I am getting back in the pool these days and see beginners making the same mistakes I made, thinking, "If I just increase my strength, then I'll be so much better."  I've since read that swimming is 70% technique and 30% endurance/muscle.  Much of the technique is learning how to move through the water-space with as little drag as possible.  Drag slows you down.  Drag makes you work harder for the same speed or distance.  The take-away from this excerpt is to reduce your drag!

In this excerpt, we learn about reducing drag and increasing propulsion from the book "Swim Fastest", reprinted with permission of Human Kinetics.

"Fundamentals for Reducing Resistive Drag

• Maintain lateral alignment in the front crawl and backstroke by rotating the body around its longitudinal axis in synchronization with the downward and upward movements of the arms. The entire body must rotate, from head to toes, as an entire unit. Never try to maintain one part—the hips or legs, for example—in a flat position while the arms and shoulders