Continuous swimming...

You're probably not doing anything 'wrong' per se. But Rome wasn't built in a day...or in five months. I'd say that if you're focusing on going fast...you probably should slow down and focus more on increasing your endurance. Dan

Hey, I started swimming in June this year. Took me about a month to learn it, I'm still in learning phase though. I can breathe while swimming (freestyle), but after about 2-3 minutes I get out of breathe...I could only go from one side of the pool to the other and back to where I started...after that I must wait for like 5 minutes until I can swim again. What am I doing wrong? You need a coach or someone to teach you proper technique. You are very likely doing many things inefficiently and causing yourself to fatigue quickly. If you want to post a video - I know people on here are good about providing feedback. Good luck!!!

In addition to the above posts, I'm guessing you could be breathing improperly. Are you exhaling freely (and completely) when your face is in the water? If you can't hear and see bubbles, you are not, and that could be causing a build-up of CO2 that is zapping you so quickly.

Remember, swimming is a lot harder an exercise than it looks. You've gotten lots of great advice here, so I'll just add that it takes lots of practice to build the kind of stamina you need for longer distances, so be patient. I see all sorts of swimmers at my pool, and when I notice someone with great technique, I talk to him or her when they're taking a break.

Thanks for the replies. I think I breathe wrong...first 3-4 times when i breathe it's easy...but later, I just can't wait to take my face out of the water to take a breathe... I don't hear anything cos it's too loud there and I wear ear plugs.