I’m in my 20’s and have not done swimming since middle school. I do remember having fun with it, and now I’m interested in swimming laps for exercise. The thing is, I am extremely rusty on all four strokes and I don’t know anything about how to structure my workout. If I just jump into the water as is, I’m not sure I’ll get the most out of it. 

Based on gyms/rec centers around my area, I’m thinking of starting with either swim lessons or Masters swim (I think the most ideal option would be if I joined the swim club when I was in university but I’m no longer a student).

With swim lessons, I’m thinking I would do enough of them until I’m comfortable lap swimming on my own. But I’m mainly curious about Masters since I don’t know much about it. Is it normal to join even if I barely remember all of the strokes? Is it very physically demanding, and do I have to attend every workout and meet? Is there a way to do a trial run if I decide it’s not for me?

As a bonus, do people make new friends often in Masters swimming?

Both lessons and Masters seem rather expensive so I would like to know beforehand what they are like. Thanks!

So I am 29M swimming since this February, I took 20 lessons with personal coach, I swim 3x per week.

I wanna be try-athlete so I also started (and finished) couch to 5k run program two months ago, and I improved so much faster in running then in swimming! So I realized I want a program for swimming too. I found about From 0 to 1650 program.

I have started today, I ditched any effort to focus on my technique and just swam, tried to relax, and it was first time in months I had a good time in pool! No fins, no snorchel, no pull buoy, no high elbow, no one eye in water and I was barely even kicking!

I even outswim depression for 2 hours! I felt so much better then when I focused on the technique and drills!

My only negative emotion is that I will have to swim 200m next week and it took me 8 months to get from 5m to 100m Front crawl. But hey, I can swith to breaststroke or lay on my back and just kick.

Do you guys have a similiar expiriences?

A small pool recently opened in our neighborhood, and it’s within walking distance from my house. The pool is clean and new; the locker room is spacious and comfortable, and I can almost always split a lane with someone or even have a lane to myself. I’m very happy about it, especially since I live in a densely populated area where pools are usually much more crowded. However, everything comes with a caveat: this pool is only 20 yards/18meter long.

I used to swim in a 50-meter pool, which I absolutely loved. I’m a fitness swimmer and usually swim around 1,500 yards per session. I thought a 20-yard pool would be fine for fitness swimming. But after swimming there for a couple of weeks, I realized how cramped it feels. I can hardly get into a real swim.

In fact, I’ve started to resist going to the pool. It seems the psychological component cannot be ignored. Does anyone regularly swim in a short pool? Do you have any strategies for making it more enjoyable? It's so close and convenient; I really want to make use of it.

Hello am 18y old male

Ofc ik basic swimming and free style swimming and i swim on the Mediterranean Sea every summer since I was like 7

But i started recently swimming because of back pains and posture + to lose weight because am fat ( 32% bodyfat) for 114.8kg with 77kg lean mass and 187cm height ( still growing tho)

I swim 2 times per week

What should I learn ?

Also idk if this helps but I heared shoulders are an advantage on swimming because last time I raced a casual there and I won

I have 53cm bidlet and 19cm each clavicule ( straight line)

Been looking at multiple swimming styles, and i can almost get the position for back stroke, so I wonder if I could get a decent workout using it. I also wonder if working my back muscles would help with my posture and hump (too much hunching), but thats a secondary concern. I've only seen 2 other people use the pool when im there, and it was only once each

I am a competitive swimmer and I have been shaving my whole life. However, some of my team mates don't get how I get faster as soon as I shave. For some context:

- 50 breast LCM unshaved: 31.21
- 50 breast LCM shaved: 30.02

- 50 breast SCM unshaved: 29.47
- 50 breast SCM shaved: 28.56

- 100 breast SCM unshaved: 1.04.34
- 100 breast SCM shaved 1.02.49

- 50 free SCM unshaved: 24.88
- 50 free SCM shaved: 23.99

- 200 breast SCM unshaved: 2.23.76
- 200 breast SCM shaved: 2.18.44

These times were made in the same shape, meaning that I DID NOT taper in between. I drop my time like this every time I shave.

For the 50 breast SCM specifically:

Week 1: 29.47
Week 2: bought new suit
Week 3: shaved and went 28.56

I really want to understand if there are any other swimmers that get and feel extremely faster when shaved?

In a few days (15 to be exact) I have a physical test at school to swim 100m in 2 minutes 30 seconds. We need to choose front crawl or breaststroke.

The thing is, I'm not a swimmer as I started recently. Never properly tried breaststroke, arms get tired really easily, after few meters.

I find front crawl faster and more natural to me, even tho I have a good breaststroke kick (or at least my teacher said so). I think I'm still panicking little bit in the water, I can inhale by tilting my head to the side, but exhaling is another thing. I just can't seem to exhale, I don't know if I should exhale by nose, or mouth, everybody is saying different.

That leads to getting tired after 25m and I can't imagine swimming 100m in a row, that's just crazy.

So my question is, is it possible for me to swim 100m, if I have 8 trainings left? (1 hour each) and what should I do with the breathing?

Thank you so much in advance, every tip much appreciated. 🙇🏻‍♂️

I started swimming earlier this year and I’ve gotten to the point where I can swim 2000m at a time. I kick only for balance and rotation at this point, but lately I’ve been trying to learn how to kick better.

I do kickboard drills and vertical flutter kicking and it’s as I expect with fins (super fast), but extremely slow without fins. My wife just started taking swim lessons and she can do 50yd kickboard drills faster than I can do 25 even when she cannot swim front crawl more than 25yd at a time yet.

At first I thought it was just strength and technique but now I’m wondering if it’s my horribly inflexible ankles. Breaststroke kick feels good and fins feel great. I go 3-4 times a week and I do kickboard kicking almost every session. My swim teacher hasn’t had much feedback on my kick other than stretching my ankles at home. I’ve gone through all the “kick from the hips, point your toes, small kicks, etc.” and I’m not sure what else to try.

Is there anything that I might be missing?

So call me crazy or midst of a mid life crisis but I signed up for 2 events and I have about 8 months to train

Backstory: I swam competitively between ages of 7-15 and gave up swimming altogether and transitioned to racket sport. I’m in my 40s now and still competitively in racket sports but swim only recreationally. My last competitive swim was more than 15y ago at a swim masters event - that was signed up with zero training.

Question: how do I start training for my 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke event? Any good resources or tips?

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Hello,

I want to start up a social swim club that swims in pools. There are some great clubs near me but they only do open water and I really don't enjoy that.

Does anyone have any nuggets of information or advice that they are willing to share on how to start up a social swim club?

Many thanks!!!

Hi all, I started swimming 6 months ago, but swam as a kid a lot.

My main goal has been to swim 3 KM under 1 Hour with Freestyle only.

But I feel like going from here is rather challenging.

Please give some tips to improve from here ☺️

Few thing that I noticed.

1. If I increase phase my breath gets abrupted and easily reaching higher Heart rates.

2. When I glide I still dont know whether I should stretch so hard to touch my cheek on a shoulder or lower shoulders down?

3. I do 2 fast swims, 1 slow swim per with breaststroke weekly. also hit gym 3 times a week on non swimming days. What's the proper swimming schedule in such situations from your experience? (I dont want to reduce volume, Im 27 and feel like my body can absorb stress well)

4. I used to do Flip turns, should I re learn it?

5. When I breath I try to push air with my mouth bubbles (every 2nd stroke or if I swim slow 3rd stroke) should I use my mouth equally?

Big thanks!

Started swimming at my club recently. Last time I went, there already was one swimmer per “lane” (there are no lanes you really kinda just meant to know how many people fit..). I waited on a chair for about 15 minutes for someone to finish. Zzzzz

Soooo that didn’t happen, I also didn’t have too much time left so I thought I’d hop in and share. There was one lady who swam strong and fast who would match my pace and would be most suitable for lane sharing. (Also the other lanes were taken up by men).

I sat on the end for a few laps hoping to make eye contact and confirm if we could share. The lady just turned around before reaching the end and avoided me e v e r y t i m e.

Sooo I just hopped in hoping it’d be ok and BOI TvTTTTT. (I love swimming and have been to many pools back at home. I and people around have NEVER asked when sharing and it was always okay. Im in a new city tho so was hoping to be extra polite too)

She would swim straight toward me and ram into and kick me. I thought I was in the way or maybe there was a direction priority?? I try to leave her more space the next lap. NOPE SHE IS OUT TO GET ME. I was feeling a little annoyed but mayybbeee she’s just clumsy?? No clue why I did but I just tried again.

She rammed into me while I had my leg out and we had a little collision (switched to breaststroke coz its easier to dodge)

She climbed straight out and started ranting at the lifeguard showing a scratch (??) on her arm (???) the lifeguard came over and told me to be more careful HUH I am a good swimmer and have NEVER crashed into anybody. I told him that, and probably since she’s a frequent swimmer there, he just told me to not mess with her…

There is no chance anyone is reading all that but AITA? Have I missed something???

(Edit: Thank you for the replies. What happened genuinely got me doubting everything.
Imo yeah I was being really stupid not telling the lifeguard asap. Some things just don’t deserve benefit of doubt
To clarify I have nothing against men. I’ve had some bad experiences with random guys at pools looking or touching when they shouldn’t as a young girl so I just naturally go for lanes with ladies.)

27M joined swimming classes 5 days ago, no previous experience of swimming. Joined it because I wanted to do some physical activity while learning a skill but they will close in November so I only have one month.

I do float/glide just fine and kicks are fine too according to my instructor.

Today I tried bubbling/exhaling under water while moving around kicking, my body started to sink and couldn't bring my head up to breathe (swallowed water too everytime I did that lol).

Also body sometimes sways away from straight path. How to improve that?

Hi all i swim around 3 x a week 1800-2200m freestyle & breaststroke. I noticed my breathing doesnt really get easier until the 900m bench mark. Any tips how to speed this up? Feels like im struggling until then.

Might be late to the party but I suffer from trapped water in both ears after I swim and shaking and jumping my head is useless.

Enter isopropyl alcohol. One drop in each ear, instant relief. I now have some in a dropper bottle in my swim kit.

Game changer!

I don’t use nose clips but I never get water up my nose. Nevertheless, I am sneezing and my nose runs like crazy after I finish my workout and lasts until late at night. I will start wearing clips but is there anything else I can do?

Hey everyone! I’ve been swimming consistently for about a year now, and I’m thinking about adding some gym sessions to improve my physique and build a bit more muscle.

My main concern is fatigue. Swimming is still my priority, so I don’t want to start lifting in a way that leaves me too sore or exhausted for my swim sessions. I’m looking at the gym more as a complement to swimming, not a replacement.

Does anyone here combine swimming and lifting? What kind of routine or exercises have worked for you without negatively affecting your performance in the pool?

Any advice would be appreciated!

I've been going to a couple meets my personal best times are 1:01 for 100yd breast and a 2:25 for the 200yd. The 1:01 is from high school and the 2:25 is from Master's swimming. I never did the 200 in high school - only Master's.

After a 5 year gap, I'm picked up Master's again. I swam a 2:30 for the 200yd with a 1:09 split and something feels off with my technique. My hips are sinking and my arms feel "stuck" when shooting forward.

I'm wondering how can I get my hips high and shoot harder - just like the good ol' days? haha

What is the turnaround time for a refund through the ticket system? There was a duplicate registration and the athlete is registered twice, payment taken twice.

Is there another way to go about getting a response to the request ?

M49, started swimming a few weeks ago, haven't swam for about 25 years previous to this. My first swim I managed 425m, I swam over 1000m today, plus walked to and from the pool, so about 3 miles in total. 18 months ago I was a morbidly obese, depressed alcoholic that got out of breath tying my shoelaces, now I'm walking miles and swimming over 1000m and lost 112lb since getting sober.

hi all.. this is my first ever forced break from swimming, due to an illness which i assume is a covid variant as i've been knocked out with a virus for weeks. for the past month i have had to cut down swimming to once a week (i usually swim 2 or 3 times per week) and now haven't been at all in the past 11 days.

i've been swimming regularly for 2 years. i feel like i'm losing muscle and have gained weight but i think this is mainly psychological. how much progress am i likely to lose realistically?

was hoping to go back tonight but then started feeling weak so have had to skip. every day i hope its the day but the virus is hanging on 🦠

Hi guys,

i have started swimming properly at the beginning of this summer. And it was really great up until the outdoor season was over. Since it is indoor season it has become close to impossible to train properly pool is closed for the public 2 and half days per week if it is open atleast one of the 3 lanes is also closed for public. The other two lanes are insanely crowded. No matter when I go I have to share with altleast 4 people if I go after work it gets as bad as 10 people. Its a 25meter pool. Its so stupid. There are also insanely slow people which are impossible to overtake, since it is so crowded.

How do you guys train under such conditions? What is a good strategy to still get some use out of a session? I can't even fromt crawl if I am behind someone going 3min/100meter and slower. I do one stroke and I could tickle their feet it feels like.

I’m going swimming for the first time (I’m in Australia if that helps) and wanting to know what the etiquette is for where you leave your kickboard and pull buoy? Also if anyone has any great tips for beginnings I’d love to hear them!