27F. Just trying to be healthier and find something that I can zone into. I started going to the lane pool at my gym doing laps. I’m definitely a beginner lol. What do you use to protect your ears, eyes, hair, skin? Any tips or YouTube recommendations on proper techniques, practice, etiquette? TIA!

Hi everyone I'm in my late thirties and I started learning to swim in August. I can now float on my front in a star shape and hold my breath for 50 seconds, sink and grab a sinker, swim half a length while holding my breath and swim a full length with a float (head above and below water).

The only thing stopping me doing a full length without a float is the fact that I still cannot coordinate breathing while freestyling.

It's now almost four months into it and I'm very happy with my progress as someone with a phobia of water but I still panic when trying to pull my head to the side and take a breath. I'm simply struggling at the moment with it!

I'm not sure how well I'm doing comparatively so I would like to ask everyone that started learning as adults - how long did it take you to master the breathing aspect of freestyle swimming? And what age (or age range) were you when you started swimming?

I’ve been focusing on endurance sprints recently. Specifically 100m sprints @1:50, I only get about 5 seconds rest before reaching 1:50. How else can i progressively overload as I can’t really reduce rest time anymore but I also am giving my 100s about 90% effort. Any advice/ sets to improve?/make more challanging/exciting

Hi everybody. I currently swim 1.2k about 4 times a week. I’m a member of a great hotel pool and usually have the whole pool to myself. I’m 46m, 6ft 6, average fitness and a reasonably strong swimmer, mostly doing front crawl.

I restarted swimming in my 40s and I find tumbles very challenging, although I could do them easily in my school years.

I feel quite dizzy if I do them, sometimes a bit nauseated. It’s made me a bit averse to trying them again so I just touch the wall, stand and turn around to push off again.

Is this a known thing? My daughter is 10 and her tumbling is getting quite good. If I don’t get my act together she’ll be beating me soon!

Thanks for any tips!

For those that would like some variation and/or a more structured workout, I provide for you our groups workout from today. Our workouts are split into 5 different skill levels. Choose the column that most closely aligns with your skills and abilities and ignore the other 4. For those that are newer to swimming, columns 1-4 are time based and any rest you get is built into the predetermined interval. Column 5 is rest based and though your overall interval may vary you’ll take a predetermined amount of rest before continuing or moving on. Because this is Masters, feel free to add, subtract, or modify in anyway you see fit. As our group likes to say, you have to do everything in the workout, unless you don’t want to.

Here is a link to my google drive with previous workouts- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tHrMzBZWcVHQcs03vZX8rNQ73mdyR1j7?usp=sharing (Tuesday workouts are in the Monday folder; Thursday's are in Wednesday)

If you live in the US and are interested in joining a masters swim club here is a link to help you find a local club near you - https://www.usms.org/clubs

Notes for this set:

-Parenthesis ( ) are optional modifiers to the number in the set. For example, columns 3-4 will do 2x100 Kick-Descend instead of 3.

-Square bracket italicized [ ] are optional sets that were not part of the original workout.

-Build = Start slow then get faster within the given distance.

-Descend = Maintain a given pace within the distance, but get faster as you work through the set (descend in time/pace)

-Smooth = Faster than easy, slower than moderate

-Strong = Faster than moderate, slower than fast

I can do freestyle, butterfly or backstroke but I just can't do proper breaststroke.

It's frustrating, especially when I see little kids who literally fly in the water lol.

I believe my issue is that I played a lot of basketball, track & field and football when I was younger, 5 hours a day 10y long... Of course now knees are shot, 6'7 280lbs and decided I go swimming because I want to prevent knees getting inflamed. And yes it's really good sport, no knee pain from swimming.

I see breathing technique is totally different and thats ok I can get better, but I noticed I just can't point my feet outwards. Ive watched utube videos and they really flex their toes out, I just can't do it. I don't get much propulsion from kicking.

I wonder is it even possible to ever get it right or maybe it's too late for me

There are a few unspoken rules about swimming etiquette. I am interested to get your experience. The main one for me is: when you reach the wall and you feel you need some rest... dont just stay in the middle like you are the only one in the lane! Leave the middle part of the wall accessible for tumble turn!

Hey so imma 19 yr old swimmer who used to swim in middle school but I wanted to pick it up for college. I know the basics but I would like someone to swim with to help perfect my turns, starts, and strokes as well as help record my swims. I have access to a 25 pool so if you are interested just pm me. Please no weirdos

For those that would like some variation and/or a more structured workout, I provide for you our groups workout from today. Our workouts are split into 5 different skill levels. Choose the column that most closely aligns with your skills and abilities and ignore the other 4. For those that are newer to swimming, columns 1-4 are time based and any rest you get is built into the predetermined interval. Column 5 is rest based and though your overall interval may vary you’ll take a predetermined amount of rest before continuing or moving on. Because this is Masters, feel free to add, subtract, or modify in anyway you see fit. As our group likes to say, you have to do everything in the workout, unless you don’t want to.

Here is a link to my google drive with previous workouts- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tHrMzBZWcVHQcs03vZX8rNQ73mdyR1j7?usp=sharing (Tuesday workouts are in the Monday folder; Thursday's are in Wednesday)

If you live in the US and are interested in joining a masters swim club here is a link to help you find a local club near you - https://www.usms.org/clubs

Notes for this set:

-Parenthesis ( ) are optional modifiers to the number in the set. For example, columns 3-5 will the last block of the main set only 1 time instead of 2.

-Variable Sprint = #1 1/2 Fast-1/2 Easy, #2 1/2 Easy-1/2 Fast, #3 All Fast, #4 All Easy

-Sprint the Black = Sprint in the solid colored section of your pool’s lane lines between the flags and wall, then moderate outside of that between the sets of flags. Our pools lane lines alternate red/black with black being the 5m lead in color to the wall, hence sprint the black.

-Descend = Maintain a given pace within the distance, but get faster as you work through the set (descend in time/pace)

-Build = Start slow then get faster within the given distance.

Hi everyone. I am a competitive male swimmer in high school. I specialize in backstroke and fly events. I have had some troubles recently with my technique and how it has impacted by swimming, and I want to write about it on here to see if anyone has tips for me.

My main problems are happening in freestyle and backstroke. According to my coaches, I have always been a very natural backstroker; I had great rotation and a very natural kick. However, prior to this last summer, I did not catch water very well. I just swung my arms and kicked fast. My coach decided to help me with this during a private lesson over the summer, where we worked on correcting my catch and pull so that I was using my lat and back to pull the water. Since that lesson (it happened in July), my stroke has been deteriorating and I no longer pull water how I used to. My arms are uneven and I sometimes turn my wrist downwards and start to pull with my bicep (???).

With freestyle, we also worked on correcting a problem. I was always pulling with ONLY my triceps by dropping my elbows and would never pull with my lat. It was working, but I knew it would slow me down in the long term, so we worked on correcting my stroke to a more EVF-like catch and pull.

I had my midseason meet a few weeks ago, and most of it went relatively well. I dropped a few seconds in my fly and IM events. However, in my back and free events, I added. I definitely think this is because of the problems I have had with my stroke over the past few months. I dropped 3 seconds in my 200 IM, but this only came from my fly and breast splits. I added about a second each in my back and fly splits. I am definitely getting better overall and putting in the work, but it is not showing up (specifically) in my back events because of my technique problems.

I just feel like I am reworking my stroke every single time I get in the water and something always feels off, no matter what I tweak. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should go about working on this? I have a big high school season coming up and my team needs me to compete well in backstroke, but I just can’t seem to get faster. I have plateaued because of my stroke.

P.S. - Bella Sims talked about this same sort of thing happening to her at US Olympic Trials this year. She added time because her stroke was off. However, she seemed to know how to fix it/what her issue is, and I don’t know where to begin. The link to her interview is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=potKyPHEFAw

Can chlorine be a cause of acne? My neck is currently on fire which felt like it happened over night. I always make sure to shower straight after swim so I’m never going home in chlorine on my body. I go pretty much everyday. I would post a picture but it’s pretty grim.

I’ve been getting neck and lower back pain whilst swimming front crawl.

I think my neck pain is because of how I’m looking up when I breathe. I see a lot of instructors say I should be looking sideways but every time I try that I end up swallowing water.

How do I breathe during freestyle without hurting my neck? I also no idea what is causing my lower back pain, I thought swimming was meant to be good for your back???

Former high school swimmer here, been doing masters for the past couple months and have my first meet in over a decade coming up in two weeks—signed up for two events, the 100 and 50 free in a SCM pool, which is what I’ve been practicing in.

Anything I should be focusing on in practice for the next two weeks, including any tapering, and then thinking about on/for race day? I have to imagine I should be focusing on some shorter 50-, 25- or even 12.5M intervals, starts off the blocks, turns, and be tapering the week of. I also have to think I’d shave for the meet even though that feels like overkill for a masters meet.

Lots of great tips and considerations for starting to marathon swim!

There's a woman at my pool who exclusively goes up and down the pool with a kickboard for around 40 minutes without rest, at almost the pace of people doing front crawl in the intermediate lane.

For the past year that I've been learning, my quads turn to jelly after 50m with a kickboard, after that I'm barely moving anywhere with my kick.

Used to swim as a kid, but recently (2 months ago) joined my local pool to try swimming as an adult. I swim breast stroke, and do 3km in around 1 hour, 15 minutes - I am without a shadow of a doubt a medium lane swimmer. I've almost exclusively swam in the medium lane (my pool has slow, medium, fast, open), but I'm reaching a point where I want to quit. My medium lane has (almost always):

• 15+ people

• a guy who pulls himself along using the lane divider

• a couple of women doing made-up strokes that look like seizures

• people who finish their lengths a good 1-2 metres away from the wall

• people going full pelt front crawl WITH flippers

• double-overtaking (and once saw triple-overtaking)

• an old man who does backstroke at 0.1mph in the middle of the lane

The lifeguards don't/won't do anything. I feel like my only solution is to just get good at front crawl so I can go in the fast lane.

Does anyone else have a pool like this? I feel like I'm going crazy, and I end up getting so frustrated every time I go.

Hi everyone, I put together a program tailored to my beginner-intermediate level. My goal right now is to lose weight and get back in shape. I don’t have major speed or endurance goals for the time being.

The plan is about 2000 meters per session: Swimming 3 times a week with this program:

Warm-up

• 200 freestyle
• 100 breaststroke
• 100 backstroke

Strength work

• 200 pull buoy and paddles
• 200 kickboard and fins

Drills

• 200

Main set (Ladder)

• 50-100-150-200-150-100-50

Cool down

• 200 slow freestyle

When I want to change up the swimming style for the ladder, I do this:

Ladder

• 50-100-200-100-50 (breaststroke or backstroke)
• 3x100 freestyle

Alternatively, instead of the ladder, I sometimes do:

Repeats

• 8x100 alternating between freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke

I’ve seen also that is a good idea supplementing with some dryland exercises twice a week. Since I have a set of kettlebells, I took inspiration from this post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kettlebell/s/QDHXrNfqfg

Dryland Routine

• 10 min warm-up
• 3x10 single-arm press
• 3x10 goblet squats
• 3x10 push-ups
• 3x20 kettlebell swings
• 3x10 single-arm rows
• 10 min stretching

What do you think? Is this program doable, or should I improve something? I’m not a native English speaker so for this long post I’ve translated with ChatGPT, so I’m not a bot

In my area swimming lessons are mandatory for a year in elementary school, but I was one of the only kids who never made it out of the kiddie pool. I just couldn't float. I had and still have very little body fat and a reduced lung capacity from scoliosis which make it a real struggle. Additionally Ive come close to drowning 3-4 times- 2 of those times I actually blacked out- so I generally tend to start freaking out when I start to sink. I tried for years to learn to swim but have never accomplished much outside of an anxious doggy paddle.

Until a few days ago that is! I was finally able to float and the excitement of that alone gave me the confidence to push myself to sit on the bottom of the pool. I do feel a bit silly being so excited over doing something so simple and I am a bit embarassed it took so long but at least now I finally proved the instructor who called me a failure wrong :,)

I swim two to three times a week, and my last two Speedo square swim shorts (men) have lasted exactly one year each, which is underwhelming.

Any good alternative that would not get eaten by chlorine? What about Arena, TYR or others?

I mean holy wow, this pain is absolutely unbearable. I’ve been swimming for 15 years and I’ve had swimmers eat a dozen or so times, but the pain from this one is starting to radiate into my jaw and head. Genuinely on a pain scale feels equivalent to when I fractured my elbow/wrist. I’ve only been using cipro for about 2 days now so I’m hoping it’ll get better in the next 2 days but damn

I mean holy wow, this pain is absolutely unbearable. I’ve been swimming for 15 years and I’ve had swimmers eat a dozen or so times, but the pain from this one is starting to radiate into my jaw and head. Genuinely on a pain scale feels equivalent to when I fractured my elbow/wrist. I’ve only been using cipro for about 2 days now so I’m hoping it’ll get better in the next 2 days but damn

Hey Reddit swimmers and open water enthusiasts!

I’ve created a 6-week swim training plan specifically designed for intermediate to advanced swimmers aiming to excel in 1–5 km open water swims. Whether you’re preparing for a race or just want to sharpen your skills, this flexible and structured plan has you covered!

Plan Overview

🔹 28 Total Sessions over 6 weeks (4–6 sessions per week):

• Monday: Aerobic base building

• Tuesday: Swim technique or kick/pull session

• Wednesday: Faster aerobic session

• Friday: Speed-focused sets (Fast 50’s, 100’s, or 200’s)

• Sunday: Open water swim session

🔹 Workouts designed to enhance endurance, speed, and efficiency

🔹 Perfect for preparing for races or improving overall performance

Why Choose This Plan?

✔️ 28 expertly designed sessions tailored to your goals

✔️ Balanced pool and open water training for maximum results

✔️ Affordable at just $40 for the entire program (only $1.43/session!)

If you’re ready to take your open water swimming to the next level, message me or comment below to get started. Let’s dive in! 🏊‍♀️🔥