This is part 6 of a collection of posts for each of my swimming levels for the Mr. Dustin's Swim Academy. If you feel like this level isn't for you. Then I encourage you to check out the other levels, or the complete list, via the swimming tag!

Your strength improves through repetition, and this is the same for any exercise. Although since swimming works out the whole body, it becomes a bit more apparent in a lot of ways.

This is when you often start to realize your habits outside of the pool matter to your swimming too. If you're at this level, then you are taking it quite seriously. It is more than just improving form, or getting better. It is a matter of getting stronger, faster, and perhaps even competing.

In order for you to improve at this Level, then you need to work on what you eat. What exercises you do in the dry gym. As well as, learning to count the patterns and rhythms.

Rhythm is the Dancer

Rhythm and counting become a big part of the swimming at this level. For example in most basic scenarios a student will do four strokes (one per arm) of frontcrawl then on the 5th or 6th stroke (depending on left or right handedness) will take a breath. That cycle will then continue until the lap is completed.

This simple pattern is easy to imagine mentally, but it is hard to learn while DOING the action of swimming.

You are still thinking of the 3 steps, and they are sequential of course. 1, 2, 3. Then on top of that adding in the breathing. Some people like the counting is another layer on TOP of all that, but in actuality the counting IS the breathing layer.

Rhythm changes for the type of exercise you are doing

In certain cases such as with sprints/racing, endurance laps, or breath hold challenges that pattern will change.

If you SPRINTING, let alone going faster, then you are going to breathe less often. As you just simply have less opportunities to do it in the time that the lap takes you to accomplish.

Conversely, if you are going for distance, and doing a more MARATHON-like thing. Then your count might even double in number, as you have more time to do things like breathing. If you mess up then it is okay, as you have time to make up for it later.

You need to fuel your body effectively

Exercise and nutrition become a bigger part of the overall training.

This is why people on swim team are often told to eat jars of peanut butter, drink chocolate milk, or even just increasing your caloric intake in any way possible. This is why at my max of all the exercise I was doing, that I needed to eat more than 4000 calories a day.

Priming your body with the right nutrients, and making sure you have ENOUGH fuel to burn Before going into the water to practice. Then afterwards doing even more eating to recover after the fact, and getting enough protein.

These are the things that you will learn more about at this level too.

You might want to do more challenging things!

At this level can start doing things like swim team or various swimming events.

While in some cases you might be ready sooner, this is the level where it is most likely to happen. As you are already gaining a ton of strength at this point, and you are mastering your count when it comes to breathing.

So it can get boring to just practice, practice, practice, as that is what you are doing in Level 6. You might look to other things like competition, to get that next dopamine rush.

Disclaimer: This is advice for people to level up their swimming, or perhaps get started in the first place. While you swim you should make sure you are doing so in a public facility with a lifeguard on duty for safety.