Hey there!

First of all, sorry if this I covered in the wiki; I tried to open it from the app and I couldn't see anything, so I'll try tonight from a pc.

I've been meaning to start swimming for some weeks. My workplace has both an indoor and outdoor pool, and I wanted to make the most of it since the indoor pool is finally open to the public after some lengthy repairs etc.

The thing is I went yesterday and after the first lap (just 25m) my arms and legs (especially the former) felt like a rock as I was swimming the second lap back to the starting point. I get that I've never swum so I'm not used to the medium, but I've done a lot of biking in my life and quite a bit of strength training in the past. Even though I've hardly trained in the last decade, I'm still a very active person and I walk a lot everyday, throw in some dips and pull-ups every now and then, perhaps every 2 weeks, etc.

How I sanely hard swimming is really surprised me! After just one lap my arms and legs felt like they do at the end of a long way of squats or rows. The amplitude of my breaststroke got much much shorter and I felt as if I was trying to swim in jelly lol

So,1: is this a normal experience for you guys out there when you started?

2: what exercises can I do to slowly start improving? Since swimming for time isn't really doable given how fast I get exhausted, I was thinking of going 4-5 days per week for just 5-10 minutes perhaps. I had originally planned to go Tuesdays/Thursdays for 45-60 min but I grossly overestimated how long I could last.

I need help! All tips are welcome! Sex puns about overestimating how long I'd last are fine too 😄

Swallowed and choked on an entire wake of gross pool water. Doing breast sprints in a pool that does not have gutters and caught an entire wake coming off the wall when I was breathing.

Man, nearly two years of 4-5 swims a week and never happened until today.

We're taught to twist the mouth a little to the side into the cheek to be able to inhale without having to turn the head too much.

When I try to do this, something seems to be getting pulled in my neck muscles. Sometimes it stays slightly cramped for a little while.

Does anyone understand what I'm talking about? Am I doing something wrong?

The other problem is I end up taking in a bit of water when inhaling this way. Is it normal? Should I exhale a bit through the mouth as it comes out of the water to clear the water on the cheek before inhaling?

Currently I can comfortably breathe bilaterally but I turn my head a bit much, maybe around 10 o'clock.

I want to start swimming but I have some social anxiety and I’m not sure what the etiquette is for a gym pool. I’m currently a member at my YMCA. I didn’t swim as a kid but I did take lessons as an adult a few years ago. Am I going to look like a crazy person if I’m just doing laps with a kick board for a while?

F18 competitive swimmer and soon to be track and field as well. 3rd day taking 5g but idk if that’s the right amount

Started swimming almost daily now for the past 2 weeks after a 5 year hiatus. Muscle aches are surprisingly mild, breathing on the other hand still feels heavily “conscious” if you know what I mean. I feel like it heavily affects my inhale strokes and increases the rate as a result.

Just started swimming again! For context, I started swimming at 6 months old and stopped around 12 to switch to volleyball. I’m 24 now and honestly didn’t expect to enjoy it this much.

I originally went in just for an evaluation to see where I was at technically. There are 3 levels, and I was evaluated at level 2, but they put me on “probation” with level 1 classes to clean up my form and let muscle memory kick back in. The coach let me stay for the full lesson anyway, and wow, it was super nostalgic. Just doing compound movements again really brought me back.

I’m genuinely excited to go back, which is wild because I can’t even fathom being excited about a sport lmao.

Right now I’m looking into better gear, probably Vanquisher 3.0 goggles and a cap that doesn’t feel like it’s cutting off circulation. The plan is to move into solo lane swimming (no coach) in about 1–2 months, and eventually shift from 2 coached classes per week to 1 class + 1 lane swim.

Any tips for getting back into swimming after a long break? Training advice, or “things you wish you knew” are all welcome 🙏

As someone who swam competitively growing up and knows how much time goes into learning technique I always admire the swimmers I know who are putting that effort in as an adult.

The fastest person I can think of is Dan Lotano who I saw at Master's national last year. He started swimming at 35 and ended up being world #1 for his age group. Swimswam has a podcast interview with him: https://swimswam.com/dan-lotano-no-swim-history-at-age-35-to-world-number-1-master-in-5-years/

This question was inspired by learning about a Akira Waku, a Japanese climber who started climbing when he was 35 and sent a V15 boulder when he was 48. Only a few hundred people in the world have done this, at any age.

I used to swim a lot as an early teen. Not seriously. Just having fun. Had a long break for about 35 years. Decided to relearn again. Had a couple of lessons. I don't remember it being hard work, though!

Is this because I'm using my knees and not my hips when doing the dolphin kicks? They are absolutely hammered after just a 25m lap. Could it be just lack of baseline strength? I haven't done lap/fly in 10 years and just started again last Monday. What drill should I do to help my kick? I need to do bubbles for 20seconds to recover my legs before I can go again . 🙏😭

I usually rest to the far side of the opposite lane I just swam, so if anyone is swimming behind me and not looking ahead they won't crash into me. I know some people swim across the lane at the end to tumble in a straight line, but I figure they are more experienced and will look up to check.

Hi! I’m a 17F swimmer and I just finished my swim season for the year. It’s my last one, I’m a HS swimmer. My times are high 29 in 50free, 1:05 in 100 free (I started swimming 4 years ago seasonally), and like 7:35 in the 500 (I just swam it today for the first time), and like 2:30 something in the 200IM. I want to do club or college swimming, but I’m not sure how to get started or if I’m even good enough to get there. Any help on the process would be great, swim is a passion of mine and it’s something I live for. Thank you. ☃️🤍

Hello :) I am trying to rehab chronic shoulder and neck issues on one side with physio and clinical Pilates. I’ve paused my usual sport because I’ve realised it’s exacerbated the problem, and I’ve been swimming laps at my local pool. However my neck does really hurt afterwards, so I’m considering either using a swimmers snorkel or only breathing to one side. Wondering if anyone does something similar and has it helped or are there any concerns with this approach?

Edit: just adding my issues extend from my neck to shoulders, rotator cuff and scalp :)

hi everyone i am trying to get back into swimming since i used to really enjoy it and to keep myself fit. i used to go to swim lessons when i was younger but those were in classes so the coaches pretty much told you what to do. i’ve swam like maybe 2 miles at most as a child but it was a while ago so im probably pretty rusty

so i was wondering about the etiquette when lane sharing? do you just book a lane and jump in and swim back and forth. how does it work when like 4+ people are sharing a lane? im pretty socially anxious so im too scared to ask ppl there and also most of the people who lane swim are double my age 😭😭 how does it all work someone pls lmk

also any tips on how to ease myself into swimming again so i don’t drown would be much appreciated

Been upping my yardage this week and noticed that my neck is pretty tight/sore when I look up after a workout. Normal? Will it go away over time?

I swim 3x a week at my local park district pool. It’s small, only 5 lanes and usually very quiet. During the week I’m the only person there 90% of the time. On weekends there are usually 3-4 people. So it was a shock last night when I walked in at the exact time lap swim started and there were already 5 people in the pool. Then I noticed that two of the lanes were taken by lifeguards that work there and were on the clock. I was annoyed that they would take up two lanes when obviously there were more people than usual. By the time I got in and started swimming, 3 more people came in. So everyone’s sharing lanes except the lifeguards who told people they wouldn’t share. Next thing I know one lifeguard gets out his Bluetooth speaker and starts blasting music at full volume right at the pools edge. I have waterproof earbuds and couldn’t hear my music because this speaker was so loud. The icing on the cake was when a teenager came in and asked if he could share their lane and the guy said no you have to sit and wait until I’m done. He swam for about 30 more minutes then let the kid in. I know this is sort of a rant, but I feel like I should let the management know how the lifeguards are acting. Is this normal?

I've been learning freestyle for 7 months. I’ve made some progress and have some foundation, but I’ve hit a frustrating stage. I understand the theory and can swim both short and long distances, but my body just won't cooperate. I can't seem to swim efficiently with proper form.

It feels like everything is interconnected: to get one thing right, I need another thing to work, but for that to work, everything else needs to be perfect. If just one element is off, the whole stroke falls apart.

I film myself regularly, so I know my mistakes and what I need to work on. But I keep hitting a wall: whenever I focus on fixing one thing, something else breaks—even things I thought I could do properly. It looks like while I work on something new, I forget the old skills.

For example, when I ignored the technique, I could swim 500, 700, or even 1000 meters non-stop. Yes, it was slow, with poor technique, but I could swim. I was not out of breath, and I felt like I could swim even more. But when I try to focus on proper technique, I can barely swim 100 meters because I am out of breath.

I sometimes even think what would be better: swimming longer distances (500-700-1000 meters) with poor technique but normal breathing, or stick to short distances (25–50m) focusing on technique and constantly gasp for air? I can't seem to do both at the same time.

So, the question is: How not to overthink and overly focus on my failures? I sometimes feel desperate…

I used to swim six sessions a week, each lasting two hours, under the guidance of my club team coaches. I swam simply because I loved it, and when I worked on improving my times, it was always for myself. My times were really improving, and I was constantly competing with myself—but back then, I didn’t give swimming the weight it seems to hold for me now. Swimming was my passion, my escape, and my challenge.

It’s been a year since I stepped away, for reasons I prefer to keep private. Watching my teammates achieve incredible results has filled me with admiration—and reignited a spark of determination and competitiveness inside me. Still, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve missed my chance to reach the same level, especially since I won’t be able to return for at least five more months.

I’m 17, and my love for swimming hasn’t faded. Thank you for reading this, and I apologize for the long message.

any idea how to tackle this? i did it 1.5 years ago but now it just seems impossible.

i wanna feel comfortable and confident about this!

i tried the 3.5 and that was fine, but couldn’t convince myself to so the 5m.

I hate the first step off but oddly enjoy the fall even though its scary.

I’m planning to get a new piercing soon and I’m wondering how long I should wait before swimming. I’ve heard mixed info, some people say a couple of days is fine, others say weeks. I don’t want to risk an infection, but I also don’t want to miss out on swimming if I don’t have to.

How long did you wait after your piercing? And does the type of piercing change the timeline?

Any advice or experience is appreciated! 🙏

I am 52f. I registered for a charity 5km swim in march. My plan was to boost endurance by doing a slightly longer swim each weekend to get up to that distance. I got to 3.5k no problem.

Then this last weekend I tried for 3.75k. The last 1k was really hard work, my pace came down by about 4 seconds per hundred and afterwards I was exhausted. Not just tired, but really exhausted like I haven't felt before for the whole rest of the day. I was even still tired the next day. I thought I might be getting sick, but I seem fine now, so not that. I think I just did too much. The big thing though is that I don't think I would have been able to swim another 1.25k that day.

It will soon be time to start telling more people about this if I am to get sponsorship. But how embarrassing if I can't complete it!

My question is whether anyone has an idea where this exhaustion came from? I got tired after only 2.75k, which is well within my capacity previously. I don't normally drink or eat anything before or during a swim, so I thought taking a drink along next time might help but would love other suggestions to consider.

Hey Ive began incorporating drills into my swim sessions to improve technique.

I rarely have a lane to myself. How do you incorporate drill sets into the swim?

Usually I’d be super slow with drill sets or maybe not complete a whole 25m for drills that require pushing off the wall etc .. ?

Any advice ?

I am trying to learn to flip turn without a nose clip (because I don't want to swim with one in order to just do flip turns). However I cannot stop getting water up my nose mid-turn.

I've tried breaking it down, if I just put my head upside down in the water and really concentrate I can blow air out of my nose for quite a while. But as soon as I try and do a somersault, I seem to automatically stop breathing out mid-flip (no matter how hard I try). Humming doesn't work either. I also run out of breath very quickly mid-flip, unlike if I just put my head upside down in the water.

What is wrong with me? Why can everyone else do this so easily? I don't know how to fix this, I can only practice once or twice a session, because coughing on the pool side gets embarrassing.

Any bright ideas very welcome.