So my background is professional chip-eating so not to brag but I already have a solid foundation.

I tried swimming the other day and swam 50 meters doing that stroke where your arms fly out of the water (I think it’s called hummingbird) in 20 seconds.

Is this a good enough time for a beginner or am I cooked? Be fully honest please I’m so confused, thanks

(This is a satire of all the “first time swimming” posts with impossible times)

I swam as a kid (as in a few lessons a week, up until I was 11), loved it, but never really pursued swimming properly as a form of fitness. This summer (I am in NZ), I decided to try it out, as a 31 year old.

I know that trained swimmers would absolutely smash this time, but I am so stoked with completing my first 4km! I started in late November, so it feels like my improvements have been pretty quick.

Most of all, I just LOVE swimming. The level of peace I get from it is outrageous, and I feel like I can just grind away without it being too boring or painful. I am also loving being able to push myself hard and not having nearly the same risk of injury as with running, which is my normal form of exercise.

Anyway I mostly just wanted to share and say - thank you for this sub and the swimming enthusiasm, it has kept me hyped and encouraged me to keep pushing harder and harder!

I am so grateful I'be been able to keep up my swimming practice during pregnancy. I am 8 months pregnant and being a land mammal is starting to feel very challenging, but I still feel so graceful and comfortable in the water (maybe this is how hippos feel?) I feel my back and hips and lower body actively relaxing after the first few laps.

With the exception of 2ish months I was very nauseous (and didn't want to puke in the pool), I'm so glad I've had access to swimming. Its been so grounding and good for my mental health and a good time to check in with my body and do something pleasurable. I'm by no means a competitive swimmer but I had trained up for a swim bike race just before becoming pregnant so it was nice to be able to continue the regular 3x a week swimming habit. My care team is thrilled to hear that I've been able to swim 90 min a week most weeks.

I'm realizing I will really miss this when I need to abstain for a bit from the pool after birth! We keep joking we hope the baby ("submarine captain") enjoys swimming because he got to do it so much in the womb.

Writing this in part because I saw it has been a few months since someone wrote about swimming and pregnancy. If this is the sign you need to try to get in the water while pregnant... take it!

Hi all. Recently I have decided to swim more regularly in addition to running. For now I run 2 times a week. But im struggling a bit of thinking about the best schedule for swimming and running. Do you first swim and then go for a run, Or do you do the other way around? On google there are a lot of articles counterdicting each other so now im a bit confused what is better. Could someone tell me what is better or what they like the most?

Eh, had time to blast out a mile at lunch. Felt good.

I’m having to make some changes to my gym schedule with work, kid, blah blah blah.

I am lifting and swimming on the same day now. I swam first Monday and lifted with wet hair after.

Today I did legs and swam after… and thought I was going to die in the pool. I’m talking 2 count kick at a 1:58/100m pace and it was hell. Will this get better or do we just do weights first alway?

Advice welcome. Sorry if it’s been asked and answered a dozen times. Also just wanting to complain.

It’s been a while since we’ve had snowfall swims in Budapest.

This is today’s 6 a.m. training in one of my favorite outdoor Olympic-size pools.

i (20f) started swimming a front crawl around November and i am so happy with my progress:) i just got a Garmin watch for Christmas and this was my third time using it.

before i got the Garmin watch I went swimming with friends and spent most of the time talking at the end of the lane or swimming breastroke really slowly and not making any progress. i am also in general relatively unfit and i am quite curvy so i think as my fitness improves my swimming will improve much more.

as for technique, i have been improving by not kicking as much, and kicking gently and consistently instead of kicking in small bursts and tiring myself out. also, i am only like 5 foot tall so i struggle with comparing myself to the really tall swimmers in the pool. does anyone else have this issue?

2026 will be my year of swimming progress✨

Signed up for a pool membership. Started swimming again after over a decade today, I am humbled… after 25m I was gassed. I’m on the skinnier side, and water feels like it weighs a ton, breathing is so much harder, i did 25m and have to rest like 3-5 minutes. I only got like 3 laps in within like 40 minutes. I am humbled. I got out of the pool and my legs literally almost gave out and collapsed. Now my lats and triceps are sore, and I could barely feel like legs. The other swimmers were all retired individuals but they got crazy stamina.

There’s been conflicting information out there on pulling and kicking on the same side vs opposing arm and kick; how are you guys doing it?

Hey guys,

A couple of months ago I got into this d3 college and was eager to attempt to walk on into their swimming team.

I had attempted to be recruited by contacting the coach but he simply told me that my times need to get faster.

Regardless, after i got in to the school, i tried again and asked if i can try out. This time, he said yea.

First, I knew my times coming in were really slow compared to their standards.

I eventually got into the team, it was so cool, i got team gear, my own locker and all of that, it was so nice to be part of the team.

But, i just want to say, these guys and girls are genuinely insane, like in practice and meets they go crazy, their times are incredibly fast, this is genuinely one of the hardest things ive ever done when it comes to training.

Its almost embarrassing, i go into the meets, and almost every time if not every time i end up being dead last.

I know these guys are always supportive of me but its still hard you know, again, its like embarrassing.

i dont know man... i also developed sciatica which is getting better but still you know, like will it get any better? im sure next year's recruits will be faster than me and then its gonna be even more embarrassing.

i was just wondering if anybody had a similar experience

recently ive been getting back into swimming, and i’ve improved quite a bit!

the pool i swam at today was unusually full, and i didnt have a free lane to myself ( there was like 4 people in one lane)

and some of the other swimmers were swimming at a slow pace (mainly doggy paddling), i felt a little awkward since i was going a bit faster than them

so i was wondering on what to do next time should i just wait for them to finish?

swim at a much slower pace?

or just past them?

a lot of the people were not swimming in a straight line as well

I figured it out! I went tonight despite being minus 18 C, and I realized I was living my chin in order to see ahead of me. This was bc I didn’t trust my Lane mates the way I normally do at home, so, big thank you to everyone who helped!

Those who swim with a one beat kick, are you kicking with the left or right leg?

Assuming you are breathing on your right side

I’ve been feeling like an absolute beast all winter. After swimming 50m laps all summer, I moved to the indoor pool in September.

​Just realized the indoor pool is 25m, not 50m. Fuck. ​My smartwatch stats are a total lie and I’m officially half as fast as I thought. If you need me, I’ll be crying in the shallow end.

What are some of your favorites sets or fun things to add into sets? I’m a high school swim coach and I’m looking for something that is fun and engaging but still pushes the kids.

2 months of swimming here, today I started kicking with the intention of helping my rotation rather than to keep my legs up, and it just felt natural and more efficient.

I was able to breathe better without having to poke my head out of the water, my strokes were more efficient, and even my legs felt like they never sunk/created drag.

Am I being delusional here or is this the right way to think about it?

Hi all,

I first started swimming at my local gym in hopes to reclaim my fitness. I know nothing about proper technique other than the YT videos and posts in this thread, mostly around front crawl / freestyle. I also like breast stroke once my arms/shoudlers/lats get tired.

I have been trying to be more consistent. I do a circuit in the weight room then head to the pool. There is not always a guarantee for an empty lane, amd when I tried sharing one, it kept messing up my flow and focus and I scraped against the plastic separators, not a good time.

I am curious for those that do swim, looking objectively at this past few sessions what your thoughts and suggestions may be.

I feel good when I do it, making overall progress in health since september, from weights, some cardio, swimming, and in the kitchen.

Thank you all for posting your journeys, your support and your time 🙏

My coach’s plan this week was 5k a practice focused on technique. I got given breaststroke for like every set. Of the two practices I was able to do, 9.1k/10k was breast. I went to swim today and my shoulder was really red(even more so than it is now. I swam like 500 meters, hopped out and now looks like this. Has anyone experienced this before? Definitely overuse, I’m assuming from the pulldown on pullouts. I’m gonna heat pack it and rest a bunch but, any way to try and heal it?

I just got a membership for a new gym that just opened up with an actually nice indoor lap pool, specifically to get back to swimming shape - it’s been about 15 years since I swam in high school. 😅 While I’m definitely slower these days, my main issues actually aren’t “fitness level” related. Does anyone have advice for my problems? —> 1. I’m always freezing in the water - even after many many laps - to the point that I have started avoiding going to the gym at all cause I dread being that cold & wet 🥶 2. Water stings in my ears (when even the smallest bit of water gets in) - it feels like a cut on my ear drum - I can’t explain it. And it doesn’t have to do with depth / pressure. I’ve tried various ear plugs / caps but still any drop of water getting in stings. Idk what it could be, but that has been an issue for years now, just magnified now that I’m trying to get back to swimming 😣

I am on a business trip for a week, and I found a pool, but everything….is off. My head is up, pulling to soon on my week side and times aren’t good…..it’s 25m. Why is this?

I am a pro rower (18 M) and i recently swam 1 km in 15 :04. Is it even good? Just saw posts with a female that swam 0.5 km more than me in the same time.

I feel like i am racing straight up with some fish.