Breaking the 40 minute barrier, 1 mile swim

Been swimming the mile on a regular basis (6 months, once a week) at about 75% effort level. 64 laps normally takes me about 42 to 43 minutes non stop.

On Sep 14th, 2010 i finally swam the 64 laps in 39:48 which felt awesome. However, in reality i'm still a below average swimmer and have a long way to go. Followed instructions from Shailesh ( swim coach) and Lisa( pro swimmer and tri partner). The key was to start breathing every 4 strokes which leads to better aero dynamics of the body. I started swimming at 4,2,2,4,4 strokes and that started making the difference.

I have slowly moved my swim effort from being 45 minutes in the pool to 60 minutes. Thats a huge jump and i swim about 2.3 km each time, about 92 laps. This is the basic benchmark required to get into training for an ironman.