19 Swim Workouts for Beginners to Build Technique
Short, structured sessions help beginners improve faster than swimming up and down without a plan. Each workout below takes 20 to 35 minutes and focuses on one thing.
Before you start
These workouts are for swimmers who can already swim at least one width or length of a stroke, even slowly. If you are not there yet, start with our key techniques for beginners.
- Distances assume a 25 metre pool, where one length is 25 m. Many public pools in Singapore are 50 m, so halve the number of lengths or swim widths instead.
- "4 x 25 m, rest 30 s" means swim 25 m four times, resting 30 seconds at the wall after each.
- Easy means you could still say a few words; moderate means you are breathing harder but in control.
- Stop if you feel dizzy, unwell or in pain. Swim where a lifeguard is on duty, and leave the pool if you hear thunder.
Breathing and comfort
1. Bubbles and bobs
Warm-up: 2 easy widths. Main: 3 rounds of 10 slow bobs in shallow water (breathe out underwater, in at the top), then 2 widths of easy kicking with a board. Cool-down: 2 easy widths.
2. Side breathing at the wall
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy, any stroke. Main: 4 rounds of 10 side breaths holding the wall (face down, turn to breathe, back down), alternating sides each round, then 4 x 25 m kick on your side with one arm forward. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
3. Steady breathing lengths
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 8 x 25 m front crawl, very slow, focusing only on breathing out underwater; rest 30 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m backstroke.
Kicking
4. Board kick basics
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 6 x 25 m flutter kick with a board, rest 30 s; 4 x 25 m breaststroke kick with a board, rest 30 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
5. Kick on your back
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 8 x 25 m flutter kick on your back, arms by your sides, ears in the water, rest 20 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
6. Streamline kick
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 6 x 15 m push off in streamline and kick without a board, face down, standing to breathe when needed; then 4 x 25 m board kick. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
Front crawl
7. Catch-up
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 6 x 25 m catch-up drill (one hand waits in front until the other touches it), rest 30 s; 4 x 25 m normal front crawl, rest 30 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
8. Single-arm
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 4 x 25 m right arm only, 4 x 25 m left arm only, breathing to the working-arm side, rest 30 s; 2 x 25 m full stroke. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
9. Count your strokes
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 8 x 25 m front crawl, counting arm strokes each length, trying to take one or two fewer by gliding longer; rest 30 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
10. Breathing patterns
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 4 x 25 m breathing every 2 strokes to the right, 4 x 25 m every 2 to the left, 4 x 25 m every 3; rest 30 s. See our bilateral breathing guide. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
Breaststroke
11. Two kicks, one pull
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 6 x 25 m breaststroke doing two kicks for every arm pull, rest 30 s; 4 x 25 m normal breaststroke with a long glide. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
12. Pull, breathe, kick, glide
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 8 x 25 m breaststroke, saying the timing in your head and holding the glide for a count of one, rest 30 s. See what is breaststroke. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
13. Face-in breaststroke
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 4 x 25 m alternating one stroke head-up and one stroke face-in, then 4 x 25 m face-in on every stroke, rest 30 s. Good for frog-style swimmers. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
Backstroke
14. Backstroke basics
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 4 x 25 m kick on your back, 4 x 25 m backstroke with one arm (other by your side), 4 x 25 m full backstroke, rest 30 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
15. Mixed strokes
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 3 rounds of 25 m front crawl, 25 m backstroke, 25 m breaststroke, resting 30 s after each length. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
Building endurance
16. Ladder
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 25 m, 50 m, 75 m, 50 m, 25 m, any stroke, resting 45 s after each. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
17. Ten by twenty-five
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: 10 x 25 m at a moderate pace, rest 30 s. As it gets easier, cut the rest to 20 s. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
18. Steady swim
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: swim as long as you can without stopping at an easy pace, rest 1 minute, then repeat once. Write down the distance and try to add a length next week. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
19. Time swim
Warm-up: 4 x 25 m easy. Main: swim easy for 10 minutes, resting at the wall whenever needed. Count your lengths; try to complete more in the same time over the coming weeks. Cool-down: 2 x 25 m easy.
How to use these workouts
Pick two or three a week: one breathing or kicking session, one stroke session and one endurance session works well. Repeat a workout until it feels easy, then move on. Progress comes from regular, focused practice, not from swimming until you are exhausted. If you want a plan built around your goals, our adult swimming course and private swimming course can help, and our front crawl tips explain what to focus on.
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Further reading
- World Health Organization, Physical activity fact sheet. How much activity adults and children need each week.
- National Environment Agency, Lightning safety poster. Leave the water during thunderstorms and wait 30 minutes after the last thunder.
Want a plan built around your goals?
Tell us how you swim now and what you want to achieve. We will suggest a suitable course, format and pool. Lessons run at public swimming complexes, private venues and condominium pools across Singapore.