How to increase swimming endurance and power?

Competitive swimmer and later coach. haven't been in the water in years.

so far the best advice i've seen is blow all your air out under water. tho i can see how that might be less then ideal in a crowded triathalon. good thing your in a pool.

Let me first say that i'm really surprised at how many out of shape people tell me that they can or have swam a full mile plus at a time. Thats really impressive considering every 15-22 year old i've seen in lifeguard training had a very difficult time completeing a 500 yard swim, when a mile is more like 1650 yards.

but anyway

As alluded to before, technique is king in swimming, far more so then any other sport. its not the fastest or strongest that wins, its the most technically proficient swimmer that wins.

unfortuantely, its nearly impossible to correct your stroke all on your own, but the drills will help, particularly the catch up because you can slow down and concentrate on what your doing.

let me boil it down to 3 things i think you can work on that will help the most.

1. breathe when its most comfortable for you. there a lot of schools of thought on how often to breathe. my coach wanted me to breathe as little as possible. Seems like olympic swimmers breath much more often then i was instructed to do. and all this is wrapped up in speed which is directly related to efficency but not the same thing. if breathing too often seems like more work, breath less. if you feel your not getting enough air, breath more. Holding your breath too long is just going to tire you out faster tho, and probably only has an honest place in short sprints, 200 or less. not everyone will think of a 200 as a sprint lol. i only breathe two one side. personally i think your better off being able to do it on both, but some olympic atheletes only breathe to one side so your probably ok there.

2. if you sinking during the catch up stroke, your kick really sucks. lol, don't worry, mine does too. the kick has a lot more to do with moving through the water effeciently then you may realize. i think mistakes in kick technique are harder to correct then stroke becasue they are more sublte. it should involve your whole leg, hip to toe, in a whip like motion. learning the dolphin kick used in the butterfly may help because it emphasises the whip motion. honestly, after 8 years competitive swiming, thats the only kick i really do right. the more effeicent your kick, the far more efficent you move through the water. think about it, your constantly using your legs everyday, its not that they are weak when swimming, just not used properly. if you can harness the power and endurance of your legs, then your arms will tire far less quickly.

3. this is specific to freestyle, and mentioned before. your body has to roll, like barrel roll. the centerline of your body (think nose to belly button) are the axis of rotation. when your body rolls, your shoulder comes up out of the water, and at that point you barely have to turn your head at all to breathe, and breathing is far more natural, comfortable, and efficient. if your not rolling your body, every time you take a breath its like your completely interupting your stroke and momementum through the water. there is an excellent way to practice this in a dry land drill. take a broom and lean it against your forehead. simulate front crawl with your arms but now try to roll your body so that your shoulders point infront of you... with out distrubing the broom.

other then that, i was always taught to look at the wall not the floor of the pool, but thats more race mechanics. not sure how it effects efficency but the typically go hand in hand.

everything should be on top of the water, especially for freestyle. if your torso or legs are pointing down, its only going to make things harder. try to keep it all on the surface.

id concentrate more on what my hands should be doing in the water rather then out. out makes a differnce but i think what they do in is easier to pic up and gives you more when you get it.

i'd concentrate on my kick. i'm willing to bet moving through the water with a kick board might be harder then swimming. try to improve that.

Competitive swimmer and later coach. haven't been in the water in years.

so far the best advice i've seen is blow all your air out under water. tho i can see how that might be less then ideal in a crowded triathalon. good thing your in a pool.

Let me first say that i'm really surprised at how many out of shape people tell me that they can or have swam a full mile plus at a time. Thats really impressive considering every 15-22 year old i've seen in lifeguard training had a very difficult time completeing a 500 yard swim, when a mile is more like 1650 yards.

but anyway

As alluded to before, technique is king in swimming, far more so then any other sport. its not the fastest or strongest that wins, its the most technically proficient swimmer that wins.

unfortuantely, its nearly impossible to correct your stroke all on your own, but the drills will help, particularly the catch up because you can slow down and concentrate on what your doing.

let me boil it down to 3 things i think you can work on that will help the most.

1. breathe when its most comfortable for you. there a lot of schools of thought on how often to breathe. my coach wanted me to breathe as little as possible. Seems like olympic swimmers breath much more often then i was instructed to do. and all this is wrapped up in speed which is directly related to efficency but not the same thing. if breathing too often seems like more work, breath less. if you feel your not getting enough air, breath more. Holding your breath too long is just going to tire you out faster tho, and probably only has an honest place in short sprints, 200 or less. not everyone will think of a 200 as a sprint lol. i only breathe two one side. personally i think your better off being able to do it on both, but some olympic atheletes only breathe to one side so your probably ok there.

2. if you sinking during the catch up stroke, your kick really sucks. lol, don't worry, mine does too. the kick has a lot more to do with moving through the water effeciently then you may realize. i think mistakes in kick technique are harder to correct then stroke becasue they are more sublte. it should involve your whole leg, hip to toe, in a whip like motion. learning the dolphin kick used in the butterfly may help because it emphasises the whip motion. honestly, after 8 years competitive swiming, thats the only kick i really do right. the more effeicent your kick, the far more efficent you move through the water. think about it, your constantly using your legs everyday, its not that they are weak when swimming, just not used properly. if you can harness the power and endurance of your legs, then your arms will tire far less quickly.

3. this is specific to freestyle, and mentioned before. your body has to roll, like barrel roll. the centerline of your body (think nose to belly button) are the axis of rotation. when your body rolls, your shoulder comes up out of the water, and at that point you barely have to turn your head at all to breathe, and breathing is far more natural, comfortable, and efficient. if your not rolling your body, every time you take a breath its like your completely interupting your stroke and momementum through the water. there is an excellent way to practice this in a dry land drill. take a broom and lean it against your forehead. simulate front crawl with your arms but now try to roll your body so that your shoulders point infront of you... with out distrubing the broom.

other then that, i was always taught to look at the wall not the floor of the pool, but thats more race mechanics. not sure how it effects efficency but the typically go hand in hand.

everything should be on top of the water, especially for freestyle. if your torso or legs are pointing down, its only going to make things harder. try to keep it all on the surface.

id concentrate more on what my hands should be doing in the water rather then out. out makes a differnce but i think what they do in is easier to pic up and gives you more when you get it.

i'd concentrate on my kick. i'm willing to bet moving through the water with a kick board might be harder then swimming. try to improve that.

I was actually quite surprised that as out of shape as I am now, I can still do similar practice speeds and can still swim over a km no problem

but I swam competitively for 15 years, I may be fat and injured now but I was practically born in the water lol and swimming and efficient technique is as natural as breathing lol

I have seen young fit people struggle because they were taught to swim the red Cross way and it isn't very efficient for fitness swimming, just emphasizing how important efficient technique is

great tips on being more efficient