What can I do to improve my time?

Question

I'm 16 and started swimming about 6 months ago. My time is 15.97 in 25m using freestyle. Is it an average time for me? And how can i improve it?

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Answer 1

Thats an okay time... to go faster you should limit the amountof breaths you take... for a 25, try to not take any breaths... for a 50, you should take no more than 4 breaths. The timing off the block is also vital. Make sure that you practice your dive (in a 25 the dive is 50% of it!) and get really long in the dive and make sure that you have a good streamline and underwater kick. A good thing to do is look on youtube for the Olympic swims and look at their dives... Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

A 15.97 isn't an awful time, but it isn't that great either. The top swimmers at your age can do that in about 11 seconds. I am a pretty good swimmer and I go about 12.5.

What you need to do is to first have a good dive. Don't go too deep off the dive or it will take to long to come up. Also, kick your legs fast, but use small kicks to propel yourself forward. Rapid arm motions also help.

This should make you go faster.

Answer 3

Its not a bad time if you only started swimming 6 months ago, im 13 and a girl  but I've been swimming for 2 years, anyway my time for 25m free is 15.7, so im just a bit faster than you. Make sure you get a good, strong dive off the blocks, really spring, that way you will get a lot of length. As someone else said, try not to breathe at all, as breathing will slow you down. Also try to get into a rhythm, try counting each stroke you take, the faster you count, the faster the stroke will be, this works better over longer distances however. Get your technique right, so you have high arms and you power through the water, ask someone to video you swimming over 25m and then you can see where you can improve. Last of all, get a good finish, defiantly dont breathe past the flags, and race into the wall, dont glide.

Hope this helps and good luck!