I am 74 and have taken up freestyle swimming this year, originally as part of Triathlon training (I completed 2 sprints this year), but find I love the sport of swimming in its own right. I am up to 100 meters in 3 minutes, but I still struggle with breathing as it puts me at times off track with my high elbow pull, rotation, flutter kick, etc. After swimming 100 meters I am breathing really hard and have to stop. I feel confident it will all come together as I swim more. I am convinced that to learn to swim you have to swim! I view YouTube frequently and I have many books on improving swimming technique.
Here is the issue I battle. Yesterday is just one example. A tallish thin girl, no obvious bulk in her musculature, was swimming freestyle, lap after lap, conceivably like she could swim forever I truly believe, at twice my best speed for 100 meters. As a male, I am certain I have greater muscular strength in my arms, back and legs than she, yet she can easily outdo me in her ability to swim.
What allows a swimmer to have so much endurance? She flowed in the water like she owned it, so I'm sure she has been practicing and swimming for years. Yet, I thought endurance required muscular strength in addition to good technique?
Baffled, jealous, but in great admiration of persons who swim so naturally and so beautifully.
Wow! I'm impressed! You are starting swimming at 74! You are already amazing in my book and have no reason to feel intimidated by anyone else in the pool. Unfortunately, I think that I will have to burst your bubble a little bit and tell you that while swimming is about a lot of factors, it is mainly about technique and not about brute strength. I was a lucky child and able to get great coaching from a young age, and now, I hate to tell you this, but yes, I can literally swim forever without effort and without getting out of breath. At a low pace, swimming for me is easier than walking. But I started from childhood building everything that I needed to be that way. Is your situation hopeless because you started later? Of course not. But it does take time. Here's a few of my suggestions: 1 - if breathing throws off your whole stroke then you are probably rotating too far when you breathe and taking too long to breathe. Try breathing out most of the way with your head down looking at the bottom of the pool then turn your head to the side to "catch a breath" as quickly as you can and turn your head back down. Make sure not to move your body at all when you move your head. 2 - breathe only in set intervals such as every 3 strokes. If you can't manage that then you are working yourself too hard and you need to slow down. The harder that you exert yourself the more oxygen that you will need. It seems dumb to tell you to swim slower, but once you get the pace down you will learn to use your muscles properly to exert your effort by pulling more efficiently and *gasp* you may even learn to kick! Sorry a little humor, which brings me to 3 - Use fins to swim, then take your fins off to practice kicking only. If you can't do #1 and 2 then use fins until you build up the right kick. Small fast kicks will balance your stroke so that you are not over-rotating. 4 - try a snorkel! They look silly, but if you still need long languish breaths then wear a snorkel for sprinting work or for when there are a lot of waves in your pool and you get a face full of water every time that you take a small quick breath. 5 - practice holding your breath out of the water. 6 - when you practice kicking push yourself to hold your breath as long as possible under water to build your lung capacity.
Good luck!!!
Wow! I'm impressed! You are starting swimming at 74! You are already amazing in my book and have no reason to feel intimidated by anyone else in the pool. Unfortunately, I think that I will have to burst your bubble a little bit and tell you that while swimming is about a lot of factors, it is mainly about technique and not about brute strength. I was a lucky child and able to get great coaching from a young age, and now, I hate to tell you this, but yes, I can literally swim forever without effort and without getting out of breath. At a low pace, swimming for me is easier than walking. But I started from childhood building everything that I needed to be that way. Is your situation hopeless because you started later? Of course not. But it does take time. Here's a few of my suggestions: 1 - if breathing throws off your whole stroke then you are probably rotating too far when you breathe and taking too long to breathe. Try breathing out most of the way with your head down looking at the bottom of the pool then turn your head to the side to "catch a breath" as quickly as you can and turn your head back down. Make sure not to move your body at all when you move your head. 2 - breathe only in set intervals such as every 3 strokes. If you can't manage that then you are working yourself too hard and you need to slow down. The harder that you exert yourself the more oxygen that you will need. It seems dumb to tell you to swim slower, but once you get the pace down you will learn to use your muscles properly to exert your effort by pulling more efficiently and *gasp* you may even learn to kick! Sorry a little humor, which brings me to 3 - Use fins to swim, then take your fins off to practice kicking only. If you can't do #1 and 2 then use fins until you build up the right kick. Small fast kicks will balance your stroke so that you are not over-rotating. 4 - try a snorkel! They look silly, but if you still need long languish breaths then wear a snorkel for sprinting work or for when there are a lot of waves in your pool and you get a face full of water every time that you take a small quick breath. 5 - practice holding your breath out of the water. 6 - when you practice kicking push yourself to hold your breath as long as possible under water to build your lung capacity.
Good luck!!!
