10 Ways to swim faster!!

As summer and the London Olympics rapidly approach, interest in swimming is sure to rise amongst both the casual and serious fan.

Here are 10 tips to help improve your speed and cut seconds from your race times in the pool:

1. Swim often, and with proper technique – Nothing beats practice. Use correct form in order to maximize muscle memory and improve performance.

2. Videotape practices and meets, then ask your coach to critique your form – Do you race better than you practice, or struggle at times when the pressure is on? Try to find keys that can translate to faster times that you can focus on during training for your next meet.

3. Swim with and against others that are faster than you – Don’t be afraid to lose in practice, as long as you are striving to improve as a swimmer in the process. Find the strongest swimmers in your area and ask to train and swim with them.

4. Rest and nutrition – According to Jessica Ryan Doyle’s article, “Michael Phelps’ 12,000 Calorie-a-Day Diet Not for Everyone,” while in training Phelps eats about four times as many calories per day as the average adult male. While not recommended for the average swimmer, the key is to realize that a well-rounded diet provides the energy necessary for swimming’s enormous physical demands.

5. Treat every practice as a chance to improve your time – Practice with the goal of improving your time, each time. Just as with many exercise regimes, swimmers will reach times similar to weight-loss plateaus when their times simply do not improve. The battle through these moments will increase mental discipline, as well as reward continuing hard work.

6. Always remember that fractions of a second make all of the difference in swimming – Simple enough. Small amounts of time may make the difference between several places in a race.

7. Design an out-of-the-pool training regimen to help build stamina, endurance and upper-body strength – “The secret to a powerful freestyle” by David Costill (renowned professor of exercise science) states that size of upper body muscle and ability to use this muscle effectively are key factors in a swimmer’s ability to pull through the water.

8. Utilize aquatic training equipment – Paddles, buoys, kickboards and other equipment may help build stamina and muscle if used properly.

9. Maximize your physical tools – Warm up, stretch and learn to elongate your body at critical points in races. Remember the importance of cutting fractions of a second from your time.

10. Use mental “imagery” before meets – Picture the full race, in real time, as outlined in “V is for Visualization” by Aimee C. Kimball, PhD, CC-AASP.