Your first eight weeks in the pool

By the end of eight weeks you will swim 400 metres in a session with rests, have a timed 50 metres written down, and have been to a club or masters session at least once.

Why this works

Water carries most of your body weight, which is why swimming suits worn knees, sore hips and stiff backs, and is often what a physiotherapist suggests. It works arms, shoulders, core and legs together and raises the heart rate steadily. Studies of older swimmers show good aerobic fitness, lower blood pressure and, less obviously, better balance on land.

It is also the most measurable sport there is. From one length with a gasp to four without stopping is a normal eight-week story for a beginner in their sixties or seventies, and numbers you can see are what bring people back on a cold Tuesday.

And there is the poolside. Adult lessons and masters clubs are full of people over 50 who started late. A regular lane, time and set of faces is available in nearly every town.

Before you start

Check with your GP first if you have heart, blood pressure, breathing or ear problems, or if you have not exercised in years. Tell the pool about any condition when you book lessons.
Kit: a costume that stays put, goggles (£10; try them on, leaks are why people hate swimming), a swim hat, flip-flops.
Cost: pool entry £4–£7; adult lessons £8–£15 each; masters club £5–£15 a month. Many councils discount swimming for over-60s.
Where: your council pool’s adult beginner lessons; Swim England’s pool finder; Swim England Masters for clubs, which take improvers as well as racers. “Masters” means adults, not experts. (In the US, U.S. Masters Swimming’s Adult Learn-to-Swim programme; YMCA adult lessons.)

The plan

Week	Do this	How often	Notes
1	Adult beginner lesson, or, if you can already swim a little, a quiet-time session: 6 × 1 length with as much rest as you need. Float on your back for 20 seconds.	2 visits	Never swum, or frightened of water? Lessons only for the first four weeks, in the shallow end, with an instructor. Every row below still applies from week 5.
2	8 × 1 length. Practise breathing out into the water between lengths.	2 visits	Breaststroke, backstroke, doggy paddle: any stroke counts.
3	4 × 2 lengths. Rest as long as you like between. Time one length and write it down.	2 visits	Book a block of improver lessons if you have not already.
4	5 × 2 lengths. Try one set of 3 without stopping.	2 or 3 visits	Go and watch a masters session. Ask the coach whether improvers are welcome.
5	3 × 4 lengths (that is 300 m in a 25 m pool).	2 or 3 visits	Slow is right. If you are out of breath, slow down rather than stop.
6	First club or masters session, in the slow lane. Then one solo visit of 4 × 4 lengths.	2 or 3 visits	Tell the coach you are new. They will give you a set and a lane.
7	16 lengths total in any combination. Time 50 m (2 lengths) properly, from a push off the wall.	2 or 3 visits	Write the time down. This is your first record.
8	400 m in the session, in whatever pieces you like. Re-time the 50 m.	3 visits	Compare with week 3. Then pick the next target.

If it goes wrong

Out of breath after one length. You are holding your breath. Blow bubbles out while your face is in the water; a lesson fixes this fastest.
Goggles leak or fog. Try a different shape. A dab of baby shampoo, rinsed, stops fogging.
Shoulders ache. Shorter sessions, alternate strokes, and ask a coach to look at your arm entry.
The pool is busy. Early morning and mid-afternoon are quieter and often over-60s only. Ask reception.

Track it

Measure	Start (week 1)	End (week 8)
Longest unbroken swim (lengths)
Total distance in one session (metres)
50 m time (min:sec)
Visits per week
Names you know at the pool

What next

Join the masters club. Ask about the next local meet; age groups run in five-year bands to 100+, and entering is the point.
Swimmers who lift stay swimming. Strong at 60 on two dry days a week protects the shoulders and builds the push off the wall.
Enter something six months out: a Swimathon or a 1 km open-water swim. Tell someone.

General information, not medical advice. Check with your GP before starting a new exercise programme.