Categories of Swimmers

Swimming is enjoyed by more Americans than any other sport. Certainly some of the 60 million Americans who indicate on questionnaires that they participate in swimming are referring to one week last summer when they waded knee-deep in the ocean and got their beach-baggies wet. Yet, if you visit a lap pool in the morning, during lunch, or after work and see the numerous fitness swimmers vying for lane space, you’ll quickly come to appreciate that a large percentage of those 60 million Americans are, in fact, regular, serious swimmers. Chances are, if you ever immerse yourself farther than knee-deep into water, you fall into one of the following categories:

Novice Swimmer 

You can swim one or two lengths of the pool without stopping. You use the crawl stroke or breaststroke, and you wouldn’t drown if you were to fall into the deep end. In fact, you could swim a couple hundred yards if your life depended on it, but you probably have never swum more than 500 yards in one day.

Lap Swimmer 

You swim a mile or more on a good day. You swim your last few lengths pretty fast so that you feel good and tired, or you time a couple of 50s if the pace clock is on. You swim freestyle well and maybe one more stroke well enough to do in public. We commonly refer to this largest segment of the fitness-swimming public as lap swimmers. Every day, millions of people head to a nearby pool to swim an hour or so of solitary laps.

Former Competitor 

You have some competitive background—USAS, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), high school, or college. You swim (or swam) all four competitive strokes. Although you rarely swim more than 1,000 yards, you are usually good for a couple of races at pool parties.

Competitor 

You’re a participating triathlete or a Masters swimmer. You compete often or occasionally. You work out regularly and swim 1,500 to 5,000 yards on a workout day. You do drills and interval work and probably swim with others whose ability is similar to yours or you belong to a Masters swim club.

Whichever group you are in, you can use this book to increase your involvement in swimming, whether for fitness or competition. If you’re a novice swimmer, you will learn how the water affects your body and how you can use physical principles to make swimming easier. You will also learn how to use swimming as a fitness tool. If you’re a lap swimmer, you will learn what it takes to look and move like an accomplished swimmer, using more efficient positions and motions. You will discover new ways to focus your training time so that it’s more productive.

If you’re a former competitive swimmer, you will find new information about swimming technique and conditioning that was not available during your earlier swimming years. As an active competitor, you will learn cutting-edge information about technique and training that you might have caught only snippets of from magazine articles, coaches, or training partners. This book will also give you ideas for using pool time efficiently when training on your own, whether at home or on the road.

No matter what level you are starting at with Fitness Swimming, you have a wide-open opportunity for improvement. By faithfully following a skill-building program and a progressive structure of workouts, you can develop your abilities far beyond what you might initially think possible. Even novice swimmers can improve to the point where they can experience the thrill of international competition or gain a lifelong fitness tool if they’re willing to work hard and follow a proven plan.