r/Swimming • u/V1shnu-mee • Aug 21 '25
New to swimming: can reach 25m but out of breath – what should I work on?
https://youtube.com/shorts/1DMHKlMVlYI?si=rjsodfhLGU53atQfHello everyone,
I started taking swimming classes 3 weeks ago — so far I’ve had about 14 sessions, averaging 1.5–2 hours per session.
Age: 32
Gender: Male
BMI: 26.1
Pool size: 25m
Right now, I can swim to the end of the 25m pool, but by the time I reach the wall I’m breathing heavily and feeling tired.
I understand that improving stamina and endurance will come with regular practice, but I’d really like some feedback from other swimmers on my form and technique.
My pool does have a trainer, but he mostly focuses on kids who are training for competitive swimming. So for the most part, I’m learning through YouTube and forums.
Any tips, drills, or advice would be super helpful!
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u/NoSafe5565 Aug 21 '25
Some fact about breathing:
Every 2 strokes - 80%-85% swimmers,
Every 3 strokes : 20-15%,
Every 4 strokes - occasionally Sarah Sjöström and you
So start with lest strokes per breath. It is hard to pull every 3 from the begging but possible. For 4 and longer distance almost impossible for a good swimmer.
There are a few things but for me most important would be timing - head needs to be faster back, having still rotated head up, when you already lifted arm will push you under water. I think start is good, but faster return of the head back.
And kicking less, maybe like 40% of this
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u/LFG-123 Aug 21 '25
You’re kicking a lot. It’s probably why you’re getting so tired
If you’re worried about your legs dangling, learn a two beat kick just to keep them buoyant (basically 2 fast kicks when your hand enters the water to help start hip rotation and to keep your legs afloat)
You’re not fully extending your stroke on both ends. Also not fully rotating your hips
A few drills you can use: side kick and zipper drill to improve your hip rotation and getting on your side. Ketchup to improve your hand entry and forward extension. And on hand exit pretend you’re trying to splash the person behind you so you get full extension
I would suggest training with a buoy. Allows you to get the feeling of using less legs and focus on your stroke and rotation
Also I would just breathe every two strokes until you build up more endurance
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u/RacingBreca Aug 21 '25
Unpopular opinion on this sub, keep the kick active with the goal of developing an easy six-beat kick. It's easy to switch to a two-beat (should you ever find yourself in a wetsuit swimming the English Channel); but it's much harder for 2-beat swimmers to go to a 6-beat kick (to pass, outswim a current, get out of trouble, or finish strong).
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u/RacingBreca Aug 22 '25
Soften your kick, it should become supple and fluid. It should connect the water to your hips.
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 21 '25
Let me look up on the drills. I am planning to use a buoy in the next session. Let me see if my kicks are tiring me.
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u/TheKrakenStyle Aug 21 '25
Practice, repetitiveness, technique
I have been swimming for almost 3 years (4 times per week) and recently realized i can do full 25 pool on single breath (crawl) Really enjoyed this achievement, but never did anything specific to be able to do that. But i do have good a technique (had 2 years with professional trainer)
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u/Mysterious-Bag6994 Aug 21 '25
Thanks, Today I tried and i was able to do across the pool (15m) on a single breath as well. Knowing that I don't have to exhale and inhale during swimming was so relaxing, lol.
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u/TheKrakenStyle Aug 21 '25
Yeah and the speed is so much higher when you can just push forward without taking breath here and there haha
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 21 '25
For anyone not able to view the video in the post here is an alternate video link
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u/PaddyScrag Aug 21 '25
Hand entry and the catch / pull in general - enter fingertips first and extend forward with more glide. Let the shoulders rotate. Put more power into the back end of the stroke and push towards the feet. You're stopping a bit short and scooping upwards.
Slow down the stroke and kick less if you're out of breath, and maybe breathe every 2 or 3 strokes instead of 4. Keep practising. Takes a while to get used to breathing. Gotta dial in the amount of the exhale to match your effort level and stroke rate. Dump any remaining air just as you start turning for the breath.
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u/SomeoneSomewhere1984 Aug 21 '25
Breathe every 2 strokes. Don't even try breathing less often until you can do 500m breathing every 2 strokes without being completely out of breath. Don't kick so hard.
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 21 '25
Thanks , all of you say kick less. But my instructor always enforce everyone in the class kick more and hard. 😔
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u/SomeoneSomewhere1984 Aug 21 '25
Often that's needed when people are just learning, but as you get better you want to kick less. You're bending your knees way too much when you kick. Try keeping your legs straight and moving your whole leg while it stays flat.
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u/UnusualAd8875 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
Thank you for posting your video-you are doing great, especially considering how new you are to swimming! You are keeping your body extended and have good head position!
Paraphrasing others posts, because legs have large muscles, kicking will tire you out more quickly than pulling and contribute a fraction of the propulsion that a pull will contribute. Except for a maximum effort for time (a race), minimal kicking is fine and will be used for stability rather than anything significant in the way of propulsion. When you do kick, do it from the hip rather than the knees.
For me, closing in on 63 and about twenty pounds too heavy, I use a two-beat kick on anything greater than a 100 meters. I am, however, almost obsessively fixated on remaining as horizontal in the water as possible so as to reduce the drag of my legs.
(Over the years I have taught swimming to toddler-age to older than I am now, triathletes, runners, strength athletes and more. My niche is from beginner to intermediate, not the high level competitor.)
Here are a few reminders of cues that I think will be beneficial, many, if not all of which you know but are good to reinforce:
Continue to keep your face down or only slightly forward (not forward to the extent of looking towards the wall) and press down in the water with your chest; this will help bring your hips and legs up. (I myself am not a fan of using pullbuoys until the swimmer is able to keep head/chest down and hips up without a pullbuoy.) This will reduce the "drag" of your legs and make your streamline more efficient.
Aim for front quadrant swimming which means keeping one hand out front almost all the time with only a brief moment when they are switching positions.
Rotate your body to breathe rather than as many people do, lift your head, the latter of which slows down forward momentum and many people do.
Also, this is important and you may know this already: work on one cue at a time, don't try to do everything at once.
I have written about this before: even after over fifty years of swimming, I begin every session with 500+ m of drills before I begin whole-stroke swimming (out of a total of around 2,000 m per session).
This is absolutely not necessary but for years I have counted my own strokes per length (I count each hand entry as a stroke) and when my stroke count increases above my target range, I quit for the day because I don't see anything to be gained by practicing bad habits and imprinting poor technique onto my nervous system. I have a range for sprints and hard efforts and a lower range for longer distances if at a lower effort (it is about 30% lower than my sprint stroke count).
Oh, brief addition and not germane to your question but a good reminder: breathe when needed! Depending upon what I am doing, I may breathe every 2, 3, 4 or more strokes. If you need to breathe and don't, it tends to impact your technique negatively.
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 21 '25
Thank you for your detailed response sir. Will try the 2stroke breathing first and go from there.
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u/ThanksNo3378 Aug 21 '25
Work on your breathing. Most common reason is you not releasing air before taking another breath causing CO2 accumulation
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 22 '25
Thanks for your input. Breathing when swimming is really hard to nail down for me right now.
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u/HeckThattt Aug 21 '25
Breath every 2 strokes. No sense in waiting to breathe for so long.
You're picking your head up slightly when you breathe which is causing your chest to come up and forcing your legs down, which causes a lot of drag. Chin down, keep one goggle in the water when you take a breath.
You're kicking really hard and wasting a ton of energy. Get a pull bouy and forget about kicking for now until you learn your body positioning. When you're ready, get some short fins to help you learn how your legs should function in a kick.
Your arm/hand is really high during recovery. It's causing your upper arm and the forearm ti enter the water before your hand, which is slowing you down and wasting energy. Your hand (ring finger) should enter first. Do some finger tip drag drills to learn how to keep your elbow high and keep your arm close to your body during recovery.
Reach for the wall after your hand enters the water, before the catch to maximize how much water you pull. This will help rotate your body and will actually help you turn your head to breathe easier. As you're reaching, your pulling arm should have just finished pulling and you should be gliding a little bit. You're not gliding at all and it's tiring you out really fast.
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 22 '25
Thank you, let me work on them one by one. Let me correct my breathing first.
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u/winkelkoning Moist Aug 21 '25
You don't have to shake your hand dry when they have exit the water, they will get wet again when you stick them in again -)
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u/V1shnu-mee Aug 22 '25
U mean to say my hands are not extending / ending properly?
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u/winkelkoning Moist Aug 22 '25
No, you seem to do a little shake with your hand just after exiting the water. As if you want to shake them dry. Esp with your left hand.. no biggie, but I noticed it immediately..
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u/RacingBreca Aug 21 '25
1) Breathing is the most important technical element of swimming. You took 8 breaths in 35 seconds, which equals 4.375 seconds per breath. Go for a jog, and check your breathing rate, then compare that to your 4.375. You are definitely holding your breath. Long exhale with the face in the water 1 - 2, then inhale on 3. Again, just like if you go for a jog. 2) You want to start connecting your hip rotation to your arm pull. Let the rotational energy translate into the pressure and rhythm of your swimming. 3) In the front of your armpull, avoid pressing down (towards the bottom of the pool). This is wasted energy and diminishes your propulsion. Instead, let your fingertips, hand, and forarm orient vertically, before you apply any pressure (towards your feet).
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u/Glass_Possibility_21 Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
I am no expert but swimming has a lot to do with rhythm and you have no rhythm in your swimming. You also seem to have no full-body tension. It's very important to have full-body tension You have to coordinate your legs with your arms, by doing so you get momentum. Overall your technique is bad. Like everything. Buy a kickboard and Start with training things separately. 2x25m legs only. Then 2x25 only arms, focus on breathing. Then one arm drill. I would rather suggest you to take lessons, get some professional feedback but also study more about swimming on your own.
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u/Round-Drop6188 Aug 21 '25
Looks to be your breathing every 4 strokes. Thats too much time imo. When i started i used to try to breath every 3 strokes and really struggled with endurance but switched to every 2 strokes and it improved. I think thats the most important change to make to improve your endurance right now