Possible to improve 30min distance w/only 30min sessions?

Former Member
Former Member
Hi, This is my 1st post. I have been a fitness swimmer (off & on depending if I lived near a pool) for nearly 30 years, since my mid-20s when I taught myself to swim a mile freestyle non-stop. (I had a few pointers from a local swim coach back then) My times have always been around 30 minutes, give or take. I am now retired and have a year round indoor pool. It's short... 56 feet I think. 48 laps= 1 mile. Yes, it's a lot of flip turns. I still do dry land, weights, pushups & chin ups etc. But I don't like spending more than 30 min in the pool. Typically, it's mostly freestyle, with a few backstroke & kickboard thrown in...all nonstop & flip turns. I went all out on Friday, and still fell just short of a mile :-( My question: Is it unrealistic to expect to improve my time without spending more time in the water? No Masters around here (Camano Island Wa), but I did hear a local pastor used to coach a Brazilian Olympic team... ps I was just reading some threads here and found out the S curve stroke is no longer advised. Ha! News to me. Maybe that's my problem.
Parents
  • Guys, in my opinion, serious improvement is swimming a mile in less than 18min - I consider that's impossible to achieve by swimming only 30min a day. Of course it's possible to improve technique and to swim it in relatively easy manner in 23 or even 22 min. For amateur it's not a bad result. To go down beyond that time IMO most likely you will need to swim harder and to spend more time in the water. Maybe before writing a training plan a good idea would be to ask Paul 1953 what time you expect to achieve?
Reply
  • Guys, in my opinion, serious improvement is swimming a mile in less than 18min - I consider that's impossible to achieve by swimming only 30min a day. Of course it's possible to improve technique and to swim it in relatively easy manner in 23 or even 22 min. For amateur it's not a bad result. To go down beyond that time IMO most likely you will need to swim harder and to spend more time in the water. Maybe before writing a training plan a good idea would be to ask Paul 1953 what time you expect to achieve?
Children
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