By alternating freestyle with breaststroke or backstroke those struggling with breathing or fitness can recover while maintaining pace with one of these slower strokes.

Pool-based training should begin as soon as possible as swimming fitness is markedly different from land based fitness and will take several weeks for the correct muscle groups to build up and to obtain balanced breathing techniques and rhythms.

The secret to a good freestyle swimming technique is to maintain a high body position in the water, which helps to minimise resistance.

If you find your legs sinking, kick harder on the up beat to get your feet to the surface and try tilting your head further towards the bottom of the pool too.

The freestyle kick should see your heels come to the waters surface each kick.

Swimming techniques can vary significantly from one swimmer to the next, so while there are some basic principles, not every stroke will look the same.

The basic formula is strength less resistance.

Getting your body into a good streamline position and using your kick off the wall at either end of the pool will provide greater speed while requiring minimal effort.

By Phillipa Weltner

Next week find out about running requirements from Rob McElhinney.