Breaststroke is the easiest stroke to swim casually, but it's one of the hardest to swim correctly. The difference between a relaxed "Mrs. Mayor" breaststroke and a competitive one is all in the details, tiny adjustments that eliminate drag and convert every ounce of power into forward motion. T...

Over the years, we've covered hundreds of swimming tips, drills, and techniques. To help you navigate it all, we've dug into our archives to create a roundup of the most popular and impactful lessons ever published on the Swimator Blog. Whether you're a novice overcoming a fear of the water or an...

Since I am on the topic of breathing while swimming, let me explain, what seems like an obvious procedure, how to breathe through the swimmer's snorkel. Before we get to that, perhaps a bit of an introduction of what the swimmer's snorkel is and how it can help you improve your swimming techniq...

Finding the perfect gift can be tough. I personally dislike giving "useless" gifts, items that look nice but just sit in the back of a closet gathering dust. If you are hunting for a gift for a swimmer, why not give them something that will actually make them better at their sport? Whether it's fo...

Learning to float can be a daunting task for many novice swimmers. If you are just starting out or got discouraged because you couldn't get past the floating stage, perhaps this advice will help. This guide will give you three simple, foundational tips to ease your transition from standing to floa...

Every few years, a revolutionary piece of swim gear is launched with promises of free speed and record-breaking performance. One of the most famous examples was Speedo's Fastskin3 "racing system." While new technology is exciting, it often obscures a fundamental truth: for 99% of swimmers, the sec...

"Bilateral breathing" is one of the most misunderstood terms in swimming. Many beginners assume it means you must breathe every third stroke, only to find themselves gasping for air and hitting a frustrating plateau. The truth is, there's a huge difference between the act of rhythmic bilateral...

The Swim Smooth's Clean Up Your Stroke DVD set is not your usual learn to swim program on DVDs. It is more of a series of short hints and tips addressing a few important aspects of an efficient freestyle stroke. Paul Newsome, an accredited level II triathlon coach who coaches triathletes in Wester...

One of the toughest things to learn in swimming is a proper effective and efficient kick. Many coaches can tell you that having a great kick is the essence of fast swimming, however, they also struggle with teaching the proper kicking technique. No wonder though, the right kicking movement, wh...

Open water swimming and triathlon are becoming incredibly popular. And since 70% of our planet's surface is covered by water, it only makes sense we'd discover it sooner or later :). But with this popularity comes a challenge: many swimmers have a hard time understanding that swimming in open wate...

Triathletes are some of the most self-motivated athletes in the world. To achieve a competitive level in three different sports requires incredible discipline and time management skills. But this drive often creates a major problem in the pool. Running and cycling are sports where effort usually...

Getting more propulsion during a swim is a huge problem for many swimmers, and even advanced individuals shouldn't stop exploring their stroke for potential improvement. If you read this swimming blog regularly, you might notice I do not recommend using too much swim gear unless it has a particula...