Not quite as new (but still new by most fish standards) swimmer. Can you describe a typical workout for you in the pool? Include some times for what parts of the workout you mean are faster versus the slower ones?

There could be many reasons for what you are describing....a little more detail might help tease out the right cause and solution.

Your first lap is faster because you aren't fatigued.

Fair point. I do most of my swim training based on TrainingPeaks training plans (currently using one from D3 coaching). So maybe 6k-8k a week over the last month or so after a few months off.
I basically only have one speed of swimming (~2:00 - 2:05 min/100m), so I just try to get through the distances.

Here is an example of a short swim I did today, you can clearly see the difference in the first length vs basically all of the others:

This.

To expand, your first lap can be quite anaerobic (especially if you 'go for it, but still partly so even if trying to be steady) - so quite speedy. But it's not sustainable.

I think I'm Michael Phelps for 30-35m. Then I find out after 40 that I really am not.

Yup. Couple it with excitement/energy/motivation to get started.

First lap normally gets a really nice push off the wall and also a delay in pressing start compared to your other lengths. That and the obvious fatigue kicking in. Nothing unusual.

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And let's not forget the stimulative effect of "OMG, that water's cold!"

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DFL > DNF > DNS

Beat me to it Sally--same thing I was thinking!

Actually, the OP is something I see a lot in beginner swimmers. I've been in the lanes with Chrissy, Josh Amberger, DeBoom, Helen F, just name them & I've been in the pool with them or in the same lane (okay they happened to jump in or I jumped in...NOT the swimmer they are for sure...) & noticed one thing they all do...their first few 5-700 yards are their slowest. Opposite of OP. They do their warm up nice & slow before hammering or increasing the pace. It loosens you up rather than tightens you up if you jump in & just hammer from the get-go. Common sense really. You wouldn't take off with a 100 yard dash at 4:30 per mile pace then finish a 10km at 12 min/miles would you? That would be silly.

If you're doing that, you need more than a training plan, you need a coach to guide you and tell you this (or a good book). Something following a pre-written plan isn't going to typically do--no matter how well it may be written. You have to do the warm up and ease into a workout. If already done with a warm up, then take the first few intervals for example, and gradually increase the effort. Top-end from the first one will cook you if you aren't experienced knowing that pace you can maintain throughout the intervals. Maybe try a Master's class that has a coach poolside.

You need more swim fitness.

You are going anaerobic when you should be warming up.

Matt Biondi made a point of being the slowest guy in the pool during warmup. He could swim pretty fast. The warmup is the time to get everything working the way it’s suposed to, get your technique down, etc to set yourself up for a good workout. Don’t wreck it by going too hard in warmup and then underperforming the rest of the practice because you’ve accumulated a bunch of lactic acid.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

You are a sensitive athlete in that you are sensing a difference. I feel that same thing and and here's my take on it:

1. Your skin is dry. So it floats you better. The skin will absorb freshwater and the benefit is lost within a few minutes.
2. Jammers too - when you first dive in there are trapped air bubbles that act a little like a pull buoy,

Based on this fact, for OW swims I slather up in petroleum jelly to ward off the absorption factor. I also noticed a lot of pro OW swimmers doing the same.

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I echo what Jason said. You gotta do your warm-up s-l-o-w-l-y. The whole idea is to "warm up" your muscles and prepare them for harder work later. I typically swim 25 or even 30 sec per 100 yd faster at the end of my workout than I do during my warm-up. I try to build my speed throughout the workout and swim the last 100 of the main set the fastest, then cool down with 300-400 easy.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I've been doing this lately, too. It's harder than it sounds. Holding good technique and body position without the pace to hide behind... Is a little awkward at first.

Yeah man.. my slowest laps are my first 4-6 & my last 4. It generally takes me a while to warm up, anyhow..

Yeah, I took a lot of this "chill out on the first lap" advice on my swim today and noticed that it was a lot colder! I think I may have been gunning it from the start just to warm up a bit.

Much flatter distribution in the early laps today, and you can clearly see the fatigue as the workout progresses (I'm pretty out of shape at the moment)

Solid advice.

Hmm. Well, I've been swimming competitively since I was a little kid and my first 100 - 200 is always faster because I'm freaking cold and I am trying to warm up. The shock of the jump into the water plus being fresh and I can pump out a pretty quick first few laps. Then reality sets in and I settle into my pace.

If you ever race in a swim meet this is a good thing. Maybe just stick to doing 100s and 200s. Otherwise, just enjoy looking fast for a couple laps.

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Let me just congratulate you for saying "the first few LENGTHS," rather than the first few laps, and thereby reopening a whole can of worms.

You are officially not a beginning or new swimmer. Make sure you also wear your goggles on your forehead when you're not swimming, instead of around your neck.

Oh, and as for the part about speed falling off, it's a factor of swim-specific fitness. No doubt you have the cardio background...in other sports. However, swimming, as you've no doubt learned, has fitness related to the cardio/metabolic aspect but also the motor learning/motor unit aspect. Just keep at it: soon enough everything will be much more in synch and you'll see things evening out.

Chad Le Clos has no idea what you’re talking about.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Dudes with gold medals won over Michael Phelps get a pass... partially. He still looks like a nerd, but he's an Olympic Gold Medalist nerd.

Anecdotally this is an observation I have made hundreds, if not thousands of times. I tend to seen it with young people 25 and younger or people new to swimming. In general this should never happen from a physiology perspective. A body that is properly primed is always capable of going faster than a body that is not.

With that being said, I do believe that new swimmers really struggle with this as they simply swim out of strength and they simply can't keep it up and fatigue quickly. I would suggest trying to reverse this. IE, making sure you start slow. Some personalities have a real hard time doing this. Just keep starting slower and slower.

A couple of anecdotes, I was swimming with a Boulder Age-Group transplant circa 2012 maybe. This was in Madison, WI at Master's in a 50m pool. In warm-up she kept nipping at my feet. I kept thinking it was warm-up, if you are really bothered, swim around me. Was familiar with her so I can't say how good of a swimmer she was. Anyway we then a did a 1500 time trial after a pre-set. In the 1500 I lapped her and she had the audacity to accuse me of cheating when in a 50m pool of all things. Never met this lady before and only time I swam with her. She made some comment about warm-up as justification as why I had cheated...

Anecdote #2. I was swimming with a couple of college triathletes with a high school swim background. Because I swim with a watch I always look at the first 100, 200, and 400 time when most people do not because it was warm-up and it simply doesn't matter. Anyway. These two gals went thru the 100 in 112 (SCY), and the 200 in 226 and 456 for the 400. They never swam another 112 the entire swim. It was their set provided by their coach and I was just following along. They kept ragging on me that they could't believe I always touching the wall last. They assumed, wrongly, that I was being strained. We did a 300 for time at the end of the workout. They went like 4:00 flat, I cruised in a 3:26. They may have not had enough fitness or maybe they swam the 300 too hard trying to keep up. The workout wasn't too long, maybe 3500-3800 and I never asked them about it but they were a little surprised when I lapped them in the 300. Point being, I never have a reason to swim a first 100 ever of 112. I just would never swim that fast by myself but I was committed to their workout. If I swim under 120 for the first 100 I get mad at myself. Too me they failed the workout whether they realized it or not. What is the point of swimming if your 1st 100 is the fastest.

The same applies for biking and running too. If I run a warm-up mile faster than 7:30 per mile on a non-recovery run we have a problem. A great way to work on this is to practice descending workouts on the swim and run, and ascending watts on the bike. One of my favorite runs is 7-10 mile run descend, first mile is warm-up. Try to descend 3 seconds per mile regardless of minor elevation or wind changes. Not descending each mile is a failure of workout. The only goal is to descend the workout.

In swimming, I do this with my continuous 1 hour swims - usually about 4200-4500 yards. I like to keep track of the 400 or 500 times and I will lap my watch after each one. I want to see my 400/500 time getting faster and without an increase in effort for at least the first 2K. This is natural as the body's systems come online and get more efficient. Depending on fitness level it will be usually be 2000-3200 mark where my lap times no longer decrease without some conscious effort to pick up my pace.

This may be way too much for you, but try to replicate it over a short distance, say 2000 yards. But again, part of this is making sure you don't start out to hard. Staying mental present in the effort is huge, especially in races with large fan/family support. You have to learn to control your emotions.

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Warm-up is the time to stretch your stroke out as much as possible. Extend those arms until the elbow is locked before you start feeling for your catch. I take 16-17 spl when warming up vs 18-19 when going really hard. Since my pace drops 25-30 sec/100, obv my stroke rate increases dramatically. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Thanks. That helps.

I've also been trying to really feel the catch anchor, and focus on not slipping any water. It's easy to just want to crank and glide... Crank and glide. But, that always seems to result in too much pace... And more fatigue.

Glide??? You don't want to glide at all, really.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I know. I don't. I had that problem last year when I first started seeing a coach. It was the first thing he fixed.

Its just harder when swimming slower to slow EVERYTHING down.