Does swimming build MUSCLE, or do I need to go to the gym?

Swimming makes you fit, stronger and get in shape but it will not provide you big muscles. I also need some advice for this topic.

I think swimming will only go so far for building muscle. I have recently been taking on some LC action and I can feel some significant burn going on in my lats and triceps, there will be some muscle hypertrophy there in the near future. But the physiques you speak of are at least partially attained by lifting weights I am sure.

I have thought about this a lot. 15 years ago I did a lot of heavy lifting and built significant muscle mass, it also slowed my swimming down. Then I started rowing and swimming without any weights and have lost a little but not much mass. I think that swimming may not actually build much muscle but possibly it maintains it..or I may be lying to myself because I would rather spend my time swimming and rowing.

Increasing muscle size is done with higher amounts of resistance that cannot be achieve through swimming. As an example, a body builder could not use swimming to maintain muscle mass and severe atrophy will take place if they discontinue weight training. On the other hand, for an extremely weak person with little muscle mass, swimming could be a resistance exercise and actually increase strength and muscle mass. For a vast majority of people, swimming is great cardiovascular exercise but not a means to increase or maintain muscular strength. Get into the weight room and swim is a great combination.

To a point swimming will build muscle, but it is mostly a high rep-low weight exercise (as far as muscle use goes), so if you are trying to build muscle to become a quicker sprinter, you will need to supplement your swimming routine with weight training.

what about for distance free and 200 ***? Is it better to do higher weight and few reps OR low weight and many reps?

swimming...and by that I mean SPRINTING, will build and maintain big amounts of muscle mass in the upper body. My lats, upper back, shoulders and chest are all as big, if not bigger than when I was powerlifting. Swimming will make you a pull up freak. My legs and glutes however are not nearly as big as when I was squatting heavy and track sprinting, so I would say yes...and no. Anaerobic training will work its magic.

When I started lifting regularly the first time drop I had was in the 200 BR. I think if you are going to lift do high weight/low reps. Swimming is low weight/high rep so to do that in the gym seems redundant to me.

I don't think swimming 50's and 100's is low weight high rep, I think it is high weight high rep. This generates lactic acid and taxes the CNS which I think triggers production of natural HGH and eureka! you get bigger. The body needs to buffer the lactic acid. One way I think the body reacts is to trigger muscle growth in the hopes of supplying sufficient ATP anaerobically in future workouts. NFL linemen have discovered this and are doing high weight high rep workouts to failure in the gym. Also compound movements like power cleans, weigh sled sprinting...etc. Swimming distance may be areobic and "low weight high reps", but not sprinting. I feel when I am sprinting I can't possibly pull back any harder. Just my opinion.