An unknown author once said, “When the world floods from global warming, the swimmers will rule the world. If you want to become proficient, you have to swim one mile in the shortest possible time. So, how long to swim a mile? It depends on your stamina, swimming technique, water temperature, etc.
An advanced swimmer can cover one mile in 25-30 minutes, a reasonable time. But the time differs when you’re an intermediate or beginner-level swimmer. However, swimming times also vary depending on where you are swimming.
If you want to be an expert and meet the one-mile goal in the least amount of time, follow our guidelines appropriately. We will share our experience and valuable tips to improve your swimming skills. With this, one day, you will be able to share the experience of coming within 50 to 2o minutes! Let’s get started.
How Long to Swim a Mile?
It actually varies from person to person for many different factors. So, we can’t give exact data; instead, we can share the ideal or averages for various situations. But before that, let’s first talk about your abilities and how long it might take you to swim one mile.
Most importantly, it depends on how hard you work and how long you practice. Also, it depends on your swimming skills, stamina, gender, age, athletic ability, etc. The swimmers are mainly categorized into three types based on their swimming skills beginner level, intermediate level, and expert level.
Here we’ve given detail on how many laps make a mile in swimming for all level swimmers.
Level-1: Beginners
How Long Does It Take for one beginner to Swim a Mile? If you’re just learning how to swim, you’re a beginner. It will be pretty difficult to cover a mile without stopping if you are a beginner. It can take about 40 to 50 minutes to cross a mile at the beginner level.
Being a beginner, it’s also possible for you to beat others by improving your skill. Set a goal for yourself and break your previous record!
Level-2: Intermediate Swimmer
You’ll be considered an intermediate swimmer when you can swim almost perfectly. It will roughly need 30 to 35 minutes to swim a mile for you. This is the right time to try harder to speed up and give yourself a challenge.
Level-3: Advance Professional Swimmer
And finally comes the swimmer who is an expert in swimming. If you’re an experienced and skilled swimmer, you can finish a mile within 25 minutes or less.
Level-4: Fast Experienced Swimmers
Furthermore, the swimmer with techniques, athletic body, and experience takes up to 20 minutes to swim a mile.
What Is the Average Time It Takes Swim a Mile?
Above, we learned that swimming time varies for some factors. However, how long it can take depends on the different water conditions. Here we have listed one-mile swimming time based on different swimming spaces and styles.
| Swimming Place and Style | Average Swimming Time for a Mile |
| Swimming pool | 25-27 min |
| Swimming in open water | 30-32 min |
| Swimming in the ocean | 33-35 min |
| Swimming with breaststroke (Swimming style) | 45-50 min |
How Long Does It Take to Swim a Mile in The Ocean?
Where you swim is also a determinant because the weather and the surroundings are not the same everywhere. You will get fast results in a pool, whereas it will be challenging to get a good result in open water like a river or sea. The ocean is a mystery where the swim is difficult, even if you’re an expert swimmer.
The main reasons are the ocean’s water temperature, directions, and waves, which affect your swimming time. Due to the waves, swimming in the ocean may take 30 to 35 minutes for an average swimmer. Furthermore, the time can vary based on the wave’s strength, expertise, weather, etc.
But for a newbie, it can take about an hour to swim a mile. It takes a lot of practice to swim in the sea like a butterfly in the air. The more you’ll practice, the faster you can go, which means you can reduce your time with more effort.
How To Swim a Mile with Breaststroke?
A beginner-level swimmer requires excellent practice and making the best use of some techniques to swim with breaststroke. Once you get experienced in breaststroke swimming, you can cross 100 meters within 1 minute 45 seconds.
You have to spend around 50 minutes of breaststroke swimming for crossing a mile. However, the average timing can be reduced if you acquire physical fitness and practice a lot. But if you are a pro swimmer with breaststroke, it can take less than 45-50 minutes to cover a mile.
How To Improve Swimming Speed?
Are you at the beginner level and not satisfied with your swimming speed? No matter what stage you are at, it is easy to increase your speed by following a few steps. For this, you must first challenge yourself and go for strategies to improve your speed.
But do not know how to swim a mile fast? We do not know the right way to improve our swimming speed for a lack of proper guidance. So, follow our guidelines and tips, and see the results for yourself.
1. Keep Your Balance Right
We know that water is thicker than air. It consequently drags swimmers when swimming. Minimizing the drag of water is crucial to speed up swimming. To minimize the dragging, you need to keep your body horizontal as much as possible. It’s called maintaining the body’s balance, which will take you swiftly to the end line.
2. Improve Your Swimming Techniques
A single swimming style alone cannot increase your swimming speed. To speed up your swimming, you have to know various swimming techniques. If you know versatile swimming techniques, you can use them whenever you want.
As a consequence, it will make your swimming faster. Furthermore, you can start swimming with a good workout for long-term improvement. The exercise in swimming can be rotation, switching swimming techniques, interval training, etc.
You can easily swim 200-500 meters without any intervals with the workout. That’s why working out during swimming is very important.
3. Make Yourself Taller
When you’re underwater, make each of your swimming steps taller as much as possible. It might be complicated to make nice and tall steps within so many waters drag. Nevertheless, you’ll become a master at making longer swimming steps with regular practice.
Remember, the longer your steps are, the faster you can swim. However, this technique is applicable in almost all swimming styles, no matter what.
4. Create Efficient Kicks
There shouldn’t remain any obstacles in your kicking style. Creating a free-kick under or above the water by reducing the water drag. While kicking, make sure your leg is well-balanced with your whole body. Indeed, maintaining balance will make it easier for you to create a free kick.
Remember, the efficient kicks make up 10 percent of overall propulsion, whereas the arm stroke is responsible for the rest.
5. Head Position
Head position is also essential for doing faster swimming. If your head stays only on the right side or left side, you’ll feel less comfortable swimming freely. Moreover, the incorrect head position will easily drown you in the water, decreasing your swimming speed. You need to maintain the neutral head position by relaxing the neck position.
6. Spread Your Finger
Swimming by slightly spreading your finger creates an “invisible web” among your fingers. While swimming, this “invisible web” will help to drag your body faster against the water. As a consequence, your swimming will speed up! The “invisible web” enhances 53% more force against the water for the expert swimmer.
7. Rotate From Side to Side
Proper rotation for fast swimming plays a vast role. Rotating while you are swimming only a smaller portion of your body is presenting to the water resistance. Rotation makes breathing easier so it helps swim better. It empowers you to effectively engage your back muscles which shortens your threat of shoulder injury.
The Sum Up!
It is very common that for some people swimming one mile can become a big challenge where; some will find it the easiest task. So, it totally depends on the general fitness and conditioning of the swimmer. Also, how experienced you are at doing it and how much you try.
But you should constantly challenge yourself and push your limits without getting frustrated. Try more and give your best; you will see results at the end of the day. Set a serious goal and work hard to reach the target once you have a clear idea of how long it can take to swim one mile. Good luck with your journey!