How do you swim laps without getting bored?

The pool has a particular kind of boredom. The view is a black line. The soundtrack is your own breathing. By length fourteen you have forgotten whether it was length fourteen. The answer is not more willpower but more variety, laid out so you do not have to think about it in the water.

Swim in sets, not in one block

Instead of "swim for thirty minutes", break the session into short pieces with brief pauses at the wall. A relaxed example for a confident swimmer:

• Warm up: a few easy lengths, mixing whatever strokes feel nice.
• Main bit: several short repeats of two or four lengths, with a breather at the wall between each.
• Something different: a few lengths with a kickboard, or with a pull buoy between the legs.
• Cool down: a couple of slow, lazy lengths, perhaps on your back looking at the ceiling.

Write it on a piece of paper in a sandwich bag, or memorise it on the walk in. The structure does the remembering so your head does not have to. There is no right number of lengths; adjust it to your pool, your time and how you feel that day.

Mix strokes and kit

Swimming only front crawl for forty lengths is like eating only pasta for a week: lovely, but you start to wonder. Add a length of breaststroke, a length of backstroke, a length of the stroke you are worst at for comedy value. Pool kit changes the feel completely:

• Kickboard: legs only, and a chance to look around.
• Pull buoy: arms only, legs floating.
• Fins: suddenly you are fast and it is ridiculous fun.

Count cleverly

Counting to forty is where the mind wanders and the number gets lost. Count in small chunks instead: sets of four, each one ticked off. Some swimmers count each set on their fingers at the wall. A cheap lap counter or a watch can do it for you, if you like that sort of thing.

Give each swim a purpose

One small focus per session makes laps feel like practice rather than penance:

• Breathing: calm, regular, exhale fully underwater.
• Turns: tidier touches and push-offs at each wall.
• Length of stroke: fewer strokes per length, longer and smoother.
• One technique tip: from a lesson, a video, a friend.

A purpose also gives you something to think about besides the black line.

Pick the right lane and time

Boredom is often really irritation. Being stuck behind someone slower, or overtaken constantly, makes every length tiresome. Pool etiquette makes it all smoother:

• Choose the lane that matches your pace. Many pools sign their lanes slow, medium and fast. If in doubt, start slower and move up.
• Swim in the direction the lane uses, usually clockwise or anticlockwise in a circuit, and keep to your side.
• Let faster swimmers pass by pausing briefly at the end of the lane.
• Don't push off right in front of someone about to turn.
• Rest at the corners of the lane, leaving the middle of the wall clear for people turning.

Find out when your pool is quiet. An early morning or mid-afternoon slot with half-empty lanes can make the whole experience feel like a private club with chlorine.