How to get better at swimming

[happygertie]

I am a size 20 having lost over 4st since last August. I swim and go to the gym. I see improvements in the gym but I am not getting any better at swimming. I do 30 breaststroke lengths maybe 3 times a week and I haven’t got faster since day one. I can do more then 30 lengths but typically I run out of time or I get bored, fed up of all the social gatherings blocking the swim lanes.

I have considered paying for a coach but it’s not that easy where I live to get one that does evening/ weekends, they all seem to be during the weekday.

does anyone have any tricks and tips to improve my swimming. I was hoping my strength training in gym would help - more powerful arms and legs but absolutely no change.

I think swimming speed is mostly technique and aerobic fitness, rather than strength.

Do you get out of breath of when you swim? I tend to swim faster until I'm at the limits of my aerobic capacity, and sometimes do interval training, a few lengths as fast as I can, then slower ones to recover. TBF this is easier to do with front crawl as it's a naturally more energetic and faster stroke. Have you considered doing other strokes?

Is your head out the water? If so, invest in some goggles - there's a limit to how efficient breast stroke can be if you're not putting your head under. Having your head up makes your body an unaerodynamic shape.

Beyond all the above, maybe ask a friend who's a strong swimmer to watch you and give you some tips. Swimming fast definitely has technique to it.

Do you put your head under the water as part of your breaststroke?

when I really push myself I get out of breath, and if the lane is quiet I will force myself to go hell for leather for a few lengths and then will need to go back to my normal pace. I used to swim front crawl, but I have an old shoulder injury that only seems to flare up with front crawl. For breaststroke I swim under water and come up for air with each stroke.

I also thought that I would naturally be a bit quicker after loosing the weight as less to drag through the water.

I’ll work on my cardio more and see if there’s any improvement

thanks

Do you have a masters ( adults) swimming club near you? Or a general swimming club which welcomes older swimmers? My local masters club welcomes all abilities (minimum standard to be able to swim 25m, up to serious competitive swimmers) and has coaches who can help you work on your technique.
Do you want to improve speed or endurance? You would train differently according to your goals. But good technique comes first.

You could maybe use a float. Hold on to the float with your hands/arms outstretched in front and just use your leg kick to swim. I was told that a lot of the power from breaststroke comes from a strong leg kick before the glide. Just using your legs also concentrates the workout on the larger leg muscles. You could also do front crawl leg kick this way - that always gets me out of puff!

There was a thread in Chat a few months back called:
Swimming for exercise- am I doing it wrong?
Sorry, don't know how to link to it but it had some good ideas which might be relevant.

Thanks all I will check for masters and the other thread. I’ll look into the floats too, I have seen others at the pool use them.

Swimming is about technique a good swimmer never looks in a rush

the problem with going hell for leather to get out of breath is you loose your technique

tbh you sound as though you’re doing amazing chasing speed and time can suck any pleasure out of it

swimming is excellent for an active recovery

I started of at just a few lengths. Added 2 each week until I could manage a mile!! I used to run through where I had previously lived during my whole life!! Remembered every detail.. Did take the whole mile!!

YouTube is full of great videos showing proper technique, my daughter is training with a club and she looks at them a lot to understand what shapes her body should be making though the water, and on turning. I, in turn, have also been watching the videos and seeing the swim coach demos when I'm taking her to training and my technique is now also better. Who knows, one day I may even attempt a tumble turn!

@Ramblingaway do you have a link?

We like Stephanie Rice videos.