Swim for Longer

How do I learn to sustain front crawl for more than 2 lengths and swim for longer?

Two factors will determine how long you can sustain front crawl for; your efficiency through the water and your stamina. Both of these factors work hand in hand to help maintain front crawl for long distances.

Efficiency through the water is determined by technique. Simple adjustments like keeping your head still when not breathing, arms not pulling too deep or recovering to high, hands entering the water in line with the shoulder and keeping your feet together, all add up to make your body more streamlined through the water.

Stamina is down to plain old fitness. Front crawl is the fastest of all swimming strokes and it is easy to swim too fast without realising it. Start slowly, concentrating on your technique and breathing.

Try breathing every three arm pulls to being with; alternating the side you breathe and see how long you can maintain this breathing pattern. Then switch to breathing every stroke when you start to get tired.

Swimming fitness is like any other fitness, it will improve over time the more you do and push yourself.

Try counting how many arm pulls it takes you to complete one length of the pool. This is a good measure of your efficiency. However many you take; try over time to complete a length using less. You will achieve this by stretching further with your arm entry and pull harder and further back with each arm pull. Together with a streamlined body position, you will begin to swim lengths of the pool using less effort and less energy.

Our best-selling book 'The Complete Guide to Swimming Front Crawl' contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of freestyle, including body position and breathing. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

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