Time to get serious about the swim -- but how?

I would suggest that you find a coached masters/triclub swim workout to join and spend 3-5x/week in the pool over the fall/winter/spring.

Having a coach on deck should mean that you will have well written programs as well as someone to provide feedback on your technique.  Further, having other swimmers to swim with is great motivation to push yourself a little harder than you would while swimming alone.

Shane

Masters is great for motivation, but Ive found workouts are hit and miss as far as abilities and your goals. Often the goals of the masters practice are not the same as yours or could be just another random workout that looks fun. People who swim fast swim often, try to keep swimming 3 or 4+ days on a consistant basis. Have a goal for every main set instead of just trying to swim faster, have specific goal times for every set so that you constantly are monitoring and trying to improve your times. Pick a distance of a set you want to improve upon,100's,200's,300's etc and how many and set up your goal times, this will push yourself to swim farther and faster. I have an Ironman watch that has an interval setting on it, I can set the time for the interval(1:20 and I will swim 100's)(:15 seconds rest). My watch beeps to start, beeps at the end of 1:20 then beeps into interval 2 for the :15 rest and starts all over. Its easy to set for whatever distance you are swimming, or just use the interval clock at the pool, just keep pushing your times! This year I went from swimming 1:17 100yrd free to my last meet where I swam 1:10 100m free and I keep showing improvements swimming main sets faster, however warmup, drills and cooldown are focused on form and strength, main sets are to show it off!

Swimming well is about having good form. It is learning to do something naturally that is not natural. It is becoming more efficient so you don't have to expend as much energy to go the same speed, or if you prefer, going faster without having to expend more energy. For most it is a combination of both.

If your 1000 time is not on par with your 100 time it is likely that your workouts are geared toward developing speed over a short distance. Frankly in the 2 years since I returned by way of triathlons to swimming (after being away for 2 decades), I have yet to time myself for an all out 100. I also don't know how fast I can run a quarter mile. It is just irrelevant: it tells me nothing of value in my preparation for a race. I think I do just fine in the swim.

I swim a 1500 meters in a triathlon at the same 100 pace that I swim a 5K. When I am done swimming a 5K I am done. When I am done swimming 1500 meters at the start of a triathlon I am just getting started.