How Long Does It Take to Learn Basic Swimming?

How long does it take adults to learn to swim?

It depends on the person who is learning how to swim. After all, some people can commit consistent time to learn how to swim. Others are somewhat lackluster.

6 days, give or take one day, is what you need to learn how to swim as an adult. If you are learning how to swim by yourself, you can take much longer than that.

The first six days are just about enough to make you learn the bare basics, like how to float, swim strokes, and tread water.

You will even learn the basics of breathing in water, you know, turning your face to the left or right side to exhale and inhale. However, it will take much longer than that to master these things.

But… the good thing is that you can learn to swim when you are an adult, even if you missed out on that part when you were growing up.

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Learn to swim in 5 days with a trainer

The period that you can take to learn how to swim also depends on whether you have a trainer or are learning on your own. With a swimming trainer, you will take a far shorter time than you would take when learning alone.

But first, let us think for a bit about why you never learned how to swim.

For most people, it is the fact that they did not live in a place where they could learn how to swim. However, for others, it is the fear of water, also called hydrophobia.

Thankfully, once you have decided that it is time to learn how to swim, it doesn’t even matter how old you are. Even if you are in your senior year, you can learn how to swim.

If you have a swimming trainer giving you private swimming lessons, you will pay a good amount of money. However, it is fully worth it because you will learn fast and your safety will be assured.

Learn how to swim for an adult: Getting started

When you have a trainer, you will still need to do some things to learn how to swim as an adult. Well, the first thing is to get used to the idea of having your head in the water.

If you have hydrophobia, this is an especially important step. Therefore, start by practicing how to immerse your head in the water.

Stand upright with your back to the wall of the pool at the shallow end of the pool. Inhale deeply and stretch your hands in front of you. Bend down until your face touches water, then twist it to the left or right. Let the water get up to your earline.

Repeat this several times. After you have become used to the idea of having your head in water, go right ahead, duck into the water, and remove your head quickly. There… see? It is harmless. That is the whole point. You must get to the idea that water is harmless!

Practice this some more. Inhale deeply, immerse your head in water, and hold your breath until you cannot do it anymore. Get your head out of the water. This is how you get used to having your face in water without drinking pool water.

How long does it take to learn to swim for adults?

As soon as you have learned to breathe in water and how your head feels in water, it is time to learn how to float. You need to learn how to float without using flotation aids.

Most likely, you are going to learn how to float on day one of learning how to swim. You can learn how to float on the same day that you learn how to immerse your head in water and how to breathe in water.

Learning how to float may take some time. It is not as easy as it looks. However, you must also ensure that you take it at your own pace. Take things a step at a time. Feel free to learn a certain step until you feel you have learned it well enough.

How to breathe correctly while swimming

If you ever learn anything and take it to heart, let it be how to inhale and hold your breathe in water. Many new learners never get this technique correct the first time.

Consider, for example, what happens when you breathe during freestyle swimming. You sink if you lift your head above water.

The reason for this is that as you lift your head above water, the legs naturally face downwards. That slows you down a great deal because you do not have enough kicking power to propel you forward against the weight of the water.

How to learn how to swim fast

Take as many lessons as you can. For example, while we said that you could take 6 days to learn the bare basics of swimming for adults, it also depends on the number of hours you can learn each day.

If you would like to learn fast, make the lessons long enough, say about 3 hours a day, and then learn over six days. That should give you 18 hours of practice.

Some resources recommend that you make the basic lessons 20 hours at least. Eventually, what will matter is how much you practice and the frequency at which you take your swimming lessons.

If you have a private swimming pool at home, practice swimming daily. If you do not have one, take any opportunity that you can find to learn how to swim.

When learning, take one lesson at a time and learn it to exhaustion. The reason for this is that your body will remember the movements that you make frequently.

Swimming trainers will keep you going through one drill for some time so that your body can fully rhyme with the movements.

Can I learn to swim in a week?

A week is long. You can actually learn how to swim in less than a week. If you can give your daily lesson for at least an hour, you will make progress fast.

Swimming is like riding a bicycle. It stays with you. Thus, if you learn a lesson today, you will not need to go back to it tomorrow.

The most important thing is to make use of every moment you can get to learn how to swim. The more practice you get the faster you will learn the basic strokes of swimming.

However, one week is just a starter course for swimming. After learning, practice as often as possible. Keep building on the swimming lessons you will learn in the next week.

Please note that there are different dynamics involved in learning how to swim. For instance, people with higher body fat percentages learn how to float faster.

People who are more muscular and have more bone density will take longer to learn how to float. Rounded off, seven days is for the basics.

Can I learn to swim in 1 month?

You can learn how to swim in a month if you do not have time to take lessons consistently. If you are learning how to swim consistently, you can learn in much less than a month.

Actually, this is enough time to even learn how to jump into a pool and other advanced skills. All you need to get great swimming skills is one hour of swimming per day.

Many people even learn the basics of swimming by spending just 30 minutes in the swimming pool daily. However, it is best to spend at least 45 to 60 minutes in the swimming pool. This is going to enable you to learn how to swim faster.

If you have a trainer helping you learn how to swim, ask them how much time you should spend in the pool. However, once you have learned the basic skills of swimming, you can start swimming on your own in your pool.

Just because you want to learn how to swim faster, do not overstretch yourself. If you are a beginner swimmer and you become too tired in the water, you can drown easily. Remember, swimming is an energy-intensive exercise.

Even when you are not swimming, you can make your learning faster by watching videos posted on YouTube by skilled trainers.

If you have been asking whether you can learn how to swim in 30 days, yes, you can! This is indeed enough time for a consistent person. However, if you are inconsistent, you can even take years to complete your lessons.

For instance, swimming trainers say you need to train for about 20 to 25 hours. If you pack about an hour daily for swimming lessons, it can take about a month. If you want to do 30 minutes per lesson, you will take longer than a month to complete your training.

Learning to swim for adults FAQ

Learning to swim when you are all grown up need not be harder than necessary. If you are still apprehensive about getting into the deep end of the pool, here is more information to help you:

Is it hard to learn swimming for adults?

Learning to swim at any age is not hard.

If you are consistent, you will make faster learning progress. The general recommendation for aerobics is to swim at least 90 minutes a week. When you are learning, you can do more than that.

You could learn how to swim by yourself, or you could get a trainer to assist you. If you are learning on your own, have someone watch over you first, and start at the shallow end of the pool.

This is also not the time to consider jumping, even when the pool depth is safe for jumping.

Conclusion

No one can give a definite time for how long it takes adults to learn to swim. The secret is to get started right now with a trainer or on your own and then work on it as often as you can.

The good news is that it is never too late to learn how to swim, irrespective of your age. You can then start to enjoy the benefits of swimming daily.