Why the Mile?

By John Leonard

          Those of you who have been with us for a while now realize that at SwimFast we emphasize the mile for young swimmers. A reasonable question is WHY? And there are multiple answers that are important for parents to understand. Here are the top 5.

#1. The Mile demands continuing technically good swimming for an extended (18-30 minutes) period of time. IF you can learn to “hold stroke” for a mile, you can do it easily for every other distance.

#2. The Mile is the “easiest” event in which to improve. Swimmers working hard regularly improve more than a minute per swim in the beginning. As they go faster of course, the improvement slows, but it stays really good for a really long period of time!

#3. The Mile is an EXCELLENT measure of consistency of coming to practice and working hard. It measures aerobic capacity better than any other event and therefore measures health benefits as well.

#4. The Mile measures and tests mental perseverance, which is the ability to continue to perform under fatigue and “pressure”.

#5. History tells us that rapid improvement in the mile previews rapid improvement in all strokes and distances.

          We offer a Mile (1650 yards or 1500 Meters) every few months. We urge all parents to have their SwimFast swimmers attend and compete. Next one will be in January, 2016.

All the Best,

John Leonard