Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier

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This teaching book on the Total Immersion Method has excellent exercises with pictures and explanations. I found it was best to take an exercise as described in the book and then focus on that one exercise in the pool. In this final video of Perpetual Motion Freestyle, Terry wraps-up his lecture with Q&A from the audience. Many of the questions asked help reinforce the Total Immersion Swimming lessons shared throughout the lecture. Once you have lost the fear of having water on your face, you can move on to Lesson 2: Lose the fear of having water in your mouth; and Lesson 3: Learn to breath gently, naturally and calmly in rhythm with your swimming. The more natural your breathing, the more endurance your swimming will have.

Now, not every swimmer will become an Olympic swimmer, but that does not mean that this technique is reserved for the elite only; everyone can (and should!) learn how to swim in an efficient way. According to Terry Loughlin, total immersion swimming means fishlike swimming instead of human swimming. What is the difference between fishlike swimming and standard „human swimming”? Focus on increasing stroke length (SL) instead of stroke rate (SR). Attempt to glide further on each downstroke and decrease the number of strokes per lap.

Pros and Cons of Total Immersion

To “swim downhill” with Total Immersion Swimming, you need to position your body properly in the water. This means keeping your head facing straight down, pressing down your chest (see below), and keeping your legs up. A holistic approach to becoming one with the water and to developing a swimming style that’s always comfortable Terry makes learning to swim better fun. Rooted to his simple lessons and learning modalities, TI swimming helps produce a solid foundation for whatever your swimming goals may be. The byproduct is faster, more efficient swimming and developing a swimmer’s physique. No, it's not for absolute beginners. There's no way I could have done a weekend like this when I first started learning to swim, though you can learn to swim from scratch with this method too. They have coaches all over the country who'll give you a one-to-one session if you do want to start from nothing, but the target audience does seem to be those who can swim a bit and would like to swim more effectively – for a triathlon, for example. If like me you've learned enough to be able to manage a scrappy length of rubbish crawl, then the drills are very doable and can vastly improve your swimming.

Learn to breath on both your right and left sides. If there is a chop, it really helps to be able to comfortably turn your head away from the waves to breath. If not, you are choking…not breathing. On Thursday of last week, I was practicing Drill #10 and found myself at the other end of the pool in what seemed like only a few strokes. So I counted to see just how many strokes it was requiring. The first lap required only 12 strokes. I couldn't believe it so I did another lap that also required 12 strokes. And then another. I had reduced the number of strokes required to swim the pool from 26 to just 12. I’ll swim for two hours and sneak out to get in an extra session a few hours later. I still can’t believe it. When I got home I did some research on swimming to find the best swimming manual available. What I found was Total Immersion. As water is not our natural environment, we do not lengthen our swim stroke instinctively, which is what you need to do to swim fast.But the idea is to place your hand out in front of you in the water and leave it there until the next stroke. PRO TIP: Mastering rhythmic breathing (turning your body & head to breathe during the stroke) is essential for being able to keep your head pointed down. Utilize your body’s natural buoyancy for a long, natural stroke: Gents, don’t swim in board shorts. I tried this in Brazil and didn’t realize it’s like swimming with a parachute behind you. Terrible. Get some Euro-style Speedos and streamline. Be cool on the beach and opt for efficiency in the water. I have found that by implementing the total immersion swimming method; I have improved my swim times significantly. I am faster yet more comfortable in the water. 4. Long Distance Swimming is Achievable