I am not a good swimmer, but I know a couple of things better than anyone else in the world about first time swimmers, or at least any of the good swimmers at my pool. Can you breath while doing a crawl stroke? Get some help at the pool if you can't do this. I taught my son by walking down the side as he swam and counting and telling him when to breath. This was not a great coaching technique but once he got four a five good breaths in he's a smart kid, and took it from there.
If you are a first time swimmer DON'T kick too hard. Anyone can wear themselves out in half a pool length thrashing the water, and beginners very often do this. Second: Don't swim fast, in fact swim very slow at the beginning. You need to go slow enough so that you can swim at least 8 laps before you start speeding up.
After these two things then ask the good swimmers for tips. But don't let them give you more than one or two things to change at a time, unless you are very athletic and have super body awareness.
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