Gliding through the blue water is a preferred form of exercise for many people, and lately, aquatic HIIT has been making waves in the fitness world. Researchers found that people with various chronic health conditions experienced beneficial effects of aqua HIIT on exercise capacity. In other words, people were able to work out longer and harder, and had improved exercise capacity after participating in aqua HIIT, which is essentially a form of high-intensity interval training in the pool.
The benefits of swimming as exercise
The buoyancy and resistance of the water help you improve your muscle strength and tone while minimizing the stress and impact on your joints. Researchers also highlighted how swimming can provide mental health benefits as well as reduce body fat and increase cardiovascular endurance and flexibility.
Recently, I came across data on the average swimming pace. People are different, and factors like age and experience play a role. Beginner swimmers will have a slower average pace than advanced swimmers, but it’s interesting to get a general idea.
What’s the average swimming pace?
According to data from Polar Global, the average person takes two to three minutes to swim 100 meters.
Here’s the average distance covered when swimming continuously for 30 minutes:
- Beginner Swimmer: 1,000m in 30 minutes (3:00/100m pace)
- Average Swimmer: 1,500m in 30 minutes (2:00/100m pace)
- Strong Swimmer: 2,000m in 30 minutes (1:30/100m pace)
- Elite Swimmer: 2,500m in 30 minutes (1:12/100m pace)
- World Record Pace: 3,000m in 30 minutes (1:00/100m pace)
According to this data, in 30 minutes, a world-record swimmer would, on average, cover three times the distance of a beginner swimmer.
Not all strokes are created equal
Polar Global also notes that the freestyle stroke is typically the fastest, followed by the butterfly stroke. The backstroke is a little slower, and the breaststroke is more for a relaxing swim that isn’t so focused on speed and distance. For example, an elite swimmer might take 10 seconds longer to cover 50 meters using the butterfly stroke compared to freestyle swimming.
Other factors that affect your swimming pace include whether you’re swimming in open water or a pool, as well as the temperature of the water. Water that’s too cold can cause your muscles to tense up, which slows you down. On the other hand, water that’s too warm could also slow you down and make you feel more groggy. Polar Global lists the sweet spot as 75-84°F for most competitive fitness swimming.
The fastest swimmer
The men’s world record for the fastest swimmer is held by Pan Zhanle from China. Zhanle completed the 100m freestyle with an impressive time of 46.40 seconds at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. He finished one second ahead of Kyle Chalmers of Australia, who took the silver medal with a time of 47.48 seconds.
