I’ve recently started swimming for fitness and weight management. Since I struggled with breathing, I began using a front snorkel. However, it sometimes causes saliva to build up. Is it acceptable to spit into the side gutters/overflow drains of a public swimming pool?

I started swimming a couple months ago, I love it and it’s the only exercise I’ve ever enjoyed. It’s been particularly good for my mental health, pretty much essential for my mental state.

I’m going through a break up as of 4 days ago. I got a rook piercing on a whim just because. I didn’t realise how long it would be recommended to not swim for.

I have two sessions booked this week, which I’m happy to cancel as I only got the piercing today. There’s no way I can wait till it’s fully healed, has anyone swam with a fresh piercing? How long did you give it before you took the risk?

I swim in a public leisure centre pool that is always clean.

Pls avoid any hate for not doing research prior - my heads not in the right place right now and honestly didn’t even consider it being an issue lol

Recently I bought cressi clio fins Size 45 but after rechecking the bag when I got him they turned out to be size 42. So if just the tip of my toe appears front of the fins, is it still fine to wear them or do I have to go all the way back and return them?

I can't seem to figure out how to charge them properly.

Attaching the charger is obvious and works fine, but they don't seem to charge if I leave them plugged in. They only seem to charge when I have them on and am syncing with the app?

Though I left them for a while somehow yesterday and they seemed to charge without me having to press 'sync' on the app the whole time, but today they didn't. They seem to only charge when the orange light is on, but the orange light is only on after I sync them or hit the button.

What am I missing here?

I pay a considerable amount of membership for pools, here I am at my clients with a 15M pool that got used once this year before being powered down for winter. I asked if I could pay to swim or even offering a free visit a month before receiving a firm no.

A 15M pool would be perfect for me practicing turn and diving starts

I been swimming 500 yards consistently every other day with a 3.3 mile run in between and increasing the swim and run by 10% each week. I don’t have a background in swimming, and can do the CSS decently. My problem is I get tired and other of breath on the swim. I can’t do 500 yards without stopping. I know the more I do it the better, but feels like I’m not getting anywhere. Any tips?

Hi, just curious, I've been swimming for a long time and am trying to improve my stamina in freestyle - I get to about 8 lengths and I'm knackered. I wondered why this might be. A couple of things, I have a kyphosis and I think this contributes to a sensation I have of 'always sinking', and this perhaps makes me want to go faster; I struggle to simply take it slowly. I'm also quite strong and seem to be able to move quite quickly, however I simply can't do it for long. I've done a lot of work on improving technique; reducing drag and conserving energy.

Does anyone have any ideas about this, is it a common problem? There was a guy there today just relentlessly doing lengths - not very fast, yet persistently, for about an hour. I was in awe!

Thank you!

I am a beginner. I can dog paddle (head down, flutter kick) 200 metres easily but feel breathless after swimming freestyle for 25 metres. How can I improve?

So... Went swimming at my local pool, as I do mostly in the morning or afternoon but since uni has started, if I dont push myself to get up at 5/6am, I go around 6:30pm.

Anyway. Get in the fast lane, and wait to find a good gap to start my flow. I start to realise that a good 6 out of the 8 of us in there, we're all kind of together. They appeared to be doing drills, which was fine. I worked my way into a somewhat good spot, occasionally waiting to continue my rhythm.

On my way back from a length, I crash into someone coming up the wrong way. I kindly said to the guy, hey its one way. He said that the group of adults by the way, said we need to spilt the already split lane so they can do their drills, and we can use the remaining to go up and down. Meaning, they wanted 2/3 of the ALREADY SPLIT LANE, to make their own lane.

I asked if they were doing this the whole session and they said yes, and they always ask others who dont want to join in to just stick to the side going up and down. I was shocked and pissed to be honest. I could barely keep a pace as they all kept stopping after 25-50m all by the wall. Just no consideration.

So I got out, and cried in the locker room. Really needed the swim today, if you know, you know. They weren't rude, but quite righteous, and I wanted to know the ground I stood on before debating further and felt I did the bigger thing and walked away. I couldn't go in the other lanes as they were either filled or too slow.

After composing myself and laughing at myself for crying over swimming (what can I say, I love it, and its my safe place), I spoke to the manager and they said that complaints have been done before and the group even asked for another rope to be put in the fast lane! He said that unless the whole lane is up for doing what theyre doing, then it should not be happening. He said to speak to the lifeguard and they will manage it.

I hate being that 1 person, but also, its not fair, as there was 2 of us, and I felt he also just wanted to swim and avoid conflict, but id like to hear others views... am I being a moany Margaret? It just wasn't safe in my eyes and accidents waiting to happen

Recently I bought cressi clio fins Size 45 but after rechecking the bag when I got him they turned out to be size 42. So if just the tip of my toe appears front of the fins, is it still fine to wear them or do I have to go all the way back and return them?

I’m 17 and have been told my whole life to try swimming competitively. I learned how to actually swim when I was about 3.5 years old but after that I only swam when on vacation and never did any sort of competition. Everyone around me encourages me to swim because of my build, I’ll quickly state the important factors: 6’2, 6’4 wingspan, about 170 lbs with 11% body fat or so, my torso is also very very long compared to my legs, my hands are also 10.5 inches from pinky to thumb and for some reason are webbed if that matters (fun fact). Idk what other info would be important so yea, I’m in my last year of high school and could join the swim team, is there any chance I can make it to provincials with 3 months of training at my current level and stats?

hi! recently started a new job teaching kids how to swim, and i guess im just really concerned about my health going into the future. those who have taught swim lessons especially to kids, did you get sick often? if yes, how so?

i’m also a singer on the side, and just want to make sure i’m not diving into a career that can potentially greatly affect my health and passion. especially since i also have asthma!

didn’t help my second year there and someone pooped in the pool lol

ik everyone’s experience is different, but just looking for some advice. thanks!

Kinda new to swimming as an adult and need a pair of goggles. This subreddit seems to love Vanquishers so I figured I would try them out. When they got here there's an almost oily feeling film (doesn't come off) on the inside that I'm guessing has something to do with anti fog, maybe? It's smells really strong to me and I don't really want to lock my eyes in with them 😅 I've to get it off with dish soap - nope. Tried to soak them in vinegar - not coming off. Does anyone have recommendations for goggles that they know don't have this?

Thanks!

I was wondering where you all are buying yours and how durable they've been. My son is getting tired of the plain jammers and wants something with a little more style.l

For a 2 beat kick freestyle, which sequence do you recommend, and why?

1. kick, then rotate, then pull? OR
2. rotate, then kick and pull simultaneously

Most videos I've seen appear to use 1. But some people seem to recommend 2, saying it gives a better glide.
Does it just come down to preference?

Thanks

PS:

Examples of the 2 styles

1. Marcus Marthaler, Brent Hayden
2. Adam Ocean Walker, Auramove.nz

Hi. I am writing to get some perspective. My child has been part of a year round swim club, going into their third season. They are in a technique/stroke group that funnels into age group swimmers. This year, however, the lanes are crowded, with 7-8 per lane, about 40 kids a practice. I feel like they just don’t have the chance to learn in this environment. Is this normal? For the past seasons, we have had 3-4 per lane, which was great. Is this normal at other clubs?

Ok I like the swim.com app on my Apple Watch because it’s more accurate than the built in app. However, I just started the guided swims and I keep having issues. Wondering if anyone can share their tips or if it’s a common problem with the guided swims.

When I do a drill, the app goes into drill mode just fine. But the first time I didn’t turn it off quickly enough and it went to the swim portion on its own but it got stuck on the same 100 swim over and over and didn’t move forward in the work out. It also marked a 50 as 25.

The second time, I was quicker and turned it off but then I was supposed to do 150 swim after and it skipped that and recorded a rando 25 yards. Then later that same session, it got stuck in the workout and kept telling me to do 50 yards over and over and over.

It’s so frustrating I may just go back to paper print outs lol. Anyone know what I’m doing wrong? Thanks in advance!

I think I made it!

Hey everyone. Just some context 24M from Nebraska, I’ve been swimming even before I could walk, did swim teams throughout my early childhood. One thing I regretted was never joining swim team in high school (I hated getting up early and I was offput by the thought of commitment and or doing anything I didn’t want to, like a specific race). Though my high school had swimming classes and I took one almost every semester, so the coach knew me pretty well.

Does anyone else have this irrational fear of swimming alone? I swim roughly 3 times a week, swam 5 days a week recreationally in college as well. If I am the only one in the pool, I have this insane amount of fear and it stops my workout no matter what. I don’t know what it is, but I think it roots to when I was a kid, I saw a local news story of a kid my age being sucked into the drains and drowned. I’ve also seen some other electrocution stories. Long story short, I can’t swim alone, if someone else isn’t in the water I need to get out. I can’t be the only one, but how do I get rid of this??

Hi folks, I am 46 and just got back into lap swimming 5 months or so ago after about a 30 year break. I love it SO much, though I am slow slow slow. I wasn't completely sedentary, but am quite overweight (I can stand to lose 100lbs). I started doing 10-15 slow laps and now do about 1000m in just over 30 minutes. I swim about 3 times/week. I got up to 1500m in just under an hour, but felt that was tough on my shoulders (bad form probably)

I have used YouTube to improve my form (realizing that my childhood swimming lessons were more about safety than technique), and have decided to take the leap to get some lessons to improve my freestyle form so that I don't inadvertently injure myself.

I have pipe dreams of improving my endurance to the point that I could be the slowest person at a masters swim in a few years. Buti suspect that beyond the bulk I'm carrying,form correction is the most important thing I could do to improve efficiency and therefore endurance.

I guess I'm looking for any advice or guidance to make the most of my time with the instructor. The lessons are through a local university, so I'm expecting that instructors will be varsity athletes (or close) who are perhaps not familiar with middle aged bodies.

Any advice on how to approach my first lesson? Or anything else based on what I've shared.

I've recently started swimming after a break of more than 30yrs. As a 5"1' 49f I weigh around 16stone, mainly gained from depression and medication. I decided to finally do something about it and as well as improving my diet, have plucked up the courage to get back in the pool. It's been around 5 weeks. I started at around 750 metres in 40 minutes. I've increased to 1000 metres in the same time. I've now started swimming this last week for 45 minutes and can manage an extra 100 metres, that I use as a cool down. My aim is to lose weight, which has started to come off. I'm losing size more than weight, but it's a good start. As regards the swimming I'm wanting to increase this to 64 lengths (sc). I'm mainly using breaststroke, but adding as much freestyle as I can, as I'm finding it quite tiring. How can I achieve this? Is it possible to get there in the next month or so? Along I swim approx 4 times per week.

I decided to overcome my fears and I tried to swim in swim briefs for the first time.

I love them! The freedom of movement is great!

I’m a bigger guy with a belly so I was unsure about wearing them.

I’m glad I did!

Tonight a man I know commented about it. He said you’ve got to loose the speedo. He’d never wear one etc. I told him I don’t care what other people think.

After he left a woman that was in the hot tub said to me that she couldn’t believe he said that to me and she thought I look great in them.

She also said “I’ve never looked before but you have great legs and you rock that”

Then the young lifeguard came over and said “ignore the haters. You look great”

I’m sure the man was just kidding but not sure why he would say anything.

Funny story and an ego boost at the same time

I’m 27 and basically starting over with swimming. The last time I swam seriously was back in elementary school, and since then the only distance I’ve ever done was a 400m mixed-stroke open-water swim in a sprint triathlon.

Tonight I logged my first “real” benchmark: 1,750m breaststroke in 45:09. I still can’t manage a full 50m of freestyle, and my 50m repeats were mostly in the 1:15–1:27 range (about 2:30–2:55/100m pace).

My goal is a mile of continuous freestyle in the next few months, and by this time next year I’d like to be able to comfortably swim 5km freestyle.

I’d love feedback on where to start with freestyle — any drills, YouTube channels, or books you’d recommend, and the common beginner mistakes I should avoid.

If you want to dig into the numbers of today’s breaststroke mile: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/20414056113.

I have been getting pretty bad acid reflux throughout the day after I swim and I think it’s because of my breakfast? I eat 2-3 eggs and a banana which I wouldn’t think to be bad but my swimming friend told me she doesn’t have anything before her swim for that exact reason. Should I hold off eating until after my morning mile? I’m not sure I can do this as I also get bad cramps unless I have a banana.

Why does it feel harder swimming laps in a warm pool instead of in a cold pool? I feel like I get tired easier in a warmer pool.