Swimming 5X/week and not getting faster?

What does the swim team's coach have to say?  Has this person looked at your stroke?  Have you discussed your concerns with your coach?

Absolutely no way of knowing based on the information given. As stated above you need to talk with the coach...

Eric J

based on the bolded parts that's my guess, most swimmers avg 1:30+ min per 100 yds need to work on technique over endurance. over 2 min per 100 yds you definitely need to work a lot on technique. I am a bit confused though, you mentioned you go to swim practice 5x a week, you dont get any feedback from a coach? I would look into getting some one-on-one with a swim coach or at the very least get my swim stroke video analyzed. BTW, you don't need to lift weights, swimming is about technique and endurance, strenght has nothing to do with it...

Most likely you need to hone your technique to efficiently swim. From the bolded part, it might've seen that you're not reaching far enough. Do some pull drills and concentrate on the stroke taking as much time as you can. As for the elbows, make sure that when your pulling the water underwater, don't let your shoulder drop all the way down. I'm sure you will be able to practice these with the videos and information others have provided as a guide. Otherwise, we can't really tell what specifically needs improvement unless your coach supervises the way you swim.

Do you do any speed drills? Like fast 50's on the minute (with rest being only til the top of the minute)?

Nice easy paces are great for endurance but perhaps added speed drills would enable your body to adjust to race type demands (lungs/muscles).

I couldn't agree more!

With a stroke count that high, you definitely need to work closely with a coach focusing on technique.  Practicing inefficient technique 5 times a week, you will never get faster.  All you will accomplish is cause those same inefficient habits to become more ingrained.

Without being able to see your stroke or talking to you in more detail, I'd guess that when you pull your arm through the water that you don't feel as if you are pushing against anything solid.  With decent technique, you will feel almost as if you are pulling yourself along the length of 2 invisible ropes running from one end of the pool to the other.  (2 ropes side-by-side, because if your hands are crossing your body far enough to grab a single rope running down the center of your body you will be more prone to shoulder injury.)  The first time you "feel" the water is the most amazing thing you'll ever experience swimming.  Your stroke count and your lap times will both drop dramatically over night.

It's hard to say without seeing you swim, but even if I could, I'd still recommend you spend form quality time with a good coach.  Just because someone has a competitive swimming background, doesn't mean they would be good at analyzing your stroke.  What works for one person won't work for everyone.  Just watch the Olympic swimmers.  Even though they're all crazy-fast, some have far from a textbook stroke.