight muscles that make it hard for her to train. I wanted to ask how you guys manage tight muscles and recovery? I had her in physio for a checkup and massage this morning which helped and we will be focusing on more stretches for cooldown.

Does anyone use something like a massage gun or foam rollers? Would these or anything else be possible to use for her?

Just started swimming a few weeks due to a broken back. I have a 10k race as my goal in April, so right now just experimenting with freestyle and seeing how things feel. Eventually I’ll book some swim lessons and learn how to do drills properly.
This felt amazing and I could’ve gone for longer. I was in the pool for a total of 1:22, so 12 min of rest.
How fast do people typically do 3000 yd? curious any tips or tricks

So, I got an infection and am 2 weeks desling with it and still don’t have all my hearing back. I longed for the easier csection pain because IT sucked! I had shingles in my 20’s and I equate the pain with that.

Anyways, i always swim with silicone plugs- I think that the problem was surfing because the infection started 2 days after my last surf.
I am itching to get back to it feeling like a lazy whale, but I haven’t healed 100%.

What lind of plug can i use to seal up my ear while it’s healing? Wax?
I will probably go get a mold made after this.

I don't know if this is a Parenting post or a Swimming post - putting it under Swimming for now - if the mods reject it will move it to Parenting.

Context

My 6 year old has been going to swim for around a year - 2/3 times a week based on her schedule. We started it as I view swimming as a vital life skill.

The Challenge

However, it turns out she is very competitive. Something I had not anticipated/expected.

In the course of the last year, she saw a few Olympic videos and winners getting Medals - she became obessed with getting a medal/certificate.

She had been badgering us to take her to a swimming meet so that she could 'win'. I resisted for a year but finally I relented and took her to a local meet this weekend.

Turned out she did not win (did not come in the top 3) - clocks 30s for 25mtrs freestyle - water start.

The Situation

She is super upset and now wants to stop swimming as she did not win. What I failed to realize (my mistake) before the meet was that she had imagined a whole world where the win was guaranteed and she came home with a certifiate. It has been a shattering of a dream for her.

I appreciate it is a process of learning from failures, but, last 2 days have been traumatising for her and as a parent you question your decision - in retrospect, taking her to the meet was likely a mistake.

The Query

• Should I stop taking her to meets for a few years? What age is ideal to start taking her to meets?
  • Her coach says she has potential and is very dedicated for her age so she may make a good competitive swimmer in the future
• Is 6 too early an age to learn swimming? Should I wait till she is 9/10 before restarting her classes?

We will ofcourse will counsel her when she calms down, but I just wanted to check in case anyone had any opinions.

Edit 1

A big thanks for the helpful responses; didn't expect so many! Much appreciated.

Summarising my take aways from the feedbacks.

• I intend to work with her on explaining 'need to win and being competitive are two very different things'
  • We will be taking a 2 week hiatus from swimming lesson and let her reset
  • In that period I am going to work on changing her definition of a win:
    • A win will be improvement of her timing
    • Going forward she will get a badge from me for every meet she participates in (The badge will have the date of the event and her timing - plan to stick these on her door)
• Since a few of you mentioned, yes I know this could also fit in the parenting sub and hence the disclaimer in the first sentence

My sets range from multiple 100s to multiple 400s.

For 100s I might do something like 6x100s on 1.30 x2. When I’m doing it I’m typically coming in on 1.20/1.25, and maybe 1.28 toward the end. This means I’m getting 5-2s of rest between coming in and going again. Toward the end I’m completely gassed and this means it’s hard to maintain the pace, so i get slower, I get less rest and so on.

Is the rest period too short? Should I try to go same pace by maybe on 1.40, focusing on coming in on 1.20?

Hey all,

I'm wondering how I can get my weight/size up. I am a 15M 5'10.5" (179cm) and only weigh around 128lbs (58kg). One of my friends in my swim team recently started improving like crazy. In less than a year, they went from a 33-34s 50 breast average to consistent 29s. Just today they went 1:06:8x in the 1 breast. I myself am a breaststroker but I added on my 1 breast today, from a seed time in March. I'm wondering if there is anything else he did because he also got noticeably bigger, at least with his upper body. Is there anything I can eat that helps with gaining? I also have a meet, day 2, tomorrow so if there's anything I can eat to prepare for that, both today and on meet day/before individual event warmups, I'd love recommendations.

Dear all, breaststroke has always been my stroke. I am confident in it and I can easily swim 60 minutes and do 1.4 miles without a break. Now I want to try triathlons and obviously you have to do a freestyle for that because breaststroke is just not efficient. For the love of God, I was finally taught how to do basic freestyle, and I can’t swim more than 25 yards. I bought the ear Play-Doh. I got the no fog goggles, but I’m about to die after a single pool length.
My legs are burning, my arms are hurting, my heart rate is 120 like I just feel like my technique must be crap because if I have the endurance for breaststroke, I should have even more endurance for the freestyle? Or do you need to build a different physique for a specific stroke? I’m sorry if it is a stupid question but I can even do OK backstroke but freestyle is an absolute nightmare and I don’t understand why… thank you for any advice

Hi,
30M, I have been swimming for 8 months now my long term goal is open water swimming.
I am on week 3 of this oldschool plan http://ruthkazez.com/swimming/ZeroTo1mile.html
I love it, because finally my workouts have some progression. The only things that bothers me is - I swim in 50m pool and the whole plan is in yards, so my plan is to recalculate the "big" lengths in weeks 4-6 lengths to meters, so "my" plan looks like this:

The same workout 3x per week
WEEK 1 (finished)
4x100m
4x50m
2x50m (different amount of rest between lengths)

WEEK 2 (finished)
200m
4x100m
4x50m
2x50m

WEEK 3 (will finish last workout on tomorrow)
400m
200m
4x100m
4x50m

WEEK 4 (future)
550m
300m
4x100m
4x50m

WEEK 5
900m
4x100m
4x50m

WEEK 6 (day 1 and 2)
1100m
3x100m
3x50m

3rd day
1500m
I will keep rests the same as original.

Any thoughs?

Should I just raw doggy it and do 600m, 1000m, 1200m and 1650m? That 1-3 lengths doesn't feel like a too much of a difference right now.
I could also transfer total volume to meters:
So first week is 700 yards which is 640m, So I would do 1 length less on my last set (so 650m total).
I kinda don't feel like it, because I keep losing track of number of lenghts in my head all the time, which feels like cheating.

Not sure if I'm looking for sympathy, to know I'm not the only one or if this is a cry for help but I'm sure I took some lessons as a kid, however I cannot remember literally anything now that I'm finally getting back into the water.

I honestly thought it would be similar to riding a bike but every kind of "style" feels wrong and I'm pretty slow. I can't seem to dive to the bottom of a pool either or stay there when surface diving.

Had to teach myself to tread water yesterday which is clearly fucking terrible news.

Has this happened even remotely to anybody else or should I take this as a sign that swimming is just not in the plan??

I joined a Masters swim club in early August, and I've been going five days a week. I swim Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

I'm a bigger guy and definitely not the fastest swimmer, but I'm fine with that. I'm there to get exercise and improve.

In the mornings, I've been swimming in lane 7 out of 8 for at least eight weeks now. Usually there are another 1–2 people in my lane, so we either split the lane or circle swim, and it's never really been an issue.

Today, the other two people who normally swim in my lane weren't there, so I had the lane to myself. Lane 6 usually has around four people in it, so two of them decided to move over to my lane.

After I'd swum probably 200 yards, one of the women who moved over told me she didn't like having to swim around me because I was slower and that I should move to lane 8.

That felt a little weird to me because I'd been there first, and I've been swimming in that lane for weeks. I get that she wanted to swim with people closer to her speed, but she's the one who moved into my lane.

Lane 8 is usually occupied by 2–3 guys in their late 70s who swim pretty slowly and can be a little grumpy. So if I moved there, I'd basically be doing the same thing to them that this woman was complaining about me doing to her.

I didn't really want to argue about it, so I just got out and went over to our other indoor pool, where there was an empty lane.

The problem is that our normal lap pool is around 77–80°F, while the other pool is quite a bit warmer since it's used for things like water aerobics. It was nice having a lane to myself, but I was getting way too hot swimming in there.

Now I'm debating whether I should say something to the coach or just let it go.

I totally understand that I'm a slower swimmer and that it's easier when everyone in a lane swims at a similar pace. But it also feels kind of wrong to be told to move out of a lane I've been swimming in for two months, especially when I was there first.

I'm really not a confrontational person, and I don't want to make a big deal out of something small, but the whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way.

Am I wrong for being bothered by this? Would you say something or just move on?

I’m currently training for a triathlon. My running is superb, my cycling is okay, but my swimming….? What the heck. This is so difficult.

Any advice on how to master the breathing in crawl? I’m struggling with exhaling under water. My body seems to not like being under and automatically holds my breath, so I have to release and focus too much on the exhaling part? Any ideas? Kinda hard to explain.. But it feels like a reflex that my body does NOT like exhaling underwater at all.

So in March I started a GLP injection, I'm working out, and I'm swimming for weight loss. 43 year old 256lbs male. I bike for 30 minutes, lift weights, and then I swim 1000 meters 3 times a week. I'm not interested in becoming a better skilled, faster swimmer, but I noticed that for the first about 400 meters my shoulders are tense and ache. Once I break that barrier, I'm fine and have no trouble continuing my swim. Any exercises, stretches, or machines I should think about trying to work out that tension and increase the strength or should I warm up differently?