Swimming: What not to do!

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Burnout: One of the main issues swimmers come up against whilst training is burn-out, or over-training. Depending on your condition it can be deceptively easy to push yourself too hard and burn yourself out. Over-training before a big swim-meet is a notorious problem and is the biggest cause of upset results. The best way to avoid burn-out is to set yourself a strict training schedule and leave yourself at least 3 days (preferably a week) before any competition as a wind-down to give your body a chance to restock on energy and repair any muscle damage. Just like revising for an exam, preparation is the key! Don't fool yourself into thinking you can be ready for a competitive swim with just a few days training before-hand.
Swimming without a goal: Without a definitive goal you will quickly lose interest in swimming. Your goal could be anything from improved average or peak lap times - to weight loss, socialising or race conditioning. Keeping a specific goal in mind and tracking your progress over time towards that goal is crucial to the success of your program and maintaining motivation.
Pushing through the pain barrier: Whilst often touted as the mark of success for top athletes, forcing yourself to train whilst injured or sick is a very, very bad idea! There is a big difference between pushing yourself anaerobically and pushing yourself when your body is already working overtime to combat a virus or injury. You should be listening to your body and working with it, not against it.
Getting stuck in a routine: If you find yourself swimming the same routine week in week out with no discernible improvement (or progress towards your goal) then you are really just treading water! Mix up your swim routines by varying distance, speed, stroke and drills. This will ensure you are getting a full body workout and improving both your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, whilst making your swim sessions all the more interesting.
Living with bad habits: It's easy to spot bad swimmers, they're usually thrashing around splashing all over the place and very slowly inching their way down the pool with a log jam of frustrated swimmers stuck behind them! The vast majority of them would probably insist they were good swimmers and didn't need any help. Get a (suitably qualified) friend to watch you swim and give you some tips on improving your swim style - it'll be much easier for them to see where you are going wrong. Alternatively get a qualified private swimming teacher from http://www.activeunlimited.com/swimming to work with you in a private pool and really ensure your swimming skills are up to scratch.