This was part of a post by Richard on the How to Swim a Mile conference at the Discussion Forum

Personally I find the thought of swimming a mile (or 1500m) in a short course pool too tedious to consider, but 800m goes by OK.

The key to avoiding tedium in a swim of any distance is keen focus on your stroke. When I swam 28.5 miles around Manhattan I never experienced tedium because I was always focused on getting some detail of my stroke just right — for instance, Marionette Arm or Mail Slot — or, in rougher water Spearing, or Patient Lead Hand.

I swam 8 hrs and 25,000 strokes, but only one totally focused stroke at a time.

Last Saturday I swam 4 x 1-hr + 1 x 45 min legs on a relay in the 24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon.It took my  relay nearly 12 hrs to complete the swim — we had 3 to 4-foot swells for much of the first six hours — and at times while on the boat between legs, I found myself musing how great a distance one can swim, simply by taking one stroke at a time.

I noticed two striking effects of my unwavering focus: (1) Despite experiencing some fatigue (I was very much undertrained for that much swimming), my stroke got better — more "dialed-in" — on each successive leg; and (2) Each leg seemed to end more quickly.

This capacity for attention — some call it mental endurance — is at least as important as physical endurance (I actually think more important) in being able to swim distance well.