Instead of chasing one challenge at a time, try creating routines that keep you fit, ready, and connected year-round.

When I talk to people about swimming goals, they often speak about challenges they want to do or speeds they want to achieve.

The conversation may then turn to how they will go about achieving that goal. Say the goal is to complete a 10km swim that’s four months away. We might then create a progressive training plan with perhaps three or four swims per week, gradually increasing distance and intensity. Depending on previous experience and current fitness, it might include technique work, sessions at different intensities, and open water skills practice.

It’s a tried and tested method, it’s logical, and it works.

At least, it works in the scenario where you have one specific goal to aim for.

A routine approach

But many swimmers don’t operate like this. They have multiple swimming things they want to be ready for, from pool sprints to open water swims over a wide range of distances, spread throughout the year.

This calls for an alternative approach to training. Rather than focusing your training towards a single goal, the idea is to build routines that will help your swimming develop over the long term. It also pays to think bigger picture. Not what swimming goal do I want to achieve, but how do I want swimming to enhance my life?

For example, some things I want from swimming are:

• To keep me fit and active into old age
• At short notice, to be able to tackle a wide range of swimming challenges (from pool sprints to at least a 10km open water swim)
• To connect with interesting and inspiring people locally and around the world

To achieve this, I think about layering swimming and swimming-related activities in a hierarchy as follows:

Health and fitness fundamentals

You will get more out of your training if you first ensure you are looking after your basic health and fitness: a healthy balanced diet, good quality and adequate sleep, manageable stress levels, and movement baked into your day. This is often about routines as much as intention.

Regular and consistent swimming

One problem with a goal-oriented approach to swimming is that it encourages people to train hard for a period, and then leaves them aimless. I’ve often seen people reach good levels of fitness, then disappear from swimming for a while. When they return, it’s almost like they are starting again. Instead, try setting yourself a baseline level of swimming – for example, at least two swims per week – and make it a habit you stick to.

Add structure and variety

Once you have a swimming habit established, you can experiment with putting some structure into it. For example, you could commit one session per week to swimming slow and steady, another to short high intensity efforts and a third to technique.

Strength, flexibility and mobility

Swimming is great exercise, and you can make a lot of progress through swimming alone. But supplementing your swimming with land-based exercises can reduce the risk of injury and boost your speed. Initially, almost anything you do will help. Weight training, yoga, band work for shoulder support, stretching, running, cycling etc. – they all have a role to play. Start with doing something you find easy to fit into your week. As your swimming develops, you may want to get more specific.

Lifestyle approach

Swimming offers so much more than whatever challenge next comes your way. It can be your foundation for health, adventure, and community throughout your life. Focus on building consistent habits to stay ready for a wide range of swimming opportunities and to live a better life through swimming.

Then, if you do get excited by a big swimming goal, you’ll be in the best possible position to add goal-specific training and build on solid foundations.

One word of warning. You will see endless recommendations and suggestions for drills, training sessions, stretches, mobility exercises and so on. You will not be able to do them all. Nobody can. But don’t let this be an excuse to do nothing. Instead, create a routine that is manageable most of the time. Life will always disrupt your plans. But if your swimming and swimming-support routine is simple and enjoyable, you are less likely to be derailed and will find it easier to pick it up again.