“I’m not getting any quicker”

“I’m not getting any quicker. Why?”

Ah, the million dollar question!

In my experience, a swimmer stops improving their swim speed for several reasons:

You Don’t Swim Enough

To make improvements in swimming, you may need to swim more frequently.

There is a reason Olympic swimmers get in the water 10-12 times per week, and swim 60-100k every seven days.

If you are swimming once or twice per week, it could be that your lack of swim volume is holding you back. Try adding a third (or even a fourth) swim to your training week and see the difference.

You Need To Improve Your Technique

Assuming you ‘swim enough’, you may have taken your swim as far as you can with your current technique.

A few changes to your technique – perhaps to reduce the drag in the water, or to increase your propulsion – and you will unlock some additional speed.

You Need To Swim Fast!

What’s the saying?

“To swim fast, you need to swim fast!”

Do you include some higher intensity swimming into your training most weeks?

If you swim at the same pace all of the time, you are unlikely to increase your speed. You will need to adjust the type of training you are doing, and include some of that faster stuff into your sessions.

Other Reasons?

It could also be some other reasons.

You may need to be more consistent with your swim. Do you swim two or three times per week, every week? Or is it more sporadic? Or do you take a few months off each year? Consistent swim training is important.

You don’t push yourself. It may be that you are including some higher intensity swimming into your training, but be honest with yourself are you pushing as much as you could / should?

Individual Reasons

These are some of the main reasons swimmers stagnate and get frustrated that their swim is not improving. For a more detailed or personalised answer, you should speak to a coach who can diagnose your problem and prescribe the answers!