Developing Swimming Endurance

Last Updated on April 1, 2024 by admin

**Swimming endurance is one of the three key components to becoming a successful competitive swimmer**

In this article, we will provide advice, drills, hacks and tips on developing swimming endurance.

The importance of swimming endurance

Swimming endurance is one of the three key components to becoming a successful competitive swimmer, along with stroke technique and swim speed.

Endurance

Without sufficient endurance, the swimmer’s technique and speed are unlikely to be maintained.

They are also both likely to deteriorate rapidly.

Stroke technique

Without an effective stroke technique, the swimmer will increase drag* and reduce their propulsion** whilst swimming.

*Drag: The resistance caused by the swimmer’s head, body or limbs, as they move through the water

**Propulsion: The force that moves swimmers through the water.

Swim speed

Without sufficient swim speed, the swimmer’s chances of finishing ahead of other swimmers can be drastically reduced.

Balancing the key swimming components

All forms of competitive swimming require a great stroke technique.

However, each event also requires the correct balance of endurance and speed.
For example, a 50m sprinter should focus on speed over endurance.
Whereas a 1500m swimmer should focus on endurance over speed.

Types of swimming endurance

There are three main types of swimming endurance, basic endurance, threshold endurance and overload endurance.

Basic endurance

Basic endurance is the starting point for all swimmers wishing to build their endurance.

It consists of swimming at between 65 to 75% of a swimmer’s maximum heart rate, for between 15 to 60 minutes. With rest intervals of between 10 to 30 seconds.

Threshold endurance

Threshold endurance is the next level to building endurance once a swimmer has established a solid base of basic endurance.

It consists of swimming at between 80 to 85% of a swimmer’s maximum heart rate, for between 10 to 30 minutes. With rest intervals of between 10 to 30 seconds.

Overload endurance

Overload endurance is the highest level of endurance training.

It is designed to be tough and should only be attempted by swimmers who have established a solid base of threshold endurance.

It consists of swimming at between 85 to 90% of a swimmer’s maximum heart rate, for between 15 to 30 minutes. With rest intervals of no longer than 30 seconds.

Methods of developing swimming endurance

**Swimming goals can help the swimmer to establish and focus on clear targets, priorities and expectations.**

Listed below are some recommended methods of effectively developing a swimmer’s endurance

Set swimming goals

Setting swimming goals can help the swimmer to establish and focus on clear targets, priorities and expectations.

They are a useful tool in enabling both the swimmer and the coach to gauge the swimmer’s progress and development towards achieving their ambitions.
For example, if the swimmer is competing in either a 5k open water swim or a 200m pool swim.
They could set themselves a goal time, which can be the main focus of their endurance training.

Start slowly

It’s important that the swimmer starts their training at a pace they feel they can sustain for a long period.

When starting a new training programme, many swimmers push themselves too hard from the start.
This often results in them suffering from fatigue and increasing the risk of injury.

Focus on technique

**There are many components to an effective stroke technique**

The key to all successful competitive swimming is an effective and consistent stroke technique.

Swimmers should seek the advice of a qualified swimming coach or an experienced competitive swimmer.
There are many components to an effective stroke technique, these include,
An efficient arm stroke and leg kick, as well as a correct body position and breathing technique.
Once established the swimmer should focus on maintaining a consistent stroke, by performing drills such as stroke counting.

Increase the distance and reduce the reps

As the swimmer adapts to their endurance training, they should gradually increase the distance of each rep (repetition), while reducing their number.

For example, starting with a set of 4 x 200m.
This can be developed into a set of 2 x 400m and then finally to 1 x 800m.

Rest intervals

Resting between each set and repetition is important to ensure that a swimmer is not overly fatigued.

However, as the swimmer begins slowly and gradually adapting to the increased distance of their swims, they should gradually start to reduce their rest intervals.
For example, an endurance set of 4 x 400m with 20-second rest intervals.
This can be gradually reduced to 15-second rest intervals.
Then when further adaption to the training has occurred, reducing this to 10-second rest intervals.

Swimming speed

**Many swimmers establish their optimum training speed by conducting a 400m freestyle time trial.**

Once the swimmer has mastered swimming greater distances with a consistent stroke technique, they should then start to focus on their swimming speed.

Many swimmers establish their optimum training speed by conducting a 400m freestyle time trial.
The swimmer will require someone to time them and take their 100m split times.
They should begin by swimming from a push and glide (no diving) at a steady and consistent pace for 400m.
Once completed they should take the total time swam and divide this by four to give them a starting 100m training target pace time.
Some swimmers and coaches repeat this drill, after a one-minute rest.
This is to establish a more realistic training pace time as the swimmer starts to feel the effects of fatigue during the second rep.
After both reps, the average from both swims is used as the new training pace time.
A swimmer’s training target pace time should be monitored and adapted, as the swimmer adapts to their endurance training.
This exercise should be repeated regularly, ideally at monthly intervals.
Many swimmers use a tempo trainer to help them maintain and improve their training pace time.

Resistance training

Many coaches subject their swimmers to resistance training to help them train at a higher intensity.

Resistance training can not only help to develop a swimmer’s endurance but also their cardiovascular fitness, strength and power.
Resistance training can take many forms, during which swimmers often use a variety of swimming equipment, including drag shorts, drag belts, tethered swim cords and hand paddles.

Dryland Swimming Training

**Dryland training can help a swimmer to develop increased power, strength, endurance, speed, and coordination.**

Many competitive swimmers regularly undertake dryland/land training.

This is to gain additional benefits beyond those which can be achieved by training in the water alone.
These include increased power, strength, endurance, speed, and coordination.
Swimmers often perform circuit training to help increase their endurance.
Dryland/land training can also help increase a swimmer’s range of movement and make them more flexible.
It can help correct muscle imbalance caused by poor stroke technique or overuse.
The combination of increased flexibility and balanced muscle groups can lower the risk of injury.

Endurance development swimming drills

‘T’ 10’s

Purpose: Timed swims are a great way of monitoring a swimmer’s endurance levels

They should be performed at regular intervals throughout the season.
‘T’ 10s are timed ten-minute swims.
This drill has the objective of recording the number of lengths/laps a swimmer completes during this period.

How to perform this drill: The swimmer should start this drill with a push & glide from the wall at the end of the pool in a prone (face down) streamlined position.

They should then proceed to perform full-stroke freestyle for the duration of this drill.
The number of lengths/laps the swimmer completes during this swim should be recorded and monitored against subsequent repetitions of this drill throughout the season.

Variation: Once mastered this set can be adjusted to fifteen minutes (‘T’ 15’s) or twenty minutes (‘T’ 20’s)

500m challenge

Purpose: Some swimmers prefer to test their endurance fitness over a given distance.

They should be performed at regular intervals throughout the season
This drill has the objective of recording the time it takes a swimmer to complete a given distance.

How to perform this test set: The swimmer should start this drill with a push & glide from the wall at the end of the pool in a prone (face down) streamlined position.

They then proceed to perform full-stroke freestyle for the duration of this drill.
The swimmer should be timed to track how long it takes them to complete a 500m freestyle swim.
This should be recorded and monitored against subsequent repetitions of this drill throughout the season.
This 500m challenge should take most swimmers between 7 to 10 minutes.

Variation: Once mastered this set can be adjusted to a 1000m or 2000m challenge if required, which is great for long-distance swimmers.

Medical advice

Before starting any exercise programme, we advise that you consult with your healthcare professional if you’re concerned about an existing or potential medical condition.

Swimming Endurance: Takeaways

In this article, we will provide advice, drills, hacks and tips on developing swimming endurance.

Swimming endurance is one of the three key components to becoming a successful competitive swimmer.

The other two are stroke technique and speed.

Technique

Without an effective stroke technique, the swimmer will increase drag* and reduce their propulsion** whilst swimming.

Endurance

Without sufficient endurance, the swimmer’s technique and speed are unlikely to be maintained and may deteriorate rapidly.

Speed

Without sufficient speed, the swimmer’s chances of finishing ahead of other swimmers can be drastically reduced.

*Drag: The resistance caused by the swimmer’s head, body or limbs, as they move through the water

**Propulsion: The force that moves swimmers through the water.

All competitive swimming events require a great technique.

All forms of competitive swimming require a great stroke technique.

However, each event also requires the correct balance of endurance and speed.
For example, a 50m sprinter should focus on speed over endurance.
Whereas a 1500m swimmer should focus on endurance over speed.

Swimming Resource Library

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This contains links to all of our blog posts.
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