Swimming Tips From A Swimmer

Claire Thomson

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There is no denying that starting in any sport can be challenging but it’s important to remember that everyone must begin somewhere. When I was seven years old, I joined my local swimming club and I’ve never looked back.

Benefits of Swimming

There are countless reasons why swimming is a great sport for both health and social reasons. For me, swimming was a great way to meet new people and without it I wouldn’t have met my flatmates at university or some of my best friends today. The social aspect of the sport is by far superior to anything I have done before.

On top of meeting new people, and therefore benefitting your mental health, there are so many physical health benefits as swimming is an easy way to burn calories without a high level of impact – unlike running, for instance. Additionally, it can help to improve lung capacity and works both arms and legs simultaneously.

In my opinion, being the water or at the swimming pool is one of my favourite things as when you swim you are left alone with your thoughts and it’s almost like nothing else matters for an hour or two. Every individual will have different health benefits from the sport and a reason why they swim. Even if you don’t have a ‘why’ just now, once you get started it’ll become clear to you!

In many respects getting into a sport is the same regardless of what sport or activity you choose to do. Although, in my opinion, swimming is just a little bit more difficult. So, here are my tips on how to get involved and start out in my favourite sport!

Without goals, training has no direction

Firstly, like with the majority of things in life, you need to commit to the cause. Whether that be for relaxation, fitness or socialising, and the desire to get better and improve. The best way to begin is by sitting yourself down and setting some short-term goals. Take into account your current ability, the amount of time you have to spend at the pool, and any other factors that could affect your goals.

Goals don’t have to be big, scary targets that you must hit to succeed; every little step should be seen as a success or a learning curve. These could be things like swimming for half an hour without stopping, swimming 10, 20, 30 lengths or going to the pool three times a week. No matter how big or how small these targets are, it’s something to work towards and will provide that motivation to get started.

Keep calm and put your goggles on

Now you have what you’re aiming for, you need the gear to go with it. To start, you simply need a good swimsuit. Try Arena, TYR or Speedo for example. Goggles needn’t be expensive, but look for a pair that you find comfortable. I would personally recommend Dolfin. Finally, a swim cap is especially helpful if you have long hair – this will make life so much easier! When you know that you’re going to commit to the sport, there is other equipment that you can buy later on but the safest thing is to start out simple.

Just keep swimming

You’ve got your equipment, you’ve set your goals, and you’ve made it to the pool. Swimming is a very technique based sport and it can be hard to develop your strokes to swim efficiently but growing up we were always taught practice makes permanence. It can be very beneficial to watch videos about stroke technique on YouTube, look and try some different drills to improve your efficiency or even speak to others in the pool or the lifeguards, who more often or not will be happy to help.

Swimming can be so rewarding and so much fun. It is a great way to escape the stress of everyday life, make new friends and get fit. The benefits and opportunities are endless, and you’ll constantly surprise yourself on your swimming journey. When’s a better time to get started than now? Dive in, you know you want to!

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Featured image courtesy of Claire Thomson.