About SwimFast
A small, independent site about swimming technique and training, written by one person, with every number traced back to the study or governing body it came from.
Why this site exists
Swimming information online has a specific failure mode. The technique advice is written in slogans that describe how a good stroke feels rather than what to move, and the training numbers — SWOLF, threshold pace, converted times — get quoted without the caveats that make them meaningful. Both problems have the same root: nobody shows their working.
So that is the rule here. Every cue names the fault it fixes. Every calculator prints its formula and links its source. Where there is genuine disagreement — course conversion is the clearest case — both answers get shown rather than one being picked and dressed up as official.
Who writes it
Miguel Quintero — Underwater rugby player and engineer. Every training number on this site is traced back to the published study or the governing body that set it, and linked so you can check it yourself.
I play underwater rugby, which is a sport that punishes bad breathing mechanics and worse body position more honestly than any coach ever has. Most of what is on this site started as questions I had about my own training and could not find a straight answer to.
I am not a certified swim coach, and this site does not pretend otherwise. What I can do is read a paper properly, check a governing body’s own documents rather than somebody’s summary of them, and tell you plainly where the evidence runs out. Where a claim rests on coaching consensus rather than published research, it says so.
How it is paid for
Advertising. There is no paywall, no newsletter upsell, no coaching product and no affiliate relationship with any gear manufacturer. If that changes — if a page ever carries an affiliate link — it will be labelled on that page, not buried here.
What advertising does not buy is influence over the content. No advertiser sees a page before it goes up, and no product gets a recommendation because someone paid for one.
What this site will not do
- Give medical advice. Shoulder pain, breathing difficulty and cardiac questions belong with a doctor or a physiotherapist, not with a website.
- Invent precision. Where a number is a wide range, it is published as a wide range. Reference bands here are labelled as compiled estimates, not as standards anyone certifies.
- Teach you to swim from scratch, alone. If you cannot yet swim comfortably, in-person lessons are worth more than anything written down. Never swim alone, and never practise breath-holding without supervision.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, I want to know and I will fix it in the open. The editorial policy explains how sourcing and review dates work, and contact has the address to write to.