# Swim Training Guides: SWOLF, CSS, Open Water, Triathlon and More | SwimTune

> In-depth guides to swim training: what SWOLF means, how to test your Critical Swim Speed, training for open water and triathlon, workouts by level, and managing training load.

Source: https://swimtune.com/guides/

[Home](https://swimtune.com/) › Guides

# Swim training guides

Everything we know about swimming faster, written out properly. No gated PDFs, no email required. If a guide answers your question and you never install the app, that is a fine outcome.

15 guides · Last updated 8 October 2026

Understand your numbers [ What is SWOLF, and what is a good SWOLF score? Your time plus your strokes for one length. What good looks like by level, why a lower score is not automatically better, and the four technique changes that actually move it. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/what-is-swolf) [ CSS test: find your Critical Swim Speed and pace zones The swimming equivalent of FTP. How to run the 400m + 200m test properly, the arithmetic worked through, and how to turn the result into five training zones. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/css-critical-swim-speed) [ Apple Watch swim tracking: every metric explained What it measures well, where it struggles, and an honest answer on how accurate wrist-based heart rate really is underwater. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/apple-watch-swim-tracking) [ HRV for swimmers: train by your recovery What heart rate variability tells you, why your trend beats any single number, how to adjust a swim on a low-readiness day, and the overtraining signs to act on. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/hrv-for-swimmers) [ Apple Watch swim data explained: reading your workout in the Fitness app Lengths, sets, pace per 100, Avg SWOLF, strokes, heart rate and calories in plain terms, plus how to spot phantom and merged lengths and a wrong pool length. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/apple-watch-swim-data-explained) Train better [ Swim workouts by level: beginner, intermediate, advanced Three complete sessions you can take to the pool today, how to read swim set notation, and how often you should actually be swimming. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/swim-workouts-by-level) [ Training load and recovery: how to train hard without overtraining CTL, ATL and TSB in plain language, what HRV really tells you, the warning signs of overreaching, and why sleep outranks everything you might buy. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/swim-training-load-recovery) [ Swimming for weight loss: what actually works Honest numbers on calories, the appetite trap that undoes most swimmers' progress, how often to swim, and two fat-loss sessions to take to the pool. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/swimming-for-weight-loss) [ How to swim faster: improve your 100m freestyle Drag first, then catch, kick, breathing and turns; the training mix that moves a 100m time, a sample week, and how to measure progress honestly. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/how-to-swim-faster) [ Freestyle drills that actually fix your stroke Nine drills from catch-up to head-up sighting: what each one fixes, how to do it, the common mistake, and how to fit drills into a session. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills) [ How often should you swim per week? By goal and level: fitness, weight loss, technique, triathlon, open water and masters, with sample weeks for two to five sessions. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/how-often-should-you-swim) Beyond the pool [ Open water swimming for beginners Why open water is harder than the pool, how to sight properly, cold water and panic, the safety essentials, and how to prepare in a pool before you get in a lake. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/open-water-swimming-training) [ Triathlon swim training: the swim leg, sprint to Ironman Distances and what each demands, how to structure a build, wetsuit and mass-start realities, and why exiting the water fresh matters more than a swim PB. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/triathlon-swim-training) Choosing tools [ Best swim app, and the best for Apple Watch: SwimTune, MySwimPro, FORM and Garmin compared We make one of these, so read it with that in mind. What each tool is genuinely best at, including where ours is the wrong choice. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/swimtune-vs-myswimpro-form-garmin) [ AI swim coach: how adaptive training works and how to choose one What an AI swim coach actually does, which inputs matter, what "adaptive" should really mean, where AI coaching falls short, and a ten-question checklist. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/ai-swim-coach)

## Or let the app do the thinking

SwimTune reads your swims, your training load and your recovery, then writes the next session from them. Tracking and analytics are free.

[Download on the App Store](https://swimtune.com/go/app)