30-Minute Swimming Workouts for Endurance, Technique, and Speed

Whether you swim for the health benefits or as a career — or if you’re a beginner on an exciting new venture — the truth is that sometimes life just gets in the way.

Skipping a workout often leaves you feeling disappointed, whatever your fitness level. But you don’t always have to skip your swim when life gets busy. It’s a good idea to have a few 30-minute swimming workouts ready to go when your schedule is too full or when a long session seems daunting.

In this article, we’ll explain how you can fit a 30-minute swimming workout into your day with some simple organization and motivation. We’ll also share three 30-minute swimming workouts, which all target different goals.

How to Prepare for 30-Minute Swimming Workouts

You can complete a good training session in the pool even when you’re pressed for time. The recipe for achieving good results has three basic ingredients:

• Organization
• Space
• Motivation

With these three ingredients in place, you can stay on track to achieving your fitness goals even with time constraints. Let’s look closer at each of these vital components of any swim workout plan. 

Organization

Knowing how to organize yourself for a 30-minute swimming workout is crucial. You don’t want a simple and short full-body workout to turn into a 2-hour experience that can complicate your day.

If you already know at the beginning of the day that you’ll only have an hour to get to the pool, train, and get back to the office, then you must organize yourself as best you can so that your half-hour in the water is perfect. 

1. Pack your bag in the morning and check that you have everything, including the swim-training tools you may need for specific swim sets. 
2. Write down your workout so that you do not have to stop every 100m to try and remember it. Print out your training plans and laminate them so that they are ready to use in the pool or open water.
3. Prepare your snacks so you can grab them and go in the morning, and be sure you’re getting the right pre-swim nutrition to fuel an effective workout. 

Space

Make sure you train at a time when you can make the most of your 30-minute swimming workout.

Don’t go to the pool during the busiest times of the day. Check your local pool’s website to keep abreast of swimming schedules. Some pools even have apps to give you peace of mind that they will be able to accommodate your cardio workout. If you can’t fit your training session in during the workday, try training before going to the office or opt for an evening swim workout.

If you’re struggling to find an appropriate lane while at the pool, talk to other swimmers and create your own space in a swim lane so that you can train as effectively as possible. If you can’t make arrangements with other swimmers, many pools have special lanes reserved for faster swimmers, which might be just the space for you. Or, if you’re going for more of an easy swim workout, make sure to use a slower lane to respect the fitness goals of other swimmers.

Motivation

Motivation is crucial to making your 30-minute swimming workout a success.

Do you have a clear goal? Do you know why you’re going to the pool? Getting clear on your motivation will help you choose an effective swim workout. If you’re focusing on weight loss and cardio improvement, you might want to do some backstroke HIIT training. To hone your swimming technique, on the other hand, you can implement more technical drills. 

You might need motivation to get your workouts in, as well. If you’re trying to work early morning swim workouts into your routine, ease yourself into it. Even though we always feel better after an energizing aerobic workout, most of us don’t like waking up ultra-early to exercise. Build up to waking up earlier over time. Try setting your alarm earlier than usual and doing something productive before work, such as a quick yoga session or reading a book. Keep doing this until you’re regularly getting up early enough to leave the house, swim, and get to work on time.

It’s a simple rule that the bigger your goal, the greater your motivation must be. Think about why you want to be in the pool and visualize the results you hope to achieve. This will make your 30-minute swimming workouts effective and sustainable.

Three 30-Minute Swimming Workouts You Can Try Today

Now that you know how to plan your workouts and motivate yourself correctly, it’s time to put these concepts into practice. The following three 30-minute swimming workouts all support different goals, but they’ll each raise your heart rate and utilize a short half-hour timeframe effectively. 

Always make sure to cool down and stretch after completing your main set.

Session 1: Build Endurance

• 200m: Warm up, any stroke
• 1×400m: Freestyle, 45 seconds recovery (make note of your time)
• 1×300m: Freestyle, 30 seconds recovery (your pace should be faster than the 400m rep)
• 1×200m: Freestyle, 20 seconds recovery (your pace should be faster than the 300m rep)
• 1×100m: Fast freestyle
• 200m: Cool down, any stroke

Session 2: Improve Swimming Technique

• 200m: Warm up with a steady freestyle
• 4×25m: Freestyle using legs only with a kickboard (one time on your side, changing sides every six strokes, one time on your back), 15 seconds recovery
• 4×50m: Freestyle with pull buoy in a hypoxic state, changing breathing pattern every 50m (3/5/3/7 breathing patterns — breathe after three strokes, then five strokes, then three strokes, and then seven strokes), 20 seconds recovery
• 4×25m: Use a swim snorkel, start from a streamlined position and control your leg kick (make sure you don’t bend your knees and keep your hips up), 15 seconds recovery
• 4×75m: Freestyle 25m high elbows, then 25m swimming with clenched fist, and then 25m with one arm only, changing arms every three strokes, 15 seconds recovery
• 4×25m: Freestyle with hand paddles carefully controlling the catch phase, 15 seconds recovery, finishing at your own pace

Session 3: Get Faster

• 1×300m: 25m sculling, then 50m freestyle technique drill, and then 75m fast-paced freestyle
• 4×50m: 25m freestyle in hypoxic state 0 (without breathing for 25m), 25m progression any stroke, 20 seconds recovery
• 4×25m: Freestyle kicking hard using kickboard, 20 seconds recovery
• 100m: Freestyle with pull buoy to recover
• 4×15m: Freestyle with maximum stroke rate (continue swimming at easy pace up to 25m), 15 seconds recovery
• 100m: Freestyle with pull buoy to recover
• 8×25m: Fast-paced, any stroke, 20 seconds recovery
• 100m: Freestyle with pull buoy to recover
• 200m: Slow cool down with stroke of your choice

30-Minute Swimming Workouts Are Perfect for the Busy Swimmer

High-intensity short workouts are perfect for those of us with busy lives where self-improvement time is precious. Hopefully, this article has motivated you to find some time to fit in a 30-minute workout.

Remember that organizing ahead of time will improve your chances of fitting in a 30-minute swimming workout. Consider if there will be enough space for you when you get to the pool. If you feel you may get in the way, talk to your fellow swimmers or stake out the best lane for your workout. Motivating yourself can be difficult, so think about your goals and what you want to do in the water.

If you need any equipment for the workouts listed above, head to arena’s online store for a functional range of swim-training tools and striking swimwear.