Why You Still Suck at Swimming (And It’s Not Your Fitness)
If you didn’t grow up swimming, you’ve probably asked yourself some version of this question:
Why does the swim feel so much harder than it should?
You can ride for hours. You can run strong off the bike. You’ve built fitness. But the moment you hit the water, your heart rate spikes, your breathing feels rushed, and it feels like you’re fighting for every stroke.
This is one of the most common frustrations in triathlon, and it has very little to do with how fit you are.
Swimming is the only discipline in triathlon where inefficiency punishes you immediately.
On the bike, you can get away with poor mechanics for a while. On the run, fitness and grit can carry you. In the water, if your position is off, your breathing is tense, or your catch is ineffective, you feel it right away.
The good news is this.
You don’t need to “become a swimmer” to improve your swim. You need to stop wasting energy.
Here’s how.
1. Build a Body Position You Can Actually Hold
Most adult onset swimmers are swimming uphill.
Their hips sit low, their legs drag, and they try to fix it by pulling harder. That approach works for about 25 meters, then everything falls apart.
This is not a strength problem first. It’s a position and control problem.
Your goal in the water is to become long and balanced. That means:
– Head neutral, eyes looking down
– Light pressure through your chest
– Hips riding high, not sinking
– Core engaged enough to hold alignment
The mistake most triathletes make is they try to “kick themselves up” or overpull to compensate. That just burns energy and increases fatigue before the bike even starts.
Instead, think about your body as one connected line.
This is where core strength matters more than most athletes realize.
If your core cannot hold tension, your hips will drop no matter how hard you try to fix it mid stroke. Simple off pool work like planks, dead bugs, and rotational stability work can make a noticeable difference in your ability to maintain position over longer sets.
In the water, slow things down enough to actually feel your body line. If you cannot hold position at an easy pace, you will not hold it when things get harder.
2. Fix Your Breathing Before It Fixes You
Breathing is where most swims start to unravel.
You rush the inhale.
You hold tension underwater.
You feel behind before the set even settles.
That is not a fitness issue. That is a breathing pattern issue.
A lot of triathletes don’t fully exhale in the water. They take a quick breath, then hold it, which creates tension and drives up heart rate. By the time they go to breathe again, it feels urgent and stressful.
The fix is simple in concept, but takes practice.
You need to exhale continuously and calmly while your face is in the water.
Not forced. Not aggressive. Just steady.
This does a few important things:
– It keeps your body relaxed
– It allows for a quicker, cleaner inhale
– It stabilizes your rhythm
In open water, this becomes even more important. When things get chaotic, the athletes who can control their breathing stay composed. The ones who cannot tend to spike early and spend the rest of the swim trying to recover.
If your swim always feels like it starts hard and never settles, this is likely where the issue is.
3. Learn How to Hold Water Instead of Fighting It
This is the biggest shift for most triathletes.
Effort does not equal speed in the water.
You can spin your arms faster and pull harder, but if your hand is slipping through the water, you are not actually moving better. You are just getting more tired.
The goal of the stroke is to create traction.
That starts with the catch.
Instead of reaching and immediately pulling down, think about setting your hand and forearm in a position where you can press back against the water. Fingertips down, forearm vertical, then apply pressure back past your hip.
This is not about muscling the stroke. It is about feeling resistance and holding it.
One of the best ways to develop this is by slowing things down.
Two simple drills:
Single arm swimming
Swim with one arm while the other stays extended. This forces you to focus on the path of the stroke and actually feel the water instead of rushing through it.
Catch up drill
Pause slightly with one arm extended before the next stroke begins. This helps reinforce body position and allows you to set the catch properly instead of immediately spinning your arms.
Both of these drills remove the ability to hide behind speed. They force control.
And that’s the point.
4. Stop Turning Every Session Into a Test
This is a big one, especially for driven athletes.
If every session turns into “let’s see how fast I can go today,” you never actually build anything.
Swimming requires patience.
You need easy sessions where you focus on position and feel. You need controlled sets where the goal is execution, not exhaustion. And you need to trust that this kind of work compounds over time.
If every workout becomes a race, you stay in a constant state of fatigue without actually improving your efficiency.
The athletes who improve in the swim are not always the ones working the hardest. They are the ones working with intention.
5. Understand the Role of the Swim in Your Race
You are not trying to win the swim.
You are trying to exit the water in a position where you can actually race the rest of your race.
That means:
– Controlled effort
– Stable breathing
– Minimal wasted energy
A slightly faster swim that leaves you gassed is not a win. A composed, efficient swim that sets up your bike and run is.
This is where good coaching becomes valuable.
Because what you think you are doing in the water is often not what is actually happening. Small adjustments in position, breathing, or catch can completely change how the swim feels and how much energy you carry into T1.
The Bottom Line
If you didn’t grow up swimming, you are not behind, you just need a different approach.
Stop trying to overpower the water.
Start focusing on:
– Body position you can hold
– Breathing that keeps you calm
– A catch that actually moves you forward
That is where your gains are.
And once those start to click, the swim stops feeling like survival and starts feeling like something you can control.
If your swim has always felt like the limiter, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
At MNA, we work one on one with athletes to build efficient, race ready swim mechanics that actually translate to open water performance.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start improving, reach out and let’s build a plan that works for you.
