I've been teaching swimming for over 30 years and I built Swim Teach so that I can share all my knowledge, wisdom and experience from the thousands of swimming lessons I have had the pleasure of teaching. Take a look back through my previous newsletters and see what you missed.
Before You Focus On Swimming Strokes, Read This
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Hi Mark here, Happy new year! I hope all is well. If learning to swim is part of your plans, the most important thing to remember is this: confidence comes before technique. The swimmers who make the best progress aren’t the ones who push hardest — they’re the ones who take time to understand the water and themselves. Here are a few key foundations worth focusing on as you begin (or continue) your swimming journey: Get comfortable in the water firstBefore strokes and lengths, spend time simply being in the water. Stay in the shallow end, practice putting your face in, and gently blow bubbles. This helps your body learn that the water is a safe place to be. Floating and gliding are confidence-buildersFloating might feel awkward at first - that’s completely normal. Relaxing your body and trusting the water takes practice. Once floating feels familiar, gliding from the wall becomes much easier and helps you move calmly through the water. Click here to discover how to glide properly. Breathing changes everythingMost beginners struggle not because of strength, but because of breathing. Practising slow, steady exhalation underwater — then lifting your head to breathe - can instantly make swimming feel calmer and less tiring. Start simple with strokesYou don’t need perfect technique straight away. Front crawl and breaststroke are ideal starting points — focus on smooth movements, relaxed breathing, and staying within your comfort zone. Click here for Breaststroke basics Progress is built on small winsPutting your face under, floating for a few seconds, standing up mid-swim — these are all meaningful steps forward. Confidence grows when you recognise progress, no matter how small it feels. If you’d like gentle guidance to support you between lessons, The Complete Beginners Guide to Swimming brings all of these foundations together in one clear, reassuring place — from relaxing and floating, through breathing, to mastering the basic strokes at your own pace.
Whatever your starting point this year, remember: learning to swim is a process, not a race. Keep showing up, stay patient with yourself, and trust that progress will follow. That’s all for this week. Best wishes for the year ahead. Happy swimming! Cheers Mark P.S. Do you know someone that might appreciate this email? Forward it to them now! P.P.S. - Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe here. |
Hi! I'm Mark, creator of Swim Teach
I've been teaching swimming for over 30 years and I built Swim Teach so that I can share all my knowledge, wisdom and experience from the thousands of swimming lessons I have had the pleasure of teaching. Take a look back through my previous newsletters and see what you missed.
It’s one of the most common (and frustrating) questions beginners ask when learning to swim. Hi, Mark here. Hope all is well. Have you ever noticed how one swimmer can lie back and float effortlessly… while another feels like they’re fighting the water the whole time? It isn’t luck — and it isn’t strength. It comes down to understanding how your body interacts with the water — and once that clicks, confidence grows very quickly. This week I’m sharing two simple but powerful resources to help...
Whether you’re just starting out or teaching others, confidence in the water is everything. This week I’m sharing 5 essential skills that boost confidence - and a free lesson plan for teachers to help nervous swimmers thrive. Hi, Mark here. I hope that you’ve had a great week and all is well. I am starting the week off with some confidence boosting. This week, I am covering the basics of learning to swim that need to be tackled before fine-tuning any actual swimming technique. 5 Essential...
What’s the biggest challenge you face when teaching an adult to swim - fear, technique, or simply unlearning old habits? Hey, Mark here, I hope you’re doing well. This week, I'm tackling that sometimes tricky task of teaching adults how to swim, inspired by an article I wrote a while back. Why adapting your style matters Adults come to the pool with all kinds of backgrounds: varying fitness, flexibility, and confidence levels. The key is to meet them where they are, not push them into a...