Effortless Swimming · Freestyle
TL;DR: There are only two ways to swim faster: reduce the drag your body creates, or increase the propulsion you produce. Almost every adult swimmer has more to gain from the first. Below are the 12 things that have actually made the swimmers we coach faster, in the order I’d do them, from body position and stroke rate to skills, training structure and the one-week challenge that proves effort isn’t the answer.
The two ways to swim faster
Speed in the water is propulsion minus drag. That’s it. Every tip you’ve ever read fits into one of those two buckets.
Water is about 800 times denser than air, so drag punishes you far more than it does a runner or cyclist. Doubling your speed roughly quadruples the resistance. That’s why trying harder so often fails: more effort with the same body position just buys more drag.
For most adults the order is clear. Fix the drag first (body position, head, legs, alignment). Then build propulsion (catch, pull, kick timing). Then train (fitness, skills, pacing). Do it in the other order and you get fitter at swimming slowly.
Why trying harder doesn’t work
Something I see in training every week: a swimmer tries harder and doesn’t go faster. There are two usual reasons.
Fatigue. Hard sessions the last few days, poor sleep, poor food. You feel like you’re swimming through mud and no amount of effort changes it. The fix is rest, not more effort.
Over-reaching. To go faster, you stretch out longer, reach further and pull harder, trying to make each stroke bigger. The stroke gets slower and the body position breaks down at the front. The fix is the opposite of what feels natural: a slightly higher stroke rate with the same (or very slightly shorter) distance per stroke.
Here is the one-week challenge I give our swimmers. Next time you have a set where you need to lift your speed, say 6×200 descending, don’t try to reach longer. Hold your normal stroke length and tick the rate up a notch, like shifting a gear on a bike. Most swimmers go faster at the same effort, and it changes how they think about speed from then on.
1. Fix your body position first
The biggest single change available to most adult swimmers. A long, horizontal body with the hips at the surface slips through the water; a body with sinking legs drags a parachute.
- Head down, eyes to the bottom. Lifting the head to look forward drops the hips every time.
- Lengthen through the spine and switch the core on. Draw the belly button toward the spine, squeeze the glutes lightly, feel tall from head to toe.
- Press the chest slightly. Leaning on the chest lifts the hips and legs.
If your legs still sink, it’s usually the kick (next). For the full set of fundamentals, read the swimming technique guide.
2. Use your kick for balance, not propulsion
Most adult swimmers kick too hard and too wide and get almost nothing for it. The kick’s main job in distance freestyle is to keep the legs up and time the stroke, not to drive you forward.
- Kick from the hips with reasonably straight legs, ankles loose, feet a little wider than the body line. Think ballerina in a bucket.
- Time the kick with the catch on the same side, at least on every second stroke. Catch left, kick left.
- Do some pure kicking each week, kicking on your side or vertical kicking, to develop it evenly in both directions.
If you’re much faster with a pull buoy than without one, this is your gap. Our pull buoy guide has the five steps to close it.
3. Get a real catch
The catch is where propulsion starts: fingertips down, forearm vertical, elbow high, and press the water back rather than down. Most swimmers slide the hand forward and down after entry and only start pushing back near the hips, which is half a pull.
The catch position is the same in every stroke, which is why training butterfly or backstroke improves your freestyle catch. Our five core principles of fast freestyle goes deep on this.
4. Lift your stroke rate, not your reach
Covered above, but it earns its own place. Distance per stroke matters, and so does rate, and most adult swimmers have pushed length as far as it will go. A tempo trainer set to two or three beats per minute above your normal rate, holding the same stroke count, is the quickest speed gain many swimmers ever feel. Use the CSS calculator to find your threshold pace first so you know what you’re measuring against.
5. Be diligent with your skills
Push-offs, turns, finishes. Even if you race in open water, these are free speed in every interval you swim. Take a swimmer who always hits 1:45 for 100m: I’d suggest most adults could take that to 1:40 or 1:41 with better skills alone.
- Push off properly. Both feet on the wall, streamlined under the water, partly on your back, then roll to your side and front as you break out.
- Turn with speed in, speed out. Streamline off the wall, two or three dolphin kicks, then break out into the stroke. Our flip turn guide covers the common error that slows most adults.
- Finish without breathing for the last five metres, head down, on a full stroke, fully extended.
When you had a coach on deck as a kid these were drilled into you. Without one, they’re the first things to go. A couple of seconds per hundred is sitting there.
6. Train another stroke
Freestyle works the front of the body: chest and shoulders. Backstroke opens the chest and works the back and shoulders the opposite way, which is why it’s so good in recovery swims. And because the catch is essentially the same position in every stroke, improving your feel for the water in butterfly or breaststroke transfers to your freestyle. Include a form stroke in your warm-ups and cool-downs.
7. Spend 15 minutes on drills, every session
The most effective way to change technique is drills, done consistently, not a hard set with a vague intention to swim better. Commit to 15 minutes of drills in each of your next five sessions and your stroke will change. It’s a much easier way to improve than thrashing out another hard set. Pair each drill immediately with a 25 or 50 of full stroke so the feeling transfers.
8. Change the way you train
If you’ve done the same sessions for two years, your body has adapted to them. Try something new and see what you respond to.
- Build the aerobic base. When I was preparing for a channel swim I did a lot of easy zone-2 distance. When I then raced a 400 I had a huge base to draw from and finished strong. Our CSS training guide explains how to structure it.
- Or add real speed. Short, sharp 25s and 30m sprints at high speed, with full recovery, and some resisted swimming.
- Commit to a block. Six to eight weeks of consistent, structured sessions beats six months of turning up and doing whatever. Our swimming workouts give you the sessions.
9. Become supple
Range of motion is the easiest thing to ignore and one of the most effective to work on. Thoracic and shoulder mobility decide whether you can physically get into a high-elbow catch; ankle flexibility decides whether your kick does anything. Fifteen to twenty minutes of mobility work twice a week, or three stretches for a minute each every day, lets you get into positions in the water that no amount of effort will reach.
10. Pick a race and find people to swim with
Without a destination it’s hard to be inspired at training. Picking a race to train for is ten times more motivating than swimming to keep fit, and the pressure of a date makes you train in a way you otherwise wouldn’t.
Then find a squad, or even one training partner who pushes you. In my early twenties, trying to qualify for Olympic trials, I trained with my dad’s squad. I’d never have got close training solo. With a group I usually swim twice the distance I would alone, and it feels easier.
11. Pick one thing and stick to it for three months
The swimmers who improve fastest aren’t the ones trying to fix everything. They choose one focus, body position, catch, breathing, stroke rate, and work on it until it’s automatic, then move on. Three months per focus sounds slow; it’s faster than three years of switching every week.
And occasionally, don’t track anything. Leave the watch at home, swim by feel, and pay attention to how far each stroke carries you. Feel for the water is a skill, and the data can get in its way.
12. Get feedback
You cannot see your own stroke. Everything above is easier with someone who can. Film yourself from the side and front (a phone in a waterproof case on a kickboard works), or get a coach to analyse it. Most swimmers are surprised by what they see, and the fix is usually smaller than they expect. Our video analysis and membership exists for exactly this.
Putting it together: a 4-week plan
- Week 1: film your stroke. Pick the one thing (for most people, body position). 15 minutes of drills every session on that one thing.
- Week 2: add the stroke-rate challenge to one set per session. Hold stroke count, lift rate one notch.
- Week 3: skills week. Every push-off streamlined, every turn with speed in and out, every finish on a full stroke without breathing.
- Week 4: time trial. Swim a 400 and a 200 and put them in the CSS calculator. Compare with four weeks ago, then choose the next one thing.
That’s how our swimmers go from 2:30 to 1:15 per 100m. Not in four weeks, but one focus at a time, in that order.
Frequently asked questions
How can I swim faster without getting tired?
Reduce drag before you add effort. Keep your head down and hips high, use a light kick for balance rather than propulsion, and lift your stroke rate slightly instead of reaching longer. Swimmers who do this almost always go faster at the same effort.
Why am I not getting faster at swimming?
The usual reasons are fatigue from training or poor recovery, over-reaching to lengthen the stroke, or training the same way for too long without feedback on technique. Pick one technique focus for three months, add structured sets at a known pace, and get your stroke filmed.
How long does it take to swim faster?
Technique changes show in weeks: body position and stroke-rate changes often produce a faster 100m within a month. Fitness gains from a structured block take six to eight weeks. Going from a 2:30 to a 1:15 per 100m is a multi-year path of one focus at a time.
Does kicking harder make you swim faster?
For most adult freestylers, no. A hard kick costs a lot of oxygen for little propulsion. Use the kick to keep the legs up and time the stroke, and put the energy into the catch and stroke rate. Sprinters are the exception.
What is a good 100m freestyle time for an adult?
It depends on background. Many adult fitness swimmers are around 2:00 to 2:30 per 100m, committed age-group triathletes are often 1:30 to 1:45, and competitive Masters swimmers are faster still. Use your own 400m and 200m times in a CSS calculator to set a realistic target pace.
The goggles I swim in
Half of swimming faster is seeing what you’re doing: the black line to hold your body straight, your hand entering in front of your shoulder, the wall coming for a fast turn. None of that works through fogged lenses.
The NanoClear Strike is the pair I point our swimmers to. The anti-fog is bonded into the lens material itself, not coated on top, so the clarity you get in week one is still there months later. Soft contoured gaskets keep a light, even seal through thousands of rotations a session.
One goggle for everything: pool and open water, drills and race day, with three nose-bridge sizes and a wide field of vision.
