I went swimming this afternoon and two interesting points dawned on me.
1) I believe everyone swallows some water involuntarily while swimming regardless of how well you swim. The natural response is to “cough out” the water even though we know it is too late. That response sometimes messes up your swimming rhythm and pace. Similar to life itself, we sometimes need to stop our “natural” response/reflex (in particular negative one) to a situation and move on; otherwise other parts of our life may be adversely affected.
2) Correct technique is very important in swimming. If you swim with the right technique, you go smoothly and gracefully (seemingly effortlessly). The harder you hit the water does not guarantee you will swim faster. For learning, in general, one needs to know and practise the right technique in order to make progress effectively.