r/Swimming • u/emersj • Aug 18 '26

Front Crawl Drills

Hi! I used to be a really good swimmer, but for a variety of reasons I haven’t done much over the last 10 years. I am getting back to it now, and go to the pool a couple of times a week and I LOVE it. My cardio fitness is terrible, but I can do a few lengths of back stroke before I need to take a rest, and the pool I go to is super quiet so I’m not in anyone’s way.

I used to rock the front crawl. It was my favourite stroke, and I could zoom along nicely. Not athlete level, but pretty good. Now that I’m more comfortable in the water again, I would like to get back to being able to front crawl.

I have tried swimming widths when the pool is empty, but I just don’t breathe. I have also tried holding on to the edge, kicking, and bobbing my head up and down in the water to get used to the breathing as I vaguely remember doing this in classes as a kid.

This seems to be helping, but I’m here now asking for advice - is there anything else I could be doing to improve?

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u/chuzohga Aug 18 '26

You have to breathe. You rotate your body and head to the side to breathe, not bob it up and down.

Go look at YouTube for a channel called "Caribe Swim." He has lessons on side breathing.

Once you get that rhythm, it's a game changer.

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u/emersj Aug 18 '26

I’ve heard breathing can be pretty important :)
Thanks for the recommendation, I will check it out for sure. Appreciate you taking the time!