Catch can be rushed
A high rate is only fast if each stroke still anchors. Slipping hands waste the rhythm.
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[ Swim Type profile · 5.1% of swimmers ]
The Swinger
Punchy, rhythmical, built for open water
Flat, fast-turning and relentless. The Swinger doesn't look textbook-pretty but is devastatingly effective in choppy water, in a wetsuit and in a pack.
Swingers don't look like textbook swimmers, and that's exactly why they win open-water races. The stroke is flat, punchy and rhythmical with a fast turnover and a short, straight-arm-ish recovery that swings the arm over the surface.
In choppy water, in a wetsuit, in a pack, the Swinger thrives. Waves don't stop them, drafting suits them, and their high stroke rate keeps the body moving through conditions that reduce longer-stroking swimmers to a crawl.
The mistake Swingers make is trying to become a Smooth. Coaches who don't understand Swim Types often 'correct' the very features that make this stroke work. The right approach is to sharpen the Swinger stroke, not replace it.
[ What a coach sees from the poolside ]
→Stroke rate typically 75–95 spm and very consistent
→Minimal body roll, shoulders staying flat
→Compact, fast catch with an early press
→Straight-ish arm recovery, hand entering close to the head
Classic Swinger faults
Strength endurance gaps
Holding 85+ spm for 3.8km demands specific conditioning, not just aerobic fitness.
Being coached into a Smooth
The single biggest risk to a Swinger's performance is well-meaning advice to slow down and glide.
The fix order
Sequence matters more than effort. Work through these in order — skipping ahead is why most stroke work fails to stick.
1 · Own the stroke
Understand and accept that your pattern is a legitimate elite stroke style, not a fault.
2 · Sharpen the catch
Fingertips down, forearm engaged early, so every one of those fast strokes actually holds water.
3 · Build strength endurance
Paddles, bands and short-rest sets so the rate holds all the way to the finish.
4 · Race-craft
Drafting, sighting, turning buoys and surging — the Swinger's natural competitive edge.
Signature sets
Tempo-locked open-water simulation
3 × 400m at race tempo with surges every 100m.
Short-rest strength endurance
16 × 50m off 10s rest with paddles, holding rate.
Sighting and turns
10 × 100m with two sightings and a turn every length.
Typical numbers
- CSS pace
- Often 1:20–1:45 /100m, with open-water pace close to pool pace
- Stroke rate
- 75–95 strokes per minute
- Distance per stroke
- Shorter by design — speed comes from rhythm
Many of the world's best open-water and Ironman swimmers are Swingers, not Smooths.
The Swinger guide
The fully revamped Swim Smooth Swinger PDF: stroke analysis, the complete fix order, drills, sets and a training structure written specifically for this type.
Get it for $9.99[ Swim Smooth Guru ]
The whole correction process, step by step
The Guru holds the complete stroke-correction pathway for The Swinger, plus Stroke Insights — which identifies your type from your actual swimming data, not just the questionnaire.
Explore the Guru[ Where this type goes next ]
Sharpen, condition and race — a well-drilled Swinger is very hard to beat in open water.
