Want to swim but find it too much of a hassle? Me too – but here’s how I cracked it

Mine is simply a acquainted story: I utilized to hatred adjacent the thought of running. But, successful 2020, erstwhile gyms closed their doors, I downloaded the Couch to 5k app, and ran astir 3 times a week for the adjacent 4 years, culminating successful a fractional marathon successful 2024 – and, predictably, an injury.

Physios treating my persistent hep symptom didn’t archer maine to halt moving – but they did suggest I mightiness privation to research other, little interaction options, specified arsenic swimming. But wherever to start? What’s the aquatic mentation of Couch to 5k oregon parkrun?

To beryllium clear, I cognize however to swim. I swam often and enthusiastically arsenic a child, but it’s been a portion since I did thing but pootle astir successful the excavation astatine a spa, oregon tread h2o successful the oversea connected holiday. Regular swimming – swimming for fittingness – has ever felt similar a faff: I can’t bash it from my doorstep, I person to instrumentality worldly with me, alteration doubly and rinse retired the chlorine earlier I tin leave. But, equipped with a crushed to springiness it a bully go, I put successful a brace of goggles, a swimming headdress and (ambitiously) a brace of waterproof headphones, and caput to my section leisure centre.

Week one

I person nary thought what benignant of swimming goals are realistic, but a person tells maine she swims 40 lengths successful 40 minutes, and this seems arsenic bully a spot to commencement arsenic any. Of course, this alternatively depends connected the magnitude of your pool, and your quality to support count; successful my case, I fishy some whitethorn beryllium limited. Thankfully, my Apple Watch has a never-previously-used Pool Swim function, which volition support way of my region for me.

The headphones beryllium wholly incompatible with the swimming headdress and, paired with Saturday morning’s shrieking children, are rendered astir useless. Back they spell successful the locker. This is simply a interest – I person ever relied connected podcasts to marque a tally consciousness much productive and marque the clip walk quickly. Without an audio distraction, oregon adjacent an absorbing way to enjoy, I’ve thing to capable my caput but my ain thoughts. It’s similar rawdogging a treadmill workout, for privation of a amended comparison.

What’s more, fiddling astir with the headdress and the goggles has outgo maine precious swimming time: erstwhile I yet marque it into the water, I’m down to conscionable 30 minutes until I request to caput backmost to the changing rooms. Still, my ticker tells maine I aquatics much than 30 lengths – hurrah! – and, honestly, I’m knackered.

Week two

I’m not rather brave capable yet to effort the satellite of chaotic swimming – contempt encouragement from its many, many, devotees – and, unless you hap to unrecorded adjacent to a suitable assemblage of water, I fishy it’s hard to marque it portion of your regular fittingness routine. Instead, I determine to premix it up with a aquatics successful 1 of David Lloyd’s outdoor pools. The water’s heated, but it’s inactive a bracing acquisition – I rapidly hide each astir the deficiency of headphones and autumn into a rhythm. Maybe this is the close benignant of excavation for me?

“Water’s h2o astatine the extremity of the time – it doesn’t truly substance wherever you swim,” says Raj Singh, caput manager astatine Sandwell Aquatics Club. He does, however, counsel maine to spell equipped with a plan, and to premix up my strokes. “Warm up and chill down arsenic you would with immoderate different sport,” helium says. “Front crawl is astir apt the champion changeable to make velocity and aerobic capacity, but doing different strokes successful the lukewarm up/down is the champion mode to get a afloat assemblage workout and debar repetitive strain injuries.”

He suggests starting retired with a extremity of swimming 600m successful fractional an hour. “You tin interruption it down: 100m oregon 200m lukewarm up, past 8 tons of 50m. If your gait is what you privation to improve, past you could measurement this utilizing the stopwatch relation connected your smartwatch and say: each 90 seconds, I’m going to bash 50m – but trying to travel successful nether 75 seconds, to springiness yourself remainder time. If you find that comfortable, you tin driblet your people down or, depending connected however overmuch clip you have, you could effort and aquatics further – aquatics for 45 minutes, say.”

Singh tells maine that MySwimPro is 1 of the astir fashionable swimming apps, truthful I download the week-long escaped trial. At £179.99 annually – oregon £199.99 for further dry-land spot and mobility workouts – the afloat subscription doesn’t travel cheap; Strava, by comparison, has an unlimited escaped version, with paid subscribers getting a much extended work for conscionable £54.99 annually. Still, it’s choc-full of grooming plans and guided workouts for everyone from beginners to precocious swimmers. There are “achievements” to tick disconnected that see 5K swims, but besides Strait of Gibraltar swims (14,000m) and adjacent the English Channel (36,200m).

I bash similar a challenge, but possibly I’m not rather determination yet.

‘Clean pools with designated lane swimming person go a must.’ Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Week three

Between downloading the app and purchasing a brace of goggles, the algorithm has clocked my involvement successful swimming and I’m abruptly bombarded with swimming ads and “swimfluencers” online. This isn’t wholly a atrocious happening – there’s thing similar a svelte erstwhile Olympian to motivate maine backmost to the h2o – and I travel a fewer of those offering utile method tips.

A person recommends the Effortless Swimming relationship – and, portion “effortless” feels similar a stretch, it’s hard to reason with 323k followers connected Instagram. Brenton Ford, laminitis and manager of Effortless Swimming, tells me: “Swimming your archetypal 1km is simply a bully people for caller swimmers.

“This tin instrumentality a fewer weeks to physique up to, truthful let yourself to gradually summation the region each league and physique up the stamina implicit time,” helium says. One kilometre is astir treble my erstwhile region goal, but I’m game.

Ford besides suggests swimming with a person oregon joining a aquatics club. “Even though you can’t speech erstwhile you’re swimming, it tin beryllium a precise societal enactment betwixt laps oregon earlier and aft swims”. He’s not the archetypal idiosyncratic to suggest radical swimming – Singh mentioned it excessively – but I’m sceptical; I ne'er got connected with moving clubs – AKA the caller dating apps – and ever preferred to workout alone. But, determined to marque my newfound aquatics wont stick, I interaction Hackney Aquatics Club (HAC) which promises “an inclusive, encouraging and enjoyable” experience. They fto maine travel on for a taster session, though they person a lengthy waiting list. Interest successful swimming has accrued successful caller years: The 2024 State of the UK Swimming Industry recovered that the aquatics schoolhouse astatine GLL (the UK’s largest excavation provider) had 220,000 students participating each week, a 4% summation connected the erstwhile year.

‘Even if I had a brace of fins, I uncertainty they’d person brought maine up to velocity with my lane buddies.’ Photograph: Vitalina Nakonechna/Getty Images

HAC asks that attendees beryllium capable to aquatics a minimum of 2–2.5km per league – a region I’m yet to achieve. But, fixed the 1.5 hr duration of our Tuesday nighttime meet, I crushed it should beryllium possible.

But I fess up arsenic soon arsenic I conscionable Dorothy Whyte, a benignant but steadfast coach, who swiftly ushers maine towards the slowest of the lanes occupied by HAC. About 80% of their members person swum competitively astatine immoderate constituent successful their lives, she tells maine – and bash I person my ain fins? I bash not – not that I judge they would person brought maine up to velocity with my lane buddies, who each glide past maine similar nimble merpeople. Even the lukewarm up is exhausting, and that’s earlier the drills – exercises that people 1 portion of your changeable astatine a time. That said, everyone is precise friendly: “Hang successful there!” cheers 1 man, earlier tumble-turning distant from me.

I springiness HAC an Insta-follow and reason that I’m possibly not quite astatine the aquatics nine signifier yet.

Week four

Time to effort Ford’s different suggestion: a 1km swim. Over the past fewer weeks I’ve learned that, similar running, immoderate swims are conscionable amended than others: faster, oregon easier, oregon simply much enjoyable. A “good” aquatics is seldom predictable but determination are immoderate things that help. Clean pools with designated lane swimming person go a must. Decent hairdryers and showers you don’t person to prod each 20 seconds to crook backmost connected are surely preferable. And always, always, battalion a banana for afterwards.

I’ve learned which centres necessitate a padlock for their lockers, which usage a magnetic wristband, and which necessitate maine to rummage astir successful the bottommost of my container for an past 20p coin. Swimming connected a weekday during the time is simply a luxury, but it’s surely erstwhile I would purpose to go, fixed the choice. Not each pools let you to instrumentality successful fins, but it mightiness beryllium worthy maine investing successful manus paddles if I privation to physique strength.

I caput to Strathclyde Sport successful Glasgow, a university-adjacent fittingness centre with a 25m six-lane pool, positive steam country and sauna – a reward, I effort to person myself, for reaching that 1km goal. I statesman plugging away, beforehand crawling my mode up and down each length, checking my ticker each clip I scope the shallow end. This, I think, is going to beryllium a slog.

Then, thing shifts. I retrieve Singh’s proposal astir switching up my strokes and propulsion successful immoderate backstroke, my puerility swimming coach’s refrain of “thumb out, small digit in” abruptly repeating successful my mind. I halt reasoning astir time, pace, oregon my banana, and commencement counting arsenic I move: one, two, three, breathe. Whyte had said my beforehand crawl kicking method was good, but I needed to support my chin down, astir tucked under, truthful I practise doing this, not lifting my caput rather truthful acold retired of the h2o erstwhile I request to instrumentality successful air.

I glimpse down astatine my ticker and, to my surprise, I’m astatine 900m – astir done! I chill down with immoderate casual lengths, earlier heading to the steam country to bask successful my achievement. I’m not sweaty oregon achy, the mode I’m utilized to feeling aft a moving challenge, but I bash consciousness refreshed, invigorated and a small spot relieved. I’m pleased to person ticked disconnected a tiny but important milestone – portion of the amusive of immoderate caller workout is surely securing the precocious of a idiosyncratic best. Right, I think, arsenic I lavation the chlorine retired my hair: what next?