Courtesy toward other swimmers makes swimming more enjoyable.
Swimming laps is an excellent way to strengthen yourself and improve your overall level of fitness. Because people are designed for land, just trying to move about efficiently in the water provides exercise and forces swimmers to use muscles not normally exercised during land activities. A swimmer should always remember to stick to the right when swimming in a lane to avoid colliding with other swimmers. When at rest, a swimmer must stay away from the center of the wall at either end of the lane because people swimming consecutive laps will turn at the center. Every time a swimmer swims from one end of the pool to the other, he has completed a lap. Short-course laps are measured in 25 yard/meter increments. One lap is called a "25," two laps is a "50," three a "75" and so on. Long-course laps are measured in 50-meter increments.
Instructions
Swimming Laps
1. Choose a lane to swim in. Beginners should select a sparsely populated lane where they can swim without having to worry about running into others. Alert others in your lane to your presence.
2. Put on your goggles and jump into the water. Avoid other swimmers by standing to either side of the center of the lane. Push off the wall from underwater with your feet and make the streamlined position by straightening your body and pointing your arms in a triangular fashion above your head with locked elbows and clasped hands.
3. Glide forward and kick. Begin swimming your preferred stroke -- freestyle, backstroke and breastroke are all easy to swim -- to the other side of the pool. Remember to keep to the right side of the lane when swimming. As you approach the wall decide whether or not you would like to rest at the wall. Rest if you feel you must.
Turning
4. Swim toward the center of the lane if turning at the wall. Keep an eye out for other swimmers.
5. Turn by simply grabbing the the top of the wall with an outstretched arm, pulling your legs up underneath you, positioning your feet between your body and the wall, springing back in the other direction in the streamlined position, and continuing to swim. This turning style is normally used for breastroke and butterfly, but beginners may use it for freestyle as well.
6. Turn at the wall by flipping if swimming freestyle. A highly efficient turning method for freestyle and backstroke is the flip-turn, where a swimmer turns by flipping his legs over his head, planting his feet on the wall, pushing off while on his back and then turning over onto his stomach before breaking the surface again.
7. Watch for the flags -- placed 5 meters out from the wall -- if swimming backstroke and wishing to do a flip-turn. A backstroker counts the number of strokes he needs to take between the flags and the wall before flipping onto his stomach to begin turning. Knowing this number of strokes is essential to prevent any uncomfortable contact with the wall.
8. Practice swimming toward the wall and counting your strokes so that you know when to turn. Following the flip onto his stomach, a backstroker will execute the turn in the same manner a freestyler would: by flipping his legs over his head, planting his feet on the wall and pushing off on his back. The backstroker will remain on his back, though.
Plan a Workout
9. Develop a workout routine by swimming for at least half an hour per day three times a week. Exercising on a schedule will improve your results by adding more discipline to your workout.
10. Warm up by swimming 500 to 1000 meters at a leisurely pace. Holding a kickboard with your hands and just kicking with your feet to propel yourself across the pool is a popular warm-up and workout technique.
11. Start swimming sets of 50s and 100s on an interval. Use the timer feature on your watch to time your laps. Were you to swim a set of five 100s on a two-minute interval, you would swim 100 meters and then rest for the remainder of the two-minute period before starting the next 100. Sets of 200s and 500s will be longer and more difficult to finish. Rest between sets as needed and remember to do a long "cool down" swim to relax and stretch your tired muscles following a workout.
