Swimming for fitness (part 4). Everyone welcome.

[TheOrigRightsofwomen]

Old thread here

Anyone interesting in swimming for fitness welcome here.
Newbies, experiences, the fast, the slow - we're all sharing, learning and most of all supporting each other.

MadameF what is a SWOLF??! I’m in complete awe of the thought of running 100km a week...
Swimming 100km a month is a massive goal MGC31 I think I struggle to swim 5km a month-I really need to up the number of sessions I manage a month...

SWOLF is “swim golf” - stroke count + time taken over 25 or 50m. So if you do 25m in 30 seconds with 20 strokes your SWOLF score is 50. Like golf, the lower the score the better.

100k is a lot yeah. 4000 lengths of 25m pool but my usual pool is only 22m so I’ll have to do more. Managed another 3300m this morning, which is 150 lengths.

Total: 9.9k / 100k (only 90.1k to go 🤦🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️) 😂😂

I couldn’t run 100k in a year let alone a week!

Oh gosh, my Swolf score is probably about 60!
Maybe I'll count today.

ok... my Swolf data collected. 25m pool. Result about what I expected.
54-61 as steady pace.
12 lengths in a Triathlon: I imagine I could get down to 50-52.
Single length if very fresh & rested: maybe I could get down to 46.

1.5km this morning-didn’t manage to calculate my swolf-will target that next session as it sounds interesting...

Best way of improving your SWOLF score is first to work on technique - stroke & kick, then stroke count, then speed. An efficient stroke will lead to faster times automatically but you can then increase speed with speed sets/stamina/endurance workouts.

I see people going really fast but their stroke is so inefficient they knacker themselves out after a length or 2 and can’t sustain it. Equally, I see people with a low stroke count but it’s inefficient because they slow themselves down by pausing their momentum and not really going anywhere.

Trikski what is your stroke rate? My SWOLF is around 53 doing FC which is terrible and I have no idea how to improve it. I think it should be 26 or around that.

A very good SWOLF would be mid to late 30s. I'm normally somewhere around 43

I’ve never heard of SWOLF until now, I will try and count next time , like lljkk I’ve have Tri swim times, but I’m not a fast swimmer at all, my 12yr DD whose tiny, but a club swimmer out swims me and I glide too much. My stroke rate is low but my speed is mid range. This will give me a measure to work on thanks. Hope to swim Tuesday.

I’m gonna guess 45-50 SWOLF but I normally swim in a 20m pool, with 11 strokes in 30secs. So in a 25m I averaged 13strokes I think last year at a swim workshop, but I’ve changed my stroke abit since then.

For SWOLF, the stroke count is one arm = one stroke. 13 would be very low. Some places refer to stroke count as one full stroke cycle so left arm then right arm = 1

I was counting left-arm-right-arm as one stroke, else my SWOLF goes up to 74 or so. I'm not finding swolf a useful concept, tbh, I already knew I was inefficient but the path to being any different is extremely beyond me. I'm proud of the progress I made over last 30 yrs, but I won't improve much more in the next 30 yrs.

I started looking at swim smooth yesterday as a way to get some technique help-has this worked for people without a 1:1? I think should be my next focus for the coming couple of months...

I reckon my SWOLF would be around 80

Another 3.3k today. Managed an average pace of 1:53 per 100m for a time of 62:20 so quite happy with that. Fastest I’ve done it so far. 🤗

Total so far: 13.2k / 100k

I think I might book in for a sports massage next week. 🤦🏼‍♀️

@Whattodowithaminute
It’s definitely a start but you need someone to watch or film you so you know if what you’re doing is effective. I would recommend a 1:1. The David Lloyd I go to does a swim fit session that’s run by a coach/teacher so that sort of thing might be an option too?

Can anyone recommend a good lap counter or techniques in keeping count? I drift off thinking about something else and lose count so easily. I'd never heard of SWOLF either so will be checking mine today too. This is a great thread, thanks everyone, I adored my swimming as a teenager, it's lovely feeling the enthusiasm for it again

I use a Fitbit but to be honest I don't think it is very accurate. What I used to do before the Fitbit was towards the end of my swim I would do 10 lengths and time myself (or 10 minutes and count the lengths) and then extrapolate using the total minutes I have been swimming. It won't be 100% accurate because you will be slower at the end of your swim but will give you a good idea.

Whattodowithaminute ideally you really need someone to watch you swim, my daughter has spotted things I would never have noticed before and vice versa. Our local pool does swim fit with a coach for free advice have a look see if your pool does this, or have a couple of 1:1 lessons to help. I’ve been along to a couple of group adult sessions and picked up tips.

I loved Swimtag, but cheap providers took over our pool so now no Swimtag (boohoo)

I know from experience that I swim about 1km in 25 minutes (28 minutes for a 2nd km). So can fudge a guess at how far I've swum from that rough info.

3.3k tonight.

Total so far: 16.5k / 100k

ruddy heck MCG, you're gonna hit 100k by end of January at this rate (saying that with genuine admiration).

Thanks @jewel1968 that sounds like a good plan. I was thinking about a fitbit but maybe I'll hold off and see how I go for now. Haven't managed to work out my SWOLF yet because the clock at the pool isn't working so I don't know how long a length takes me. I swam 750m yesterday and same again today - feeling a bit weary now, hopefully I'll sleep well tonight!

@lljkk Thanks! 👍🏼 Hopefully I can keep it going.

Another 150 (3.3k) lengths tonight, although my Fitbit died around length 130 ish but I was keeping count thank goodness!

It is completely gone so I think I’m going to have to buy a new one tomorrow. I’ve had it for 3 years with no issues whatsoever and now it’s gone 😭😭 That’ll teach me for going in the cold outdoor pool! Don’t think it liked it.

Total so far - 19.8k / 100k

Had a swim with my DD yesterday so not lots of lengths but did some technique and drill stuff with her. My guess was right it takes me 11 strokes or 22 depending if you count one arm or two as a “stroke” for FC to do 20m in around 28 Secs but less strokes if it’s breastroke not sure this metric is useful to me as my number of strokes hasn’t changed in a year but I’ve got only slightly faster with technique tweaks.

Another 3.3k today with a new Fitbit.

Total so far: 23.1k / 100k