I did it! But how did I do?

Guys!! I finally did it! I swam a mile non stop - not a swimmer’s mile, but the whole mile! 72x25 yds! It took me 48 minutes. How did I do? How can I work on improving my time? Would love to reach around 30. Is that possible? I am also currently 215 lbs and on a weight loss journey. Hopefully losing weight will help with reducing time as well.

To swim a mile in 30 min, aim for <1 min per 50, focus on technique, endurance, and flip turns.

@FRANK Thanks for your reply! I’ll focus on 1650 in 30 mins. I breathe on both sides but need more practice. I avoid flip turns for now to maintain consistency.

I think your best bet would be to try increasing your speed every time you swim while staying at the same distance, or go a further distance so when you do a 1650 it’s easier to go faster. Swimming is such a repetitive sport. You just have to keep doing things over and over again and eventually you’ll see results and realize it’s easier to go faster for a longer period of time.

@ESSY Good to know! Do you think sprint workouts will help? My technique really goes to shit when I do them. Sometimes I will add in 8x25s at 100% in the set to ensure I keep my technique in check. I will also work on flip turns more regularly now, feels like that will help me drop a lot of time as well if I do them right

Doing 100s and 200s at a fast pace is better than 25s. Try 10x100 at 1:30 to train pace and endurance for distance.

I get it! I did train a lot of 10x100s to prepare for the mile, but I never focused on the time, I did 75 at a normal pace, and last 25 with as much effort possible. I also rested until I caught up on my breathe completely. Now I will reduce the rest time and turn the overall intensity up a notch or so. The next time I attempt the mile, I will try to get 2000 yds under the belt. This was really helpful, I truly appreciate it

And I do keep my head down and try to be as streamlined as possible - I did swim competitively in college since the team needed more members but I wasn’t ever really that fast. My technique and stamina are definitely much much better now than then (even though I was 160 lbs at that time)

Is it possible? I mean, Ledecky swims 1500m in 15 minutes, so it’s possible. But you work on both fitness and technique. That’s how you do it.

@SWIMLOVER Ledecky is amazing! Focus on technique. Try sprint workouts for pace and mix with longer swims.

48 mins for a mile is solid. Keep at it and you’ll see improvement. Dropping weight will def help your time. Mix in some interval training to boost speed. 30 mins is ambitious but doable with consistent practice.

Thank you for the encouragement and advice, I appreciate it :slight_smile: