The Truth About Swimming Speed: You Won't Believe Your Eyes

Watch these swimmers. Which one looks like you? Are you even listed? Today, we'll compare how each swimming pace looks in action. And what separates a beginner swimmer from elite level speed? Want to move up a level? What should you work on first? Could the issue be your catch, kick, body position, or breathing timing? Or does the secret lie in one specific skill? The key to unlocking it all? Stick around to the end to find out. Right now, the fastest humans alive can swim 100 meters in under 47 seconds. At the opposite end, over half of all adults can't. Even perform basic water safety skills, like swimming 25 meters without. Stopping. The pool and sports stay the same, only the gap from one level to the next changes. Isn't talent or genetics, it's a stack of specific, learnable skills. Let's get started. We've seen swimming from every angle and at every speed. From grown-ups too frightened to submerge their faces. Right up to the elite athletes you watch competing on television. And this is what experience has taught us. At every level, one thing holds swimmers back. Fix it, and you move up fast. Ignore it, and you'll stay stuck. We'll begin with the basics. Level 1, a swimmer who can't make it one length without stopping. Look at their head, up and out of the water the whole time. They kick furiously, yet generate almost no propulsion. Every few strokes, they come to a complete stop just to breathe. Here's the catch, the issue isn't fitness. But no other sport demands such precise breath control. Alignment and forward movement all at once, in an environment your body wasn't built for. So panic automatically takes over. Your head comes up because it feels safer. You need a breath, and that one choice wrecks everything. The second your head lifts out, your hips and legs drop straight down. Now you're not moving forward. You're dragging your whole body like an anchor. And the fix isn't strength. It's getting comfortable with your face in the water and exhaling underwater, so you don't hold your breath and panic every three seconds. Here's an easy step-by-step path to develop it. Beginners should start by holding the wall. Face the water and blow bubbles as you gently bob up and down, relaxed. The goal is simply to feel comfortable exhaling underwater. Once that feels easy, keep your face submerged. Raise your legs behind you, then kick lightly. Now your body is in a real swimming position. Rather than remaining still. As a final step, take a breath. And turn your head sideways. Don't lift it straight up in front of you. That's the movement you'll perform. Whenever you inhale while swimming freestyle. This keeps your head aligned. And your hips high in the water. Nail this progression. And you won't be a level 1 swimmer anymore. You'll be a 3-minute swimmer. Now let's talk about level 2. Level 2 is for anyone who can get around in the water. It takes 3 minutes to swim 100 meters. So it takes you 3 minutes. To complete 4 laps in a standard 25-meter pool. Or 100 meters in an Olympic-sized pool. A lot of swimmers are at this pace. If you can swim non-stop. But it feels much harder than it should. This is probably you. Look at the hips. See how they're sinking? It's almost like a parachute is tied. Their legs are slowed by resistance, water is roughly 800 times as dense as air. No matter how hard you pull or how much you improve, if your legs sink. You'll struggle. And the faster you swim, the more drag you create. So every inch of your body that's not aligned and flat will cost. You more energy than a higher body position would. This is almost. What consistently separates a 3-minute swimmer from a 2-minute swimmer isn't brute force. It's not fitness. It's your body position in the water. Here are 2 quick drills too. Nothing else fixes this as quickly. Start with a push-in glide, launching from the wall in a tight. Streamline, with your arms locked overhead and legs together. Just glide. Don't kick, just. Float and see how far you can go from the wall. Keep your eyes level. Your body position solid, and point your toes. Now the next. One element is the kick performed in streamline position. Keep your posture identical whether you swim face up or face down. Streamline is the most important position in swimming. Squeeze your ears and lock in your body position. To stretch your body as long as possible. Begin incorporating gentle flutter kicks. Point your toes. Driving the legs through a wide vertical range. Of less than a foot and a half. Or about half a meter. Practice both skills for a few minutes. Perhaps using fins. And your body position will improve automatically. And it'll teach you the basics of swimming. Without letting your legs trail. And that 3-minute pace for 100. Will quickly become 2 minutes per 100. That's where level 3 begins. This swimmer covers 100 meters in 2 minutes. They ride higher and kick less. And breathing begins to feel like second nature. So why are they still stuck at 2 minutes? When an Olympic athlete moves through the water at double the pace? Focus on the arm here. See how it stays almost straight. Through the entire pull? That hand is driving the water downward. Not backward, so there's almost no propulsion through most of the pull. That makes the swimmer bob up and down. So they work harder without going faster. Ironic, right? That's the difference between a 2-minute and 1-minute pace. It's mostly the catch and body position working together. Let's break it down. Coaches refer to this as an early vertical forearm. Or simply EDF. As your hand slips into the water, extend it fully ahead. Extend, extend, extend. That part is basically the same for everyone. But this is what sets them apart. So, don't pull with your arm fully extended. Bend your elbow. Angle your fingertips toward the pull bottom. While keeping your elbow high in front of you. This lets you hold more water and maintain greater surface area. Between your hand and the direction of the pull. This extra leverage creates more propulsion. Think of your hand simply as a paddle. And increase that paddle's surface area. The best swimmers in the world do this. On every stroke until it becomes automatic. From there, pull the water straight back. Keeping the elbow above the hand. Throughout the entire pull. And the same principle applies on land. During the recovery as well. The best swimmers repeat this over and over. To feel it. Try the fist drill. You essentially remove. Your hand's extra surface area and focus on pulling with your forearm. Then gradually add your fingers to re-engage your hand. Increasing the total surface area and making it easier. And faster to pull more water. Another common mistake. At this level is letting the hands cross the midline on entry. At this point, it seems streamlined. But most swimmers would never spot the change. But it actually sends you zigzagging down the lane. That wastes distance and energy. And raises your injury risk. Improve your catch, avoid crossing the centerline. And don't pull with a locked elbow. Now we're starting to see real swimming technique. A level 4 swimmer is closer to 1 minute per 100 than 2 minutes. Per 100 meters. And visually, the difference is huge. If you feel stuck in the middle, you're probably closer to 1. Than the other. If you're in the middle, forget the 100-meter test, add a zero. Could you swim 1,000 meters straight and closer to 10 or 20 minutes? There's your answer. Approaching the 10-minute mark puts you in another league entirely. At this stage, observe this swimmer. Keep an eye on your stroke count. They don't fall apart when tired. It's controlled and consistent. Length after length. Rather than staying flat and windmilling your arms, focus on rotating your body. Their hips and shoulders work together. The kick is precise, quick, short, and powerful, and adds propulsion. But it's not the main driver. The stroke timing and breathing all click together. At 1 o'clock per 100m, their distance per stroke is incredibly consistent. They already have a solid catch and good body position. When they're locked in, they look like they could stroll through the park and repeat the same mechanics over and over. Now we're building more than the ability to hold it together when you're fresh, but also when you're fatigued and your heart rate is high. Almost anyone can look effortless over 25 meters with a slow pulse. But what do you look like when your pulse rate is through the roof? After swimming for 20 or 30 minutes? This level is about staying smooth throughout the workout. So what variables matter most for reaching this level and advancing? Training structure, intervals, threshold work, specific technique, planned rest, and test sets, not swimming until you're tired. You use a gradually intensifying training load and tailored specifically to what you're aiming to accomplish. If you're unsure how to proceed, we built the MySUN Pro app to guide you. If you want a plan built around your specific goals, instead of guessing, check it out, the link's below. But this structure only pays off once your technique is good enough. At 3-minute pace or slower, you still have technique work to do. Once you get faster than that, you'll hit plateaus without a structured plan. You can still pick up the pace. Great, now we're entering the under 1-minute tier. These are the elite of the elite, the few who can sustain this pace. For a few minutes. We mean national and international competition. And swimming at an Olympic pace. First, let's clarify one point. No one at this level got here. Because of a single technical trait. Every swimmer at this level has mastered the basics. Their body position and improved their catch. What separates them is a stack of tiny margins. Layered one on top of another. This is where years, even decades, of experience. And the work starts to show. No swimmer who took up the sport a month ago, or even a year ago, will be at. Or even remotely close to that pace. Notice the position after pushing off, the arms are. With the arm overhead, their core stays firm, they've practiced this movement countless times. A week. Streamline at this level, with all that explosiveness and speed, can cost you half. You can gain a full body length in a race from the wall push alone. Watch the kick. It's not big or small. It's tight, precise, and fully connected. To the rest of the stroke. It creates propulsion to move you forward. Not just to make a splash. Look at the rotation, the hips. And shoulders move as one connected unit, as if this swimmer. Were born in the water, using arms and legs together. It's beautiful. To watch. Study this pull, beyond its almost flawless early vertical. Forearm, but the catch begins right at the very start of the stroke. Generating an immense amount of power. With your body riding high in the water. You need to understand this. Nothing shown here is confidential. It's incredibly difficult. To maintain maximum speed every time. And maintain that effort through a full race, even a complete training session. Currently, the world's fastest person. Can complete a 100-meter swim in 46.4 seconds. The fastest female athlete ever. Can swim 100 meters in 51.68 seconds. Reaching this level doesn't happen by accident. It takes years of repeating small details. After a few million reps. Once it's second nature, ask yourself, how good are you, really? Be honest. Drop your 100-meter time in the comments. And if you want to fix what's holding you back. In your swimming. Stop guessing. The drills and technique breakdowns. Plus the world's number one swim training app. You can find the links underneath. Until we meet again in the pool, enjoy your swim.