jonhall
Contributor
I am capable of getting from point a to point b, and can even do it at a decent pace, but not efficiently, and being exhausted in the water is not ideal.
Work on the freestyle (or front crawl) stroke with rhythmic breathing. Getting air will help with the exhaustion. I would start by learning to breath on one side, every arm cycle - the nice thing is you don't have to be in water to practice as you can do it as a dry land drill. As you get better you can try breathing every 2 arm cycles or bilaterally as mentioned earlier.
Two benefits of the freestyle with rhythmic breathing for diving are 1) after getting a breath as your head is turned to the side, once you put your head back in the water you begin to exhale - just like diving: breathe in, don't hold it, breathe out; and 2) your practicing the flutter kick at the same time - can only strengthen your kick while diving.