Swimmers

So...I'm pretty out of shape. I weigh about 163, i smoke about a cigarette a day (ive been trying to quit) and i can only really walk 3.0 on the treadmill without getting super tired for about 30 minutes.

But swimming is a completely different story. I feel like i never get tired of swimming-eventually my stomach starts to hurt but other then that i feel like i could go for hours. I really try to push myself when i do laps and i was just wondering if this reaction to swimming is normal? is it suppose to feel really easy and am i really burning more when I'm swimming compared to how much i burn when I'm walking?