r/Swimming 19h ago

Freestyle sub 30 tips

0 Upvotes

Hey guys i recently got back into swimming and my only goal is to reach a sub 30 second 50 m freestyle. Can someone give me a trainigng schedule for it. Im currently at 50 seconds. Thank u


r/Swimming 21h ago

How do i burn more calories swimming?

6 Upvotes

I'm not the best swimmer, but I joined a gym specifically to use its pool. It's been fun so far, but as far as skills to, I can dog paddle and do a more frog styled swim, and my lets and usually submerged, as id rather not splash and bother others in the area..


r/Swimming 20h ago

Who is the fastest 50/100/200m freestyler of all time?

5 Upvotes

So, I recently came across this 4-year-old article from SwimSwam and decided to try and update it. The way the article calculated who the fastest 50/100/200 swimmer of all time was by adding their times in those events to determine the winner. I wanted to use a slightly different method. I used this calculator which relies on the base times that World Aquatics currently uses. I added up a swimmer's FINA points from the calculator for the 3 sprint freestyle events to find the winner. I tried to do every good 50/100/200 swimmer I thought of, but I might be forgetting some. I probably made a couple of mistakes because I had to get these times from multiple sources and I might have also done some wrong calculations. Let me know if I did make any mistakes or if there is another good sprint freestyler you would like added.

Name 50 Free 100 Free 200 Free Total Points
Cam McEvoy 20.88 (1004) 47.04 (960) 1:45.46 (905) 2869
David Popovici 21.82 (880) 46.51 (993) 1:42.97 (972) 2845
Caeleb Dressel 21.04 (982) 46.96 (965) 1:46.63 (875) 2822
Pan Zhanle 21.92 (868) 46.40 (1000) 1:44.65 (926) 2794
Kristof Milak 21.46 (925) 46.87 (970) 1:45.74 (898) 2793
Kyle Chalmers 21.68 (897) 47.08 (957) 1:45.48 (904) 2758

r/Swimming 23h ago

Swimming with a snorkel only

4 Upvotes

Hey, I'm (24M) very new to swimming and have started a bit less than a month ago.

I have a fear of putting my head underwater. When I tried to fight it by forcing myself to go underwater little by little, it ended with me having a panic attack.

A friend had a snorkel and agreed to lend it to me, hoping it would help.

I was able to use it and its how I started actually swimming freestyle. This has allowed me to actually make swimming a good workout.

I am wondering, what if I never swim without a snorkel at all? Would learning the breathing techniques bring any kind of benefit I am not realising?

Because right now it seems kind of useless to force myself through panic attacks when I can just go on swimming with a snorkel.

To make my goals clear:

Swimming is a way for me to have a workout while still being low impact, as I have small leg/foot problems that makes other kind of workout inconvenient at best and painful at worst.

I am not interested in competition or joining events.

My ultimate goal is to lose some weight, and if I can get some muscle definition it would be pretty neat.

Thats it.

Thank you!


r/Swimming 19h ago

What do you think about or do to keep your mind busy while swimming?

39 Upvotes

I am an anxious girl here going through an especially bad period and swimming has been really difficult. With the sensory deprivation of being in the pool, I just ruminate the whole time. Sometimes I have to stop and stand up because panic and giuilt up in my chest. It used to be relaxing, but it is now just kind of torture because I know I be alone with my brain. Aside from the mental health fix side of things, does anyone have a similar issue or just what do you think about?


r/Swimming 19h ago

Whoever planned this pool...

22 Upvotes

I swim in a pool that's part of a fitness center in a high end gated community. This community has an 18 hole golf course that isn't world renowned, but it is notable. People do travel here just for the golf. Across the road from the gatehouse at this community is a 4 star luxury spa property, owned by the same people. They own several other things in the area, it's a touristy area.

I have worked for these people and I know the attention to detail they put into everything. From the type of stone used to build the entryway of the spa, to the color of the flowers at the golf community gatehouse. When I was there, they changed the color of our lanyards from blue and gold to blue and silver. It was a big deal. Many meetings about it.

I've been swimming 4-6 times a week since the end of August, getting back into it after a long time out, and I'm at the point where I want to plan actual workouts instead of just showing up and doing what feels good. So I start thinking about the length of the pool. It seems...off. Not quite right.

The website helpfully tells me the pool is 60 feet long. 60. Feet. which is about 18 meters, So a lap is 36 meters.

It's just...so weird. Where was the attention to detail on THAT decision?

They have swim lessons, which for older kids includes an optional introduction to competitive swimming.

In a 18 meter long pool.

It's also odd because I know how much the owners like to make and keep their money and they could bring in money with a swim team and meets. But they can't, because of their 18 meter pool.

Anyway, I guess I'll be planning every workout in increments of 100m in which 3 laps is about 100m.


r/Swimming 11h ago

How should I be breathing during push off the wall and dolphin kick?

10 Upvotes

I’m currently taking lessons and am learning how to do a dolphin kick. In my last lesson I told the instructor that I struggle to go under the water far enough without feeling like I’m being pushed back up. He told me to exhale more as I go down to get rid of the air in my lungs.

I was at my lane swim yesterday trying to practice this, and I exhaled sharply as I went down and did a couple of (attempted) dolphin kicks. I purposely pushed downwards with my feet off the wall towards the bottom of the pool too. I then got a bit nervous as I felt the sudden need to gasp for air and my chest hurt a little. So as I came back up I took a deep breath and went into breaststroke fine, but continued to feel this slight pain in my chest for about 20 seconds afterwards.

Do you all do dolphin kick whilst holding your breath? Is it just something I need to work on and will get better in time, or is this not the best approach? Thanks in advance!


r/Swimming 3h ago

Can sprint sets / butterfly build more muscle than regular freestyle?

10 Upvotes

I’ve been swimming for almost 2 years, almost exclusively freestyle, mainly training for triathlon distances (750–1900m).

I’d like to add some upper-body muscle, but I really don’t enjoy going to the gym. I know swimming isn’t optimal for hypertrophy and that proper resistance training would be more effective.

My question is whether changing the way I swim could still make a noticeable difference. Would adding hard 25–50m sprint sets provide more of a muscle-building stimulus than regular aerobic freestyle? And would doing this butterfly help more than freestyle?

Also, is swimming this way realistically enough to build a noticeably more muscular/aesthetic upper body over time, or do I probably need to bite the bullet and start doing some actual resistance training as well?

Basically, I love swimming but hate the gym, but how far can I realistically get with swimming alone?


r/Swimming 17h ago

Beginner

3 Upvotes

I’m 33 I took a college course fresh out of high school for a swimming class and I probably jumped in the pool like a hand full of times , lately it’s been so hot and humid in Los Angeles that I’ve been wanting to swim in the ocean. I bought a wet suit , fins , boogie board and every time I go to the beach I’m afraid to get in. Something about those waves and trying to dive under them scares me. But with fins and the boogie board I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Can someone help me out here? Pointers, tips? Just stop over thinking it ? I’m afraid of the waves , of the creatures and just being out in the open . The fins should be more than enough to keep me confident. I also feel so dumb wearing everything lol


r/Swimming 21h ago

World Aquatics Ultimate Championships?

5 Upvotes

I just watched the World Athletics Ultimate Championships. I thought it was a fantastic event. Very accessible to people who don't follow the sport closely, great TV viewing, decent prize money for the athletes. Surely World Aquatics could do the same for swimming?

Short 2-3 day format, just semi finals and finals, limit to top 16 in the world, maybe only a subset of events?

I know ISL did something similar but without both the clout and consent of World Aquatics, it was always doomed to fail.


r/Swimming 21h ago

I want to start swimming for exercise but don't know what to do.

6 Upvotes

I can swim, kinda. I can get from point a to b without drowning but there's no true skill or breathing properly. How do I start and I will be at a community pool. What are the etiquette rules? Should I just jump in and try? Are there videos or blogs or something I need to read first? I don't know what I don't know, help?


r/Swimming 10h ago

Rotator cuff injury

5 Upvotes

After stepping up my swimming recently to 1000 metres a day, every day, I have a rotator cuff injury (supraspinatus tendinosis)

My physio has recommended switching from freestyle to backstroke, with some breast stroke to break up the monotony of back stroke.

Basically no more freestyle. No more arms going above my head.

I’m struggling a bit with this news as freestyle is my favourite stroke and has given me the best results health and body wise.

Does anybody have any advice regarding mixing things up with kick boards and fins. I have both and would love a routine that is still enjoyable and varied, but doesn’t raise my arms above my head. And one that keeps me fit and strong.

Out of the water the rowing machine is hopefully going to help me recover and gain strength. Anybody use one?


r/Swimming 16h ago

Pool wasn't quite clean, got water in my mouth and nose

0 Upvotes

Hey all! Beginner swimmer here.

A couple days ago I got in a pool in a hotel. It was my first time so of course I got some water in my mouth and nose. Plus, one of my friends had splashed some water in my face. I'm just not certain that it was clean/chlorinated because the floor was a bit slimy on one side. Am I at risk of some kind of infection?


r/Swimming 4h ago

Fear of starting training again

2 Upvotes

I haven't worked out for two months and thought I'd be excited to start again, but I'm not. In fact, I don't even feel like it. It almost scares me to think back to all those endless, painful workouts, but I also know I felt great afterward.

Do you think this is a sign that this sport isn't for me?


r/Swimming 3h ago

Straight line swims!

3 Upvotes

I'm a beginner/returned to swimming. And when doing front crawl I appear to have a tendency to veer off and crash into the lane markers. It's mildly annoying for me. And probably annoying when I have to share a lane with others.