How Swimming Can Help You Become a Better Rower

Swimming can help you become a better rower by adding easy aerobic work that spares your legs and back, training paced breathing, and moving your shoulders through a wider range. It won’t train your leg drive, so it can’t replace rowing. Once a week on a lighter day is enough for most rowers. It’s also a useful option when you’re nursing a niggle, with your GP or physio’s agreement, and a basic safety skill if you row on water.

What swimming gives a rower

Benefit	Why it helps	What to do
Low-impact aerobic work	The water carries your weight, so you add fitness without loading your legs or spine in the same way	20 to 30 minutes continuous
Breathing control	You can’t gasp when you like, so you learn to breathe on a pattern	Breathe every 3 strokes in easy crawl
Shoulder and upper-back range	Swimming moves the shoulder through more range than the fixed pull of rowing	Mix crawl and backstroke
Trunk control	Staying long and level relies on your trunk muscles	Think tall, as you do at the catch
Recovery	Easy lengths can loosen you up after hard sessions	10 to 20 minutes very easy
Water confidence	Boats capsize, and cold water is a real hazard	Practise floating and treading water

Our guide to breath control in rowing shows how to carry that breathing pattern back to the erg.

How hard is it?

The Compendium of Physical Activities rates slow crawl at 5.8 METs, a rough measure of energy use, and fast crawl at 9.8. Recreational breaststroke comes in at 5.3 and recreational backstroke at 4.8. General vigorous erg work is 7.3 METs.

So easy swimming sits below a firm erg session, which fits its job. Fast crawl can be harder than a steady row, and a weak swimmer may work much harder than the speed suggests. Technique counts for a lot in the pool.

What it won’t do

Swimming trains the legs far less than rowing and doesn’t copy the stroke. Heavy swimming can tire the shoulders, so don’t do it the day before hard rowing. If you’re not comfortable in the water, a few lessons will make sessions more productive. Many pools run lane sessions and improvers’ classes.

Example sessions

Distances assume a 25m pool, so 50m is 2 lengths. Adapt them to your ability.

Session	Content	Total	Effort
Easy aerobic	20 to 30 minutes continuous, mixing strokes if you like	Varies	Talking pace, steady breathing
Intervals	200m warm-up, 8 x 50m with 20 seconds rest, 100m easy	700m, or 28 lengths	Firm but controlled
Pull set	200m warm-up, 4 x 100m with a pull buoy, 100m easy	700m, or 28 lengths	Moderate
Kick and breathe	200m easy, 4 x 50m with a board, 100m easy	500m, or 20 lengths	Gentle, to loosen the legs and hips
Recovery	10 to 20 minutes very easy	Varies	Relaxed

The kick set is the one to pick after a heavy leg session. The pull set works the shoulders, so skip it if yours are tired.

A sample week with swimming

Day	Session
Monday	Steady row, 45 minutes
Tuesday	Intervals on the erg
Wednesday	Easy swim, 30 minutes
Thursday	Strength
Friday	Rest
Saturday	Long steady row
Sunday	Optional easy swim or rest

If you’re short of time, swap the swim for a row, because rowing fitness comes first. Our guide to cross-training for rowers weighs swimming against the other options. If you’d rather stay on the water on a lighter day, see how canoeing can benefit your rowing training.

Tips for combining both

• Warm up with a few easy lengths before any faster swimming.
• Build intensity gradually, since sudden hard swimming can irritate the shoulders.
• Focus on good technique rather than speed.
• Drink water. It’s easy to forget in a warm pool.
• Keep to a supervised pool unless you have open-water experience.

Common mistakes

• Racing the person in the next lane. It turns an easy day into a hard one.
• Adding swimming on top of every session. Replace an easy row with it, at least at first.
• Using a hard kick after leg day. Keep the board set gentle.
• Expecting it to raise your 2k. Any gain comes from extra aerobic work and fresher joints.

Safety notes

Open water brings extra risks. Sudden immersion below 15°C is potentially dangerous, UK inland water stays cold all year, and even good swimmers can get into trouble within a few feet of the bank. Being a strong pool swimmer doesn’t change that. If you capsize, the same guidance says to stay with the boat rather than swim for it.

If you have a shoulder problem, see a GP or physio first. Our guide to rowing with bad shoulders has general guidance. If you get cramp or feel unwell, get out of the water.

For a head-to-head on fitness, cost and space, read our comparison of rowing machines vs swimming. If swimming is your main sport, our guide to how rowing can make you a better all-round athlete shows how to add rowing to it.