In relation to the first post, I just started swimming for the first time in over a year. While I do have a triathlon as a goal, I have not chosen a particular triathlon, and so I was just spending today just trying to see how I did. I ended up doing 30 laps in the 25 yard lengthwise pool at the aquatics center by where I live, totalling 750 yards, which I guess is ~ .43mi. I was pretty tired at the end, but that is to be expected for my first time swimming in over a year.

My more immediate goal is to rotate my hips more as well as keep my head further in the water, as I believe those are the reasons why I get exhausted so fast. Once that works, I plan on trying to do two laps at once with little to no rest (I can't do that flip that I see everyone else doing, I have to spend 30-60 secs whenever I reach the end of each lap), or should it be the other way around. One thing I have noticed from watching other people doing freestyle in the pool is that they do less complete circles, but rather they barely move their arm/elbow out of the water and it becomes more a rotation of the shoulder (i.e., they keep their arm like an "L" rather than straight when it is out of the water). That and they try to minimize the splash of the hand entering the water.