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Triathlon Swimming Made Easy: How ANYONE Can Succeed in Open Water Swimming
with Total Immersion
(Text-only version prepared for electronic transmission. The book, as published, is heavily illustrated.)
Special Intro by Terry Laughlin
TSME will give every reader a simple, clear, practical guide to swimming better than you ever thought
possible and to experience the sheer joy of being Fishlike. Not only to swim well enough to breeze
through a triathlon swim leg with ease and confidence; but to reach a Nirvana where the swim is your
favorite part.
If you’re already a triathlete, this book will give you all the knowledge and guidance to become a
complete and knowledgeable swimmer. If you are just thinking of tackling a triathlon, it will make the
most challenging part of a triathlon, the open-water swim, an experience that is both enjoyable and
remarkably easy.
If you’re not aiming to do a triathlon , but would simply like to swim with ease, efficiency and
confidence, don’t be fooled by the title. This book will guide you through the swimming-improvement
process with complete assurance and turn you into a beautiful freestyler .
Triathlon Swimming Made Easy is guaranteed to improve your swimming or your money back. If
you’re not completely satisfied, we’ll give you an unconditional full refund AND the book is yours to
keep.
"Terry Laughlin has written the Cliff Notes for triathlon swimming. He gets to the point and you get the
picture -- right away!"
Celeste Callahan
TI grad, Age Group Triathlete, USAT Level II Coach
“This book will be priceless for anyone wanting to swim freestyle better. It has helped me to convey, to
those I coach, things I did instinctively as an elite swimmer, but could never before put into words.”
Shane Gould
11-time World Record holder, Triple Olympic Champion, Total Immersion Coach
“As a beginner, swimming is by far the most challenging aspect of triathlon. During my first race, I swam
hard just trying to finish. Terry’s book made an immediate difference. This book will truly help you swim
more efficiently and effortlessly than ever before.
Gregg A. Wheeler
Age group triathlete
“With this book, in twelve weeks I went from struggling through a few laps to finishing an Olympic
distance triathlon with astonishing ease. I have never been so excited by any book before and I thank
Terry for helping me reach my goals faster than I ever thought possible.”
Tim Rooney
Age group triathlete
" Triathlon Swimming Made Easy is a priceless primer on how to do it the right way. I always finished
the swim leg in the lead, but working so hard made the bike and run an ordeal. These days, I finish my
open water swims at the front of the pack and I'm not even breathing hard!"
Beth O'Connor Baker
Masters Swimming World Record Holder, National Triathlon Sprint Champion & USAT World Team
Member
“Triathlon Swimming Made Easy provides a practical, do it yourself guide for transforming the swim
from a gruesome struggle against the water into a relaxed, pleasurable experience. This will be a great
confidence builder for triathletes.”
Ivar Brinkman
Certified Triathlon Coach
The Netherlands
“Whether you race sprint or ironman distance, this book will help you become a graceful, balanced and
faster swimmer. If you are serious about reaching your highest athletic potential, Triathlon Swimming
Made Easy is the triathlete's self-mastery guide for swimming.”
Mark Wilson
USAT Certified Coach, Total Immersion Certified Coach
“Terry Laughlin understands triathlon racing! Triathlon Swimming Made Easy is the complete package
for improving the swim leg of a triathlon while conserving energy for improved performance in cycling
and running as well. It offers powerful, immediately-effective improvement techniques for the novice and
the experienced triathlete.
John Fisher
T.I. Alum , Age group triathlete
Triathlon Swimming Made Easy can turn ANYONE into a beautiful, Fishlike freestyler. It helped me to
my best season of open-water swimming in 30 years. Swimming the TI way has become a source of
endless pleasure for me and it will for you too.
Don Walsh
TI-certified coach, Champion Marathon Swimmer
Table of Contents
Part 1
Why Swimming Frustrates You and How You Can Achieve Fulfillment
Chapter 1
True Confessions: If I’m So Fit, Why Is Swimming So Hard?
Chapter 2
Two-Dollar Gas: The Secret of Economy
Chapter 3
How to Start Swimming Better Immediately
Part 2
The Smart Swimming Solution
Chapter 4
Stroke Length: How You Can Swim Like Ian Thorpe
Chapter 5
Balance: Becoming Fishlike Starts Here
Chapter 6
How to Swim Taller: Regardless of Your Height
Chapter 7
Slippery Swimming: The Smarter Way to Speed
Chapter 8
“95-Mph Freestyle:” Power from the Core
Chapter 9
A New Role for Your Hands: Standing Still
Part 3
The School for Fishlike Swimming
Chapter 10
“Martial Arts” Swimming: How to learn faster and easier
Lesson One: Finding Balance and Your “Sweet Spot”
Lesson Two: Becoming Weightless and Slippery
Lesson Three: Tapping Effortless Power from Your Kinetic Chain
Lesson Four: Mastering a Compact, Relaxed Recovery
Lesson Five: Finally…Your New Stroke
Lesson Six: A Systematic Transition to Swimming
Part 4
Smart Swimming for the Rest of Your life
Chapter 11
First Step: Use Your Existing Fitness More Effectively
Chapter 12
Learning to Move Efficiently
Chapter 13
Practice: Making Fluent Movement a Habit
Chapter 14
Effective Swimming: The Smartest Way to Train
Chapter 15
Gears: You Learn the Easiest Way to Swim Faster
Chapter 16
Swimming for Distance: Focus on Economy, Not Conditioning
Chapter 17
Swimming for Time: Speed at Last
Chapter 18
Lighten Your Load: Throw Away Your Kickboard!
Chapter 19
Taking Care of Your Body
Part 5 Getting Ready to Race
Chapter 20
Dress Rehearsal
Chapter 21
Open-Water Practice
Chapter 22
Putting It All Together on Race Day
Introduction
In 1989, I began teaching adult swimmers at Total Immersion summer camps and was soon
teaching hundreds of improvement-minded swimmers each year. In 1991 I began writing for Triathlon
Today magazine (now Inside Triathlon) and began to see so many triathletes at my swim camps that, in
1993, we began offering freestyle workshops. Triathletes flocked to these and I recognized their powerful
hunger for instruction in swimming technique.
In 1995 I published a book called Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better,
Faster, and Easier, which quickly became the best-selling book on swimming. Though I didn’t write this
book specifically for triathletes, thousands of multi-sporters made it their swimming bible and the number
of triathletes attending TI workshops exploded.
Teaching thousands of triathletes has convinced me that swimming for triathlon (and swimming
in open water) is a significantly different sport than competitive swimming (as in age-group, high-school,
college, and Masters meets). While most triathletes copy the training programs of competitive swimmers,
they shouldn't. Here’s why:
•
Competitive swimming is done mostly in pools; triathlon swimming is done mainly in
open water.
• Competitive swimmers have spent years gaining specialized skill and experience; more
than 90 percent of triathlon swimmers are relatively unskilled and inexperienced in swimming, but still
need to swim well now .
• Competitive swimming events are primarily 200 meters or less; triathlon swimming – and
all open water swimming -- happens mainly at distances greater than 400 meters, often much greater.
•
Competitive swimmers need to swim with intensity; triathlon swimmers need to swim
effortlessly.
•
Competitive swimmers can be specialists; triathlon swimmers have to train seriously in
two other sports.
Triathlon swimming truly is a unique sport with unique challenges. This book focuses precisely on
how to meet them, whether you are a first-timer seeking the confidence to tackle a long swim in open
water, or an experienced competitor wanting to turn swimming into the best part of your triathlon. Open-
water swimming is also quite different from competitive swimming, and has far more in common with
triathlon swimming than with competitive swimming. This book will also be a complete resource for
those who want to enjoy success in open water, whether or not they cycle and run after finishing the
swim.
The good news is that success at this kind of swimming is far less dependent on “swimming
talent” than you might imagine, and is actually within reach of every athlete. By mastering a finite set of
easily learned skills, any smart and diligent athlete can swim dramatically better. I’ll guide you through
that process in the pages to follow . By following this special Total Immersion triathlon/open-water
swimming program, you'll learn to coach yourself so effectively that, within a short time, you will:
! Stand on shore at the beginning of any race and KNOW you can make the swim distance -- and make
it with ease.
! Know that you don’t have to train as long or as hard in the pool as you thought.
! Know you really CAN master this sport that makes so many otherwise successful athletes feel unfit
and uncoordinated.
Happy laps,
Terry Laughlin
New Paltz NY
June, 2001
Part 1
Why Swimming Frustrates You and How You Can Achieve Fulfillment
Our first three chapters will give you a succinct explanation of
! Why you’re not swimming as well as you’d like
! Why no amount of fitness, strength, or training will make any real difference
! Why swimming easier will improve your total tri-race time far more than swimming faster
We’ll outline a foolproof series of steps for making swimming an asset, rather than a liability. By
the time you move on to Chapter 4, you’ll understand what constitutes good swimming and how you can
embark on the path to mastery just by changing the shape of your “vessel.”
Chapter 1
True Confessions: If I’m So Fit, Why Is Swimming So Hard?
Every Saturday morning, somewhere in the USA (or Canada, the UK, Europe or Australia) 30
hopeful and somewhat apprehensive athletes, mostly triathletes and tri-wannabe's, gather in a classroom
and talk about why they'd like to swim much better. It may sound like group therapy; but it's actually the
orientation session of any Total Immersion weekend workshop. Some athletes confess that they can ride
60 miles or run 10 before breakfast yet gasp for breath after two laps in the pool. Others say they are tired
of finding their bike standing alone when they finally stagger into the first transition – despite hour after
hour of training laps in the pool.
Their frustration is simple and incredibly widespread. What is it about swimming that reduces
otherwise fit and accomplished athletes to the point of needing TI “group therapy?” Why do all those
tedious hours of repeats, laborious laps with kickboards, and wearying sessions with paddles and pull
buoys never seem to produce improvement or yield results that are far too modest for the time and energy
invested? Time on your feet and time in the seat work for running and biking. Why not for swimming?
The answer is that water is a completely different medium from air, and swimming is a
completely unnatural activity for most land-based humans. In water, the rules are different. If you try to
improve by swimming more and harder (an approach that comes naturally for cyclists or runners), you’ll
mainly make your “struggling skills” more permanent. If you seek instruction, you’ll find that few
coaches or teachers know how to teach you the skills and awareness that really make a difference. If you
join a Masters swim team, your training program will be more organized than if you swim on your own,
but unless you have the great fortune to be training with a coach who is just as good at teaching as
training, you’ll be a fitter flailer, but still not a good swimmer. Until you become a good swimmer, you’ll
always limit your potential as a triathlete. That’s because you need to have a certain level of efficiency to
get results from all your hours of training.
The solution is not elusive, costly, or time consuming. You can become a good enough swimmer
to hugely improve your performance, potential, and fulfillment in triathlon. What it takes is a little
knowledge and a willingness to practice swimming in a completely different way from how you train for
the other two disciplines. Running and cycling are sports. Swimming -- at least as you need to do it to be
the best triathlon swimmer you can be -- is an art. It’s a movement art just as rigorous and exacting as
gymnastics or martial arts. In order to succeed in it you need to do two things:
1. Become your own swimming coach.
2. Practice mindfully, patiently, and intelligently.
This book will give you the information and guidance to do both well.
Why Inefficient Swimming Is Limiting Your Triathlon Success
Success in triathlon obviously depends greatly on sheer fitness. Thus, 95 percent of your energy
as a triathlete is usually devoted to maximizing your aerobic potential. Because you have to squeeze in
three sports around work and family, you can’t waste time on unproductive efforts. Yet until you become
an efficient swimmer, you cannot realize the hard-won aerobic potential your training has earned you.
Poor swimming not only puts you far back in the pack before you get to your strengths but also prevents
you from spending your aerobic resources wisely and optimally. If you’re a poor swimmer, you lack
control over how hard you work in the water.
It’s fairly simple to ration energy wisely while cycling and running. On the bike, you even have
gears to help you maximize speed while minimizing effort. For a poor swimmer, there is no choice. For a
large percentage of triathletes, simply making it through the swim is a survival test. If that's you, you
have to flail and churn the whole time -- an effort that doesn’t earn you anything approximating a good
swim time. It just allows you to finish wearily and far back in the pack.
Considering how little of the overall race distance and time swimming takes up, it consumes an
extravagant amount of the energy available for the entire race. If you’re like the great majority of
triathletes, you aren't concerned solely about how slowly you swim. You probably worry more about
how hard you work to swim that slowly. The most important message I give triathletes at Total
Immersion workshops is this: Your primary goal is not to swim faster. Focus first on swimming easier,
and let more speed be a natural product of your increased efficiency. You will improve your overall
performance far more by saving energy for the bike and run than you will by swimming faster. But, better
yet, as you become an efficient swimmer, you will also swim faster.
What It Takes to Be a Good Triathlon Swimmer
Unless you are an elite athlete, your smartest goal on the swim leg is to exit the water with a low
heart rate. The swimming leg is too short for a speedier swim, by itself, to make a significant difference in
a race that usually lasts for hours. If you do work hard enough to pick up a few minutes in the swim, that
effort can easily cost you many minutes back on land. Conversely, many triathletes who have taken the TI
workshop have found that their newfound efficiency, while it may have shaved just a few minutes off
their swim time, resulted in substantial time drops for the rest of the race, simply because they were much
fresher entering the first transition.
So your first goal as a triathlon swimmer is to gain the freedom to swim as easily as you wish --
to be able to virtually float through a mile of swimming if you choose. To be able to choose how long or
fast you stroke. And to be able to adjust both with the same ease with which you shift gears on your bike.
Your starting point for accomplishing these goals is to develop four foundation skills: balance,
body alignment, body rotation, and coordinated propelling movements. The key is to have a relaxed, low-
drag, fluent stroke at low speeds and to maintain all of those qualities as you move through your
“swimming gears” to go faster. For most triathletes, swimming speed will probably never be essential
(I’ll explain the exceptions in a later chapter). Swimming ease , however, is a non-negotiable skill for
every triathlete. Ease means efficiency, and efficiency leads to speed. And for those of you approaching
the elite level, you must learn to swim fairly fast, without exerting yourself so much that you blow up on
the run. And the same fundamentals that let the beginner acquire ease also let the more advanced athlete
develop efficient “gearing” for swimming faster when necessary.
Your essential goal as a triathlete is to have more control when swimming -- more ability to
decide how hard to work, how much stroke length and stroke rate to use at any moment, and the skill to
find the most efficient way to go faster when needed. Let’s begin learning how to gain that control and
why, as a triathlete, you have plenty of company in figuring out The Swim Thing.

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