Does swimming just click?

[Marvinmarvinson]

I had the weirdest experience today. I've been learning to swim front crawl and had steadily built myself up to be able to swim16 lengths without stopping. I've not been able to swim for a couple of weeks due to life getting in the way. I jumped in the pool this morning expecting to have gone backwards and sure enough my first 200m warm up was crap.

Next 200 was easier and then I thought I'd slowly build up to do more and more lengths. Only when I started swimming the next set - hoping for maybe 250m or 10 lengths, I felt really good so kept going. And going. And going. I eventually stopped after 62 lengths in a row without stopping.

Obviously I'm chuffed to bits but.. How?? How can I suddenly comfortably swim like that? I was always so breathless after 16 lengths but this time I didn't get breathless at all.

Is this a one off fluke? Or has something suddenly clicked?

Maybe you just paced yourself better? I always find the first 10 lengths are hard, then it gets better, and I can keep going until I get bored as long as I'm not really pushing it.

Yeah maybe I just got the pace perfect. I always find the first set awful too.

Once you learn to breath properly it does just click, the whole thing is more efficient so it's easier. Well done!

It does get like that - and sometimes it all falls apart for no apparent reason and is a huge effort.
But once you crack breathing, you shouldn't be breathless unless you are really pushing it - it's fatigue in my wrist that limits me

I swim 6k - 8k a week, our warm up is 1k

I’ve been swimming 3 years and it STILL hurts a bit to do the first few lengths.

I find after about 15/20mins it all falls into place. I think this is because the body switches from the aerobic to anaerobic zone and gets more oxygen from the body/muscles so is less reliant on you sucking in air every 3rd stroke. Once I’m warmed up I can swim forever, but the first 100 or so is painful!

Another factor is the more stressed or tense you are, the harder the swim will be. You went there with poor expectations and didn’t put yourself under any pressure because you thought it wouldn’t go well. This I think meant that you weren’t as tense as you might have been without the break.

By relaxing your stroke (remember the motto “slow down to go faster”) you’re more buoyant (tense muscle sinks more), you waste less energy, perhaps your body position was better? More streamlined as you weren’t kicking as hard? feet would then possibly be closer together and creating less drag.

Relaxing can also help you to take Longer strokes, rotate into the stroke, catch and pull all the way to the thigh along your body (shallow water is less dense to move, keeping hand shallow as you pull conserves energy)

Well done. A lot of what we think we can/can’t do in the water is in our head. Now you’ve broken through a barrier and you know you’re capable of further.

Have a look at Total Immersion on YouTube, that really helped me learn how to manage my energy and pace

Sometimes the first 10 minutes feels like a total chore & the last 10 minutes feels like a breeze. I usually swim for 50 minutes so everything inbetween is possible.

Thanks all. It's always felt like a breathing issue rather than fatigue. I'm really hoping I can repeat it next time I swim. I think it is possibly because I was more relaxed. I do my worst swimming on a tri club session because I feel so stressed about swimming in a group.