my friend asked me if I’d like to go on a “swimming holiday” in Greece with her, and, unthinkingly, I said yes, imagining splish splashing in between lounging in the sun. I was wrong and now I’m four months into swim training and um, maybe I hate swimming???? what have I done
@xahteiwi oh hello! honestly both. I think the main thing I’m struggling with right now is getting bored - I get bored before I get physically tired. Thinking that maybe some kind of plan with different drills/exercises might help? (Rather than just swimming laps monotonously?) The longest stretch we go for will be 5km and so far the longest I’ve done is 2km
@floreani Okay here we go then. Use what you like; discard the rest. 😀
5K is LONG, and you really want to get to the point where your front crawl — the most efficient stroke by far — feels to you like you could go on forever. Go slow, be straight and level in the water, turn your head only as far as necessary to breathe. Also note that in long swims like that, even a slight breeze can really mess up your ears. So you might want to get used to swimming with ear protectors.
The butterfly is useless by itself (it's too strenuous for long-distance swimming, and slower than the front crawl for sprints), but if done right, is an excellent stamina builder. Practice until you can do 50m full-tilt. It's also great for hip mobility, gets you bragging rights, and let's be real — you'll enjoy looking at your shoulders in the mirror.
Also, as a safety measure, do perfect the survival float ("dead man's float"), because cramps can creep up on you and be nasty.
@floreani Here's something that every kid understands but adults tend to forget: under water, you can fly. The ability to dive down 5-7 meters and swim around and do flips and turns opens up a world of fun. So get comfortable diving with swimming goggles and stay below for maybe half a minute or so.
Underwater swimming also tends to force you to maximise the glide phase in the breaststroke, and thus improve your efficiency in that stroke.
@floreani Additional thought: I'm not sure if you or your friend are up for this or if it's even legal where you're headed, but honestly, swimming is intensely liberating if you can do it without swimwear.
@floreani Final note, re boredom in training: some bone-conducting headphones are waterproof, fit under a swim cap, and (since Bluetooth doesn't work if submerged) come with their own data storage. So you might be able to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or music while training.
@floreani Sorry, have to add one afterthought, since you're probably in the pool a lot at this point: at least for a week or two, do consider tracking your food intake, energy burn, and weight. You may be burning a lot more calories than you think, and as a result not get the muscle build-up you're aiming for. (This is why swimmer bodies are never beefy unless they also pump iron and wolf down incredible amounts of protein-heavy food.)
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