Optimal body roll in freestyle is critical for better technique and faster speeds. Here’s why body roll is something you should work on at the pool today.

A fast freestyle stroke is a blend of a strong pull, strong flutter kick, strong catch, clean breathing, and proper hand placement through the pull and push phases of the arm stroke.

But there’s one big element, harder to see and feel but equally important, that holds it all together: body roll.

Body roll is the rotation of the swimmer’s torso around the body’s long axis during freestyle, involving both the hips and shoulders.

Body roll, especially at the hips, is critical for swimming with good technique, lengthening out your stroke, reducing injury, shaping hand path, and ultimately, faster swimming.

Here’s an overview of why body roll is so crucial for fast, efficient swimming.

The Importance of Body Roll in Freestyle

Reasons swimmers should focus on excellent body roll during freestyle include:

• Improved stroke coordination
• Increased distance per stroke
• Reduces drag
• Balanced body position
• Higher power output
• Optimal hand placement
• Reduced injury risk

Next, we will look at each benefit in closer detail.

Improved stroke coordination

A simple way to think about body roll when swimming freestyle is to think of it as a timing belt. As the body rotates with each arm cycle, it creates space for the recovery arm to swing freely over the water while the opposite arm pushes water and creates propulsion.

Body roll helps make this stroke coordination possible.

Without this rhythmic and dynamic rotation, swimmers recover using stiff, flat-arms. The pull isn’t as powerful. And this type of swimming isn’t just flat and slow, it’s also expensive in terms of energy.

Proper body roll lets swimmers flow smoothly from one stroke to the next, maintaining rhythm, leverage, and power.

Increased distance per stroke

Distance per stroke is a key metric for swimmers in the pool. We know that it is a fairly accurate measurement of how efficient we swim.

If you swim 50m of freestyle in 30 seconds, but instead of using 34 strokes, you use 32 strokes, we can broadly say that you’ve increased distance per stroke and become more efficient.

Body roll is a critical part of increasing stroke length. As you roll the hips and shoulders during the reach phase of the stroke, you naturally lengthen out your body, covering more water before initiating the catch of the next stroke.

Reduces drag

The rhythmic back and forth of body roll creates a hydrodynamic body position in the water. The rotation of the shoulders creates a slimmer profile, reducing frontal drag, that allows swimmers to “slice” through the water.

Swimmers that create excessive twist when swimming freestyle (e.g. creating a discrepancy in roll between shoulder and hip roll) create more frontal drag, slowing them down (Psycharakis & Sanders, 2008).

Fast swimmers also create a smooth body roll that reduces herky-jerky movements that cause turbulence and increased drag (Yanai, 2001).

When roll is smoother than butter, consistent, and matches stroke timing, it promotes an aligned body position that reduces drag.

Balanced body position

Being balanced when swimming is more than just literal floatation at the surface of the water. It’s also about maintaining a straight and mega-streamlined body position when swimming fast across the length of the pool.

A high-quality body roll helps to keep our center of mass aligned and reduces speed-killing lateral movements and body wobbling.

Low body roll can lead to a host of freestyle technique errors: Turning the head too far to breathe (compensating for low body roll), extra wide kicks, shoulders over-rotating, and the head tilting. All of which slows us down and leave the body poorly balanced.

Good body roll stabilizes body position and allows swimmers to focus on pulling/pushing/kicking with more gusto instead of scrambling to balance the body.

Higher power output

The hips are the power center of the body, and when they work in sync with the shoulders, swimmers have access to the full kinetic chain (shoulders, core, and legs) when swimming, exerting more power. The alignment between hips and shoulders during body roll allows force to be transferred through the body without leaks or delays.

Slow or no-rolling hips means the shoulders need to increase rotation to clear the arms out of the water and position the hands for the catch.

The hips and shoulders work best when they are on the same page, and good body roll allows swimmers to maximize strength and power from their whole body.

Optimal hand placement

Body roll helps swimmers find the best placement for maximum pressure against the water through the whole stroke.

From that first moment in the catch, when the hand is extending to when it sinks into an early vertical forearm to when peak propulsion happens as the hand passes under the hips.

• Rolling too much or rolling too little can lead to hand placement that is too wide or too narrow at the top of the stroke.
• Unstable hips lead to more sculling during the pull phase of the stroke.
• Without powerful hip angular velocity during the push phase, swimmers are unable to get full thrust from the arm stroke.

The hands are responsible for between 90-97% of the propulsion in the freestyle arm stroke, and good body roll ensures hand placement that leads to more thrust.

Reduced injury risk

Body roll isn’t just about rollickin’ and rollin’ your way across the pool with more speed and less drag. It’s also one of your first lines of defence to reduce injury.

A study by Barden and Barber (2022) analyzing the hip roll of elite competitive freestylers found that swimmers with shoulder pain rolled their hips significantly less to the non-breathing side than pain-free swimmers (49° to 57°).

Why does this matter?

Swimmers shoulder is no joke. In a study of 88 elite Australian swimmers (Sein et al., 2010) over 90% reported shoulder pain, and a whopping 69% were found to have supraspinatus tendinopathy on MRI scans.

Asymmetrical body roll places uneven load on the shoulders, making them more vulnerable to impingement and overuse injuries.

The Bottom Line

Body roll might not get the Bright Lights treatment in the same way as an explosive start, thunderous underwaters, a rooster-tail freestyle kick, or a pool-moving arm stroke.

But it’s the glue that holds all the components of efficient, PB-busting freestyle speeds together.

Get your body roll right, and you’ll swim with a longer and more powerful stroke and also reduce risk of injury along the way.

Roll on and happy swimming!

More Freestyle Technique Articles

How to Increase Your Freestyle Stroke Rate. Is your freestyle stroke rate stuck in first gear? Here is how to ramp up your stroke rate and get your arms turning over fast-fast-fast.

8 Tips for Improving Your Freestyle Stroke. Unlock a faster and more efficient freestyle stroke with this list of eight proven tips for killer freestyle technique.

The post 7 Reasons Body Roll is Crucial for a Fast Freestyle appeared first on YourSwimLog.com.

Hint: It’s Not Really About the Forearm

If you’ve ever been asked/told/yelled to “grab more water” when swimming freestyle, but didn’t know what in the chlorinated heck your coach was talking about, you aren’t alone.

Water is, well, slippery.

It flows, rushes, and slips through and around your fingers and hands, eternally playing hard to get.

And one of the keys to a successful freestyle stroke—we are told over and over—is that shiny and high-velocity early vertical forearm.

But here’s the twist: EVF isn’t really about the forearm.

Early vertical forearm is important because it places the hand into a powerful and propulsive position more quickly, leading to faster swimming and less wasted effort.

In this article, we’ll break down:

• What EVF is
• Why it’s so fundamental to fast swimming
• How to improve it with drills, mobility work, and more

Let’s get vertical.

What is Early Vertical Forearm?

Early vertical forearm refers to the alignment of the lower arm, including the forearm and hand, so that it can quickly increase propulsion during the pull phase of the stroke.

It’s where the swimmer rotates the forearm into a vertical position after the hand enters the water—so that the forearm and hand are pushing water backwards and not down.

But despite the name, the power of a kick-butt EVF is less to do with the forearm and mostly to do with your hands.

Why Early Vertical Forearm Matters

The hands are the primary driver of propulsion during the pulling motion of the freestyle stroke.

In a review, Takagi et al., (2021) found that:

• The hand contributes 90-97% of the propulsive force during the arm pull of the freestyle stroke
• The forearm adds just 3-10%
• The upper arm? Almost negligible force, and worse, if misaligned, increases frontal drag and slows us down

So while the term EVF gets thrown around a lot, the value in this particular kinematic factor is more about setting up the hand and not necessarily a focus on the forearm (even though a vertical forearm naturally yields a vertical hand position).

According to Takagi et al., the hand is responsible for 90-97% of the propulsive thrust during the freestyle pull.

I find that swimmers often fixate on a high elbow and vertical forearm when trying to improve their EVF and ignore hand placement.

They over-rotate the shoulder to get more height with the elbow, or forget to position the hand firmly after the forearm has gone vertical. These can be a detour from what the real focus should be.

And that is:

Getting handsy with the water and position the palms and fingers to push water backward ASAP.

Tips for an Early Vertical Forearm That Moves You

Here are some cues, drills, and mobility exercises to help you improve early vertical forearm:

Position the hand for propulsion

The earlier your hand is facing backward, the sooner it starts propelling you forward.

While some lift in the front of the pull phase can be good, swimmers should be focused on grabbing the everlasting oxygen molecules out of the water and pulling themselves through it with palms facing backward.

Keep a firm wrist angle. No floppy wrists or soft fingers. Grab that water like it owes you money.

Enhance mobility to position the hand

EVF isn’t a natural arm position. It requires swimming with a high elbow/early vertical forearm in the water (acting as a dynamic stretch) or dedicated mobility work outside the pool.

The most specific way to loosen up the EVF while dry is with a stability ball. Get into a quadruped position and place the forearm and hand on a stability ball and roll forward, forearm and hand wrapping on the far side of the stability ball.

This mimics the EVF motion and helps build muscle memory for when you are in the pool.

Slowly roll through the movement to grease the neural pathways for EVF success.

Scull to build hand awareness

Sculling is one of the best drills swimmers have at their disposal to improve EVF and feel for the water. By performing tight, figure-eight movements with the hands, you improve proprioception and that mythical feel for the water.

Grab a swimmer’s snorkel, get into a horizontal body position, with a neutral head and spine, extend the arms, and play and scull in that EVF zone.

Keep constant pressure on the water and test different elbow and forearm angles to simulate different parts of the pull.

EVF-friendly drills

Drills are your buddy when it comes to developing greater awareness around the early vertical forearm.

Besides sculling, give these freestyle drills a shot to highlight better hand and forearm position:

• Closed-fist freestyle: Closed fist freestyle is as simple and explanatory as it gets: ball up your fists and force your forearms to carry the load, encouraging a more vertical forearm. Forces swimmers to use their forearms and high elbows to catch water.
• Long dog freestyle: One of my favorites. Long dog freestyle is an extension doggie paddle, with swimmers doing a full recovery under the surface of the water and returning their hands to the point of hand entry. Awesome for encouraging a precise catch, higher elbow, and vertical forearm.

Pair these drills with regular swimming (e.g. 25 closed fist + 25 swim) to transfer that new and shiny EVF to your newly-upgraded stroke.

The Bottom Line

Swimmers understand the importance of superior technique for fast swimming.

EVF is one of those technical factors that allows our hands do more of what they are designed to do… Pull us through water faster than ever.

So, when we:

• Get that forearm in a vertical position early
• Minimize drag from the upper arm
• Build sensory awareness through sculling and drills
• And expand range of movement in the shoulder and elbow joints

…we unlock more propulsion and speed from our freestyle.

Get vertical with the forearm and hands, and unlock more horizontal speed.

Happy swimming!

More Technique Articles

6 Tips to Improve Your Distance Per Stroke. Ready to get more efficient in the water and increase distance per stroke? Here are some proven tips for increase stroke length with your swimming.

The post Why Early Vertical Forearm is So Important for Fast Swimming appeared first on YourSwimLog.com.

Visualization is a tool to help swimmers perform under pressure. Here’s how the greatest breaststroker of all-time used it to swim to gold.

Elite swimmers put in the work over years and years of training. Early mornings, eating clean, going to bed when it’s still light out, and weeks on weeks away from home at training camps, swim meets, and more swim meets.

Beyond the physical training that swimmers do, there is also the mental aspect.

Adam Peaty, better-than-average breaststroker, has long been a big fan of visualization, one of the most effective mental skills for competitive swimmers.

Visualization has a lot of benefits for swimmers, including increasing confidence, managing pre-race nerves, improving attentional control, and more.

Visualization allowed Peaty to prepare for his golden Olympic moments months in advance by rehearsing the stress of the moment and giving him bulletproof confidence.

Ultimately, it led to a lot of gold, a lot of world records, and a lot of fast, high-pressure moments.

Here’s how you can use the same visualization strategies to perform your best when it matters most.

Start the process early

“For the 10 months before I even landed in Rio for the Olympics, I rehearsed walking out into the arena by collecting the audio from the previous year’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia.”

Unfortunately, most swimmers view mental skills as a last-minute silver bullet or something to paper over insufficient and inconsistent training. Like all mental skills, visualization should be introduced to your training regimen weeks or months before the Big Meet.

Building familiarity with the skill, giving it a chance to grow and improve, and stacking the reps takes time, just like any skill in the water.

The earlier you start rehearsing those race day performance, the more prepared you will be.

Peaty mentally rehearsed walking out onto the pool deck for ten months before the Olympic. Instead of leaving it to chance, or waiting until the last moment, he was very methodical and had a long-term outlook with his mental approach.

“It’s weird because I didn’t really get that nervous during the Olympics. I’d swam that race a thousand times in my head.”

This way, nothing about the Olympic environment felt new or overwhelming.

Add sensory elements to make it more real

“If you start feeling your environment and seeing it at the same time — what will the water feel like? Who’s going to be beside me? What’s it going to be like when you touch the wall? —you can prepare yourself for every situation and that’s something that really helps me.”

Visualization is at its best when it feels real. [studies demonstrating this…]

Peaty recorded the audio from the 2015 FINA World Championships and played it while visualizing success for Rio.

One way to boost realism is by adding smell (visualize when you are at the pool and the smell of chlorine is in the air) or sounds (in the case of Peaty, using the sound from the previous year’s World Championships).

The more “real” you make the visualizations, the more your brain believes the experience, triggering the same adrenaline, nerves, sweaty palms, and excitement of the real thing.

Visualize the race lead-up

Visualizing your race is a great start. But this isn’t where most swimmers crater mentally. It is in the quiet moments leading up to the race where things take a mental detour.

Excess tension, choking, and distraction happens before we step up onto the block.

Peaty’s visualizations would incorporate the lane and swimmer announcements before his race. The announcer listed the swimmers from the outside in, “and then finally, lane four, Adam Peaty.”

The mental rehearsals were designed to give him a big sense of “been here, done this” when he got behind the block.

Which is exactly what happened—walking out, hearing his name, feeling the crowd, all familiar. By the time the final in Rio came around, it was just another rep.

Don’t overcomplicate it

“We must not underestimate that sometimes, simplicity is best.”

Swimmers, like all athletes, can left-turn into oncoming overthinking. With mental skills, simplicity is best, whether we are talking goal setting, self-talk, performance cues, or breathing exercises. Let’s not overcomplicate visualization, either.

You don’t need to create complex of multi-layered mental movies. Simple and repeatable visualization is often more effective because it eliminates overthinking and mental clutter.

For the swimmer new to visualization or who has struggled to make it work in the past: Focus on the high impact parts of your race—not necessarily every stroke or breath (especially you distance swimmers). Keep it simple and laser-targeted on the parts of your race that matter most.

• Visualize the chaos of the meet warm-up—and getting prepared despite the mayhem.
• Visualize (and feel) the nerves in the minutes leading up to race time—to accustom you to the rush of pressure and anxiety as the big moment comes.
• Visualize yourself sticking to your race strategy and swimming your best race—no matter what’s happening in the lane next to you.

By focusing your mental reps on the big moments that matter on race day, you increase the quality of your visualization. Hardwire confidence for the things that matter most to race-day success.

Use visualization to handle the nerves

“Eventually, by the time I even got to the Olympics, I was already well-prepared for something that I feared and also felt a huge amount of pressure from.”

The main reason swimmers use visualization is to get a handle on pre-race nerves. To help us manage and channel the excitement/anxiety of competition so that we can swim fast.

Visualization gives us a chance to rehearse the physical symptoms and experience that comes with pre-race nerves—and to thrive in the face of them.

Pressure comes for us all in varying degrees and from different angles. But visualization helps us to manage that surge of energy so that we can stay dialed in on executing a killer race.

We all want and dream and fantasize about our perfect race day performance. That’s not visualization. It’s wishful thinking. Visualization places you in that high-stress, high-pressure moment—the bright lights, crowd noise, and expectations, both internal and external.

Use visualization to prepare you for the intensity of the nerves so that you can ride them to success instead of getting derailed under pressure.

The Bottom Line

Dealing with pressure is tough for every swimmer. The experience of churning belly butterflies is universal, whether you are an Olympic favorite or an age grouper chasing down a state cut.

Yes, for most swimmers there are fewer eyeballs and a much smaller television audience watching, but that doesn’t make the race any less important to us.

Pressure comes for us all, and visualization is one of the best tools at our disposal to acclimatize to the sometimes overwhelming feelings of nerves when it’s time to race.

Michael Phelps used visualization consistently throughout his career. So have countless other Olympic champions.

Here is Adam Peaty with the final word:

“If you can visualize it, you can do it.”

Happy swimming!

The Next Step

Visualization is one of the best mental skills at the enterprising swimmer’s disposal.

But most swimmers don’t do it properly.

My book, Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a High-Performance Mindset, walks you through how to use visualization like a pro.

Step by step.

With sample visualization cues, plans, and worksheets to get you started.

Made with the feedback of 200+ Olympic, World, and NCAA winning swimmers and coaches, the book is packed with step-by-step strategies and advice for helping you unlock your mind so that the body can swim to its potential.

Whether you are stuck in a plateau, ready to take things to the next level, or preparing for the Big Meet, Conquer the Pool gives you the mental edge to swim with confidence.

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Katie Ledecky continues to cement her legacy as the greatest freestyler in history. Here are five lessons swimmers can pull from Ledecky.

“I can’t stop smiling.”

Personal best times tend to do that.

On Saturday, May 3^rd, 2025, at the TYR Pro Series meet in Fort Lauderdale, Katie Ledecky broke the world record in the 800m freestyle.

Her own record.

A record that had stood since the Rio Olympics.

Nine years ago.

She hadn’t broken a world record in seven years, after going on a run of breaking one seemingly every few weeks, leading to the typical whispers that maybe she wasn’t the same dominant Ledecky anymore.

In Fort Lauderdale, those whispers were quieted:

• 400 freestyle (3:56.81) – Swims her second-time fastest ever
• 800 freestyle (8:04.12) – Breaks her own world record
• 1500 freestyle (15:24.51) – Second fastest time in history

Katie Ledecky went Katie-KaBoom.

During the post-race moments and interviews, Ledecky’s emotion and exuberance was obvious. World records are special, and even for swim fans there was plenty of goosebumps to go around watching her do what she does best.

Ledecky reminded everyone what’s possible when talent, love for the process, and a relentless appetite for learning collide.

Let’s break down some lessons swimmers can pull from Ledecky’s legendary week.

Enjoy the process

Ledecky’s work ethic is well known, but she’s also someone who embraces the day-in and day-out rhythm of swim training.

“I just love the process, love the training more than the racing, and it’s that way even more now.”

Takeaway for swimmers: Finding purpose and joy in the “mundane” day-to-day of swim training helps you fall in love with the process, with successful outcomes a byproduct of this approach.

Be open to greatness

Perhaps the thing that impressed me most about Ledecky’s performance this week is that she’s consistently shown up on race day with an open mindset. I’ve done the work. So why not today? Why not me? Why not a world record?

“I am always striving to be my best and be better than I’ve ever been. That’s not easy when your times are world records in some events. I approach every single race with the attitude that anything can happen, and I can break world records this race. I’m going to step up and throw down.”

Takeaway for swimmers: Do the work in training. And then show up on race day without limiting yourself. Often the big breakthroughs happen when we least expect them because we don’t attach ourselves too firmly to expectations, whether they are internal or external. Leave the door open for success.

Always be learning

Despite Ledecky’s eighteen-page resume of accomplishments in the sport, she is still learning.

At Florida, she’s picked up some little performance-boosting tidbits from teammates, including fellow distance ace Bobby Finke, and coach Anthony Nesty.

Always seeking an edge and always being open to learning.

“I’m learning from my teammates, learning from my coaches, and experimenting still at this age with what works and what doesn’t work.”

Takeaway for swimmers: Elite swimmers know that every practice, every performance, and even other swimmers in the pool represent learning opportunities. Even when you’ve been successful, even when you’re at the top of the podium, stay curious.

Be willing to adapt

Swimming isn’t static. Things are always changing. We get older, the competition gets faster, we get injured, we get bored, coaches retire, we switch teams, we change training groups, and so on.

Despite being the greatest freestyler in history, Ledecky understands that to improve or even to continue performing at an elite level requires continually pushing.

“You can’t do the same thing every year if you want to get different results.”

Takeaway for swimmers: Track your progress, monitor where you are improving, where you’ve stalled, and where you can get better. Swimmers who plateau are often the ones who get comfortable in their routines or don’t lean into the things that will take their swimming to the next level.

Reduce pressure by normalizing big races

Swimmers frequently over-hype themselves before a big race that is important to them.

Whether it’s that final chance to make a cut, your best event at the Big Meet, or just a race where you really, really, really want to do well, when we force a performance by over-emphasizing its importance, our swimming tends to crash.

Ledecky treated the 800m freestyle like every other race that week in order to normalize the moment and keep her focus and intensity in check.

“When I’m on, I’m on and I know it. I knew that I could do something like [break the WR] tonight, but I also told myself not to approach tonight any different than the other races all week.”

Takeaway for swimmers: Reduce performance anxiety that cripples performance by sticking to your routines and preparation. Big race or small race. By using the mindset, pre-race routine, and warm-up that has yielded success in the past—and not changing your usual prep at the last second—you will keep nerves at bay and swim your best.

The Bottom Line

Swimmers often struggle with the mindset part of the sport, and Katie Ledecky, more than just about anyone, exemplifies the power of a resilient and process-oriented mindset.

Find enjoyment in the process and the daily grind. Seek improvement and be open to learning and adapting. Normalize the big moments by treating them like a routine swim. And of course, be an absolute animal at practice.

While Ledecky’s achievements are stratospheric, her mindset is something more of us can aspire to in our endeavors in the pool and beyond.

Happy swimming!

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Looking to up your pacing skills in the pool? Here are some actionable pacing tips and tools to help you master pace and your performance on race day.

Improving swim performance and getting faster tends to revolve around the big, flashy stuff…

Explosive starts, insanely smooth underwaters, monster kicks generating a white-water waterfall behind you, golden finishes and breaking personal best times over your knee.

But you know what isn’t as shiny and flashy as a new set of swim goggles?

Pacing.

It’s one of the more underrated skills in the pool.

And maybe unsurprisingly, a 2019 meta-analysis (Menting et al., 2019) showed that elite swimmers consistently pace their races more, well, consistently compared to developing and non-elite swimmers.

They get out fast, hit a mid-race rhythm, and close like a champ.

And unlike less experienced swimmers, there is less variability across races, and they manage energy to avoid mid-race crashes.

Here is a look at some pro pacing strategies and tools swimmers can use in training to get better managing and executing pace on race day.

Target different pace speeds (at different fatigue levels).

The best way to learn what feels like too fast or too measured is by experiencing the full spectrum of paces.

Sets and workouts for learning proper pacing in the water encourage swimmers to hit target times under a variety of conditions so that the feeling of a certain pace becomes second nature.

For example, my favorite “learn to pace” set is pairing a target pace (1:10 per 100m, for example), with increasing volume, testing our ability to maintain that pace under more challenging circumstances.

Here is what an example set would look like:

• 1×100 freestyle swim at target pace (1:10)
• 1×200 freestyle swim at target pace (2:20)
• 2×100 freestyle swim at target pace (1:10)
• 2×200 freestyle swim at target pace (2:20)
• 3×100 freestyle swim at target pace (1:10)
• 3×200 freestyle swim at target pace (2:20)

This type of set can be configured in an almost endless number of ways, but play around at the edges of where you are just starting to fall off to get a sense of what failing pace (within grasp of making it) feels like.

Practice is for experimenting with different pacing strategies, so get after it in training so that you can instantly read how your body is feeling in competition.

Use a set of performance cues for racing.

When planning your next race, assign each part of the race different cues to keep you focused on performance and pace.

For example, for a 200m freestyle, you’d do something like this:

• First 50: Easy speed!
• Second 50: Begin to engage the legs!
• Third 50: Accelerate!
• Fourth 50: Finish with everything you got!

Crafting performance cues and a cognitive race plan isn’t just a race day tool—it’s a mental skill you can use in training, too. Check out Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a High Performance Mindset—a mental training workbook packed with exercises, strategies, and tools to help you stay focused, stick to your pacing plan, and swim with confidence when it matters most.

Performance cues, also sometimes known as cognitive race plans, help you match effort with each phase of the race so that you can execute the race you want instead of just flaming out or holding back until it’s too late and the competition has swum on by.

Review your past races and splits.

Looking at past performances can be very helpful in terms of giving actionable intel on what pacing strategies work best for you.

There are several different pacing personalities—the swimmer who goes out at Mach 5 and desperately holds on, the swimmer who deliberately holds back on the first half of the 50 to avoid spinning their wheels—and understanding which pacing strategy works best for you starts with your own performance history.

Look back at your best swims. Compare them with your under-performance swims. Get a sense of how you swim the race best, and you can start attacking relevant paces and your own strategy in training and competition.

Be specific about race pace targets

Swimmers often race according to feel, in the sense that if they feel energetic and fired up, they will attack the race from the front. If lethargic, they will slowly ease into the race, hoping to find energy later on.

Elite swimmers, on the other hand, have race pace targets firmly in mind. They know how fast they are going to go at each stage of the race, because they’ve done those paces thousands of times in training.

They can tell to a fraction of a second if they are on or off pace without having to look at the clock because they were intentional about mastering the speed, energy management, and specific technical demands at each intensity.

To figure out race pace for your goal events, check out our custom Race Pace Calculator that uses the pacing strategies of the best swimmers on the planet to help you build a pacing strategy specific to your goal times.

The calculator removes the guesswork so that you have exact pacing times and targets to chase at practice, helping you learn how to properly pace.

The Bottom Line

Swimming fast is just as much about managing energy and learning your different gears and paces as it is testing the top-end limits of velocity.

Pacing might not be the flashiest skill, but it’s one of the most powerful. Nail your pace, and you’ll swim smarter, finish stronger, and race with more control.

Start small, stay consistent, and trust the process—your future fast swims will thank you.

Happy pacing, and happy swimming!

The post How to Improve Your Pacing Skills appeared first on YourSwimLog.com.

The post Race Pace Calculator for Swimmers appeared first on YourSwimLog.com.

Looking to breakdown your goal swim time? Below is a Race Pace Calculator that uses the pacing strategies of the fastest swimmers on the planet, giving you an idea of how to pace your races for success.

Simply input your goal time, and the calculator will output a series of splits

Race Pace Calculator

Where was the information for this race pace data compiled?

Great question!

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The Swimming Times Converter takes your best times (or goal times) and converts them into short course meters, long course meters, or short course yards using USA Swimming’s Motivational Standards.

This time conversion method is more accurate as it uses benchmark times from USA Swimming that is event and distance specific and are grounded in performance-based data, making it more accurate compared to universal conversion multipliers.

Enter your time, click convert, and your swimming times will be converted. Actually swimming those converted times, however, will be up to you!

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Wondering what visualization can do for your swimming? Here are some evidence-based benefits of visualization for swimmers for more confidence, less choking, and even better technique.

When you think of the tools that help swimmers dominate in the pool, what comes to mind? High-tech goggles, the perfect tech suit, maybe a world-class taper and shave down.

But one of the most effective performance tools isn’t in your swim bag—it’s under your swim cap and between your ears.

Visualization, also known as mental imagery or mental rehearsal, is a proven mental training skill for swimmers that can be used to improve a wide range of things in the pool.

Michael Phelps was a prolific user of visualization. Katie Ledecky, Adam Peaty, Cody Miller, and countless other Olympic champions used it as well.

And it’s not just a feel-good routine where you get to fantasize about golden performances—there’s real science behind how and why it works.

Whether you’re trying to karate-chop a personal best time, manage pre-race nerves, or fine-tune your technique, here are seven research-supported reasons visualization should be part of your training arsenal.

Let’s dive in.

Benefits of Visualization for Swimmers

The benefits of visualization for swimmers include:

• Boost confidence
• Manage pre-race nerves
• Improved focus and attentional control
• Better technique
• Bounce back from injury faster
• Rehearse race day

Next, we’ll examine each benefit of visualization in greater detail and offer some tips to get started with this essential mental skill.

1. Boost confidence

Self-confidence is everything in the pool. When we step up on the block and are feeling confident, we feel like we can take on the world. Visualization helps build the belief that you can—and will—perform at your best.

By using visualization to mentally rehearse successful races, strong underwaters, and powerful finishes, you program your brain to deliver success in the water. Over time, this mental rehearsal becomes a form of self-coaching that reinforces trust in your training and abilities, leading to more confidence and faster swimming.

A study by Callow, Hardy, and Hall (2001) found that using motivational imagery increased athletes’ sport-specific confidence. The more vivid and task-specific the visualization, the more powerful the confidence effect.

Tip: Each night, spend 5-10 minutes visualizing your ideal race from start to finish every night for a week. Feel the water, hear the starter’s beep, and imagine yourself nailing each turn and finish. Confidence comes from experience, and mental rehearsal is one more rep to add to your confidence stockpile.

2. Manage pre-race nerves

There is nothing worse than “choking” on race day. Weeks, months, even years of hard work thrown away because we are overcome by the pressure of the moment.

Even the best swimmers on the planet feel nerves before a big race. Difference is that they are able to manage those nerves and channel them as fuel.

Visualization can act like a dress rehearsal for the mind—allowing you to “experience” the pressure in a controlled way before race day arrives.

“It’s weird because I didn’t really get that nervous during the Olympics. I’d swum that race a thousand times in my head.” – Adam Peaty

By feeling the emotions and pressure of the moment repeatedly ahead of time—including the butterflies, sweaty palms, last moment doubts and uncertainties—you desensitize yourself to the detrimental effects of stress and pressure.

When the pressure builds, instead of panicking or choking and succumbing to the moment, it will feel like just another race.

A study (Lin et al., 2021) with 55 competitive fin swimmers performed six months of visualization sessions (twice per week).

By the end, they not only beat personal bests and achieved more of their goals in the pool, but they saw significantly fewer negative physical symptoms associated with performance anxiety, such as stomach tension, muscle tightness, and restlessness. Swimmers were more relaxed and less anxious.

Swimmers often struggle with the novel experience of competition, which can be much more intense and pressure-filled compared to the safe psychological confines of swim training.

Use visualization to build pressure reps so that you can step on the block and know that your best swim is in front of you.

Tip: Visualize yourself behind the block for your best event at this season’s biggest meet. In those lonely moments, hear the crowd, feel the butterflies—and then imagine yourself breathing deeply, relaxing your shoulders, and stepping onto the block with calm, confident, and focused control.

3. Improved focus and attentional control

In a sport measured by tenths and hundredths of a second, the ability to block out distractions and dial into the moment is essential.

Visualization can help swimmers mentally rehearse key race cues—like pace control, stroke tempo, underwater dolphin kick count—so they stay laser-focused when it matters most.

By mentally rehearsing where to place your attention at each stage of the race, you reduce the chances of being thrown off by noise, fatigue, or doubt.

Sports psychologist Aidan Moran, in his book The Psychology of Concentration in Sport Performers: A Cognitive Analysis showed that visualization significantly strengthens attentional control, helping athletes stay locked in on performance-relevant cues under pressure.

Which makes sense: Visualization in itself is a highly focused activity that requires your full imagination and attention to perform correctly, leading to more focus in the water.

Tip: Pick one technical cue (like “kick from the trunk” or “grab water in the catch”) and visualize yourself executing it perfectly during your main set or race. Repeat that mental cue to sharpen focus during real swims.

4. Better technique

Swimmers improve velocity by two mechanisms in the water: Increase power and decrease drag. The latter is why swimmers should constantly be focused on refining and improving their technique. Efficient technique helps you move through the water with less effort and more speed.

Visualization is a dryland tool for technique optimization. Visualization activates the same brain regions involved in physical movement, reinforcing neural pathways for better stroke mechanics.

This means that even when you’re out of the water—resting, tapering, drydocked or recovering—you can continue refining your technique and motor memory through visualization.

Guillot and Collet (2008) conducted a meta-analysis showing that visualization improves both learning and execution of motor skills, especially when combined with physical practice.

Tip: Close your eyes and imagine your stroke from a first-person perspective. Focus on the feel of the water during your catch, the timing of your kick, and the rotation of your shoulders and hips. Then use a third-person perspective, “watching” yourself execute the skill flawlessly. The more specific your imagery, the better.

5. Bounce back from injury faster

Injuries can be super frustrating, but visualization gives swimmers a way to stay mentally sharp and connected to the sport.

Taking some time each day to visualize proper stroke mechanics, turns, and races can help maintain the neuromuscular connections essential to performance, even when you’re out of the pool.

Visualization can even be used to recover faster.

A study by Cupal and Brewer (2001) showed that injured athletes who used guided imagery during rehabilitation experienced faster recovery, reduced pain, and lower anxiety levels.

Visualization can be used for just about every aspect of swimming better.

But it can especially be deployed to help you work through injuries, reducing the psychological stress of being sidelined and making a smoother transition back into training and competition.

Tip: If you’re injured, visualize doing your usual main set, including warm-up, pace work, and cooldown. Add emotional imagery, like the satisfaction of a solid training day, to keep your motivation high and help you hit the water running when you are cleared to swim again.

6. Rehearse race day

Visualization is a skill that allows you to “preview” competitive situations before they happen.

Whether it’s adjusting stroke rate at the 35-meter mark or reacting to an early lead from the next lane, mental rehearsal gives you the playbook for how to respond.

Elite swimmers often use visualization to map out ideal pacing, anticipate opponents’ strategies, and mentally simulate close finishes—all of which builds readiness and calm under pressure.

“When I would visualize, it would be what you want it to be, what you don’t want it to be, what it could be. You are always ready for whatever comes your way.” – Michael Phelps

A 2017 study by Blankert and Hamstra demonstrated that athletes who used visualization in their preparation to mentally rehearse race-day scenarios, from emotional buildup to technical execution, experienced better competitive outcomes.

Use visualization not just to swim a desired result, but the build-up of the day, including those moments when it’s just you and your thoughts behind the block, your building focus and intensity during the meet warm-up, and dealing with random moments of adversity on race day.

Tip: In the weeks leading up to competition, mentally walk through race day. The loosey goosey drive to the pool, warming up with intent, doing last minute visualizations, completing each stage of your pre-race routine. The more you rehearse it, and the more times you “experience” the big moment, the more natural it will be for you to excel when the real moment happens.

The Bottom Line

Visualization isn’t just for elite swimmers or Olympic champions, even though countless Olympic legends from Michael Phelps to Adam Peaty frequently used visualization for race day success.

It’s a powerful tool for any swimmer who wants to level up their mental game. And like any skill, it takes practice and consistency, but the payoff is real: stronger confidence, sharper focus, and better performance when it counts.

If you’re not already visualizing as part of your training, now’s the time to start.

Set yourself some goals.

Visualize yourself achieving them.

And then get up on the block and do the real thing.

Ready to Dive into a Better Mindset and Faster Swimming?

Visualization is just one piece of the mental game. Throw in powerful self-confidence, managing pre-race nerves, pre-race routines, attentional control, dealing with perfectionism—these are all skills that can be trained, just like your starts and turns.

For swimmers serious about unlocking their full potential in the water, my mental training workbook Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide for a High-Performance Mindset, is your next step.

Made with the feedback of 200+ Olympic, World, and NCAA winning swimmers and coaches, the book is packed with step-by-step strategies and advice for helping you unlock your mind so that the body can swim to its potential.

Whether you are stuck in a plateau, ready to take things to the next level, or preparing for the Big Meet, Conquer the Pool gives you the mental edge to swim with confidence.

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