Are there any swimmers out there who know something about, and/or have tried the “total immersion” swimming technique? If so, what do you think of it? Does it beat the traditional way of swimming the competitive styles, or is it a con?
Website here.
Thanks!
I read the books, saw the video and went through one of the classes. For me it did what I wanted. My goal was to get through the swim part of triathlons and feel good - ie. not majorly out of breath with a wildly inflated heart rate. Total Immersion got me doing that with about the same swim tiimes (maybe a little better but only by a minute or so), so for me it was a win. To come out feeling good, I would have accepted even a few minutes slower. Of course, I also know folks who are darn good swimmers (like first out of the water in their age group good and one who beats pros out of the water) who think TI is a load of bull. Are they right? I don’t know, but, like I said, it worked pretty well for me and I’m much more comfortable swimming the TI way than not.
I always heard of it as a way of learning languages. Works well.
Thanks for your replies. I guess the thing that bothers me is, from the point of view of minimising drag, it’s a really effective technique and so it stands to reason that you would swim faster - but have you ever seen Ian Thorpe swim in that manner?
I dunno, I think I’d find it hard to break such ingrained swimming habits…
That’s what I thought this thread was going to be about too. I was all ready to give an informed opinion. 
As a kid, I kept getting in trouble with my swimming teachers because what comes naturally to me is total immersion.
Studying surface tension in college, I felt vindicated - I’d been right, it’s easier to swim that way and the stupid teachers can PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT PIT PITPITPIT PIIIIIIIT
I looked at the website and can’t really figure out what they are teaching. Can someone try to explain the method?
You’ll have to give me a bit to make it through the web site. I am a swimmer, got in two miles this morning, and people talk about TI, but I’ve never looked into it. I’ve also always known how to swim so I don’t know how I learned. I always thought though that TI was a different way to learn the same thing. Though if it gets one to swim I can’t see it as being a bad thing, and if it helps the people who do triathlones then so much the better.
Ok, I’ve looked over the site and it doesn’t really say much, I’m guessing because they want you to either buy the books or take a class. I don’t know what you mean by traditional way of swimming as it’s basically all the same. If you want o improve speed or distance then there are little things that get changed, hand placement, and I would say any coach can do at least an ok job at it. I don’t think that it’s a con.
After reading some threads on it, it seems to me to be a way to teach. From what I’ve seen they seem to tell people what the most common mistakes are when swimming and change them. I think that if you’re just starting to swim, or getting back into it then it might be for you. I can’t imagine a book being a total waste of money if that’s what you’re looking for.
Let us know what you’re trying to do and maybe we can help a bit more.
How does one submerge themselves? I can’t help but float.
I, on the other hand, can’t help but sink. You’re lucky.
I have the older TI book at hand - his method had changed somewhat since that was written. The idea is that a lot of people who swim have crappy technique so they swim incredibly inefficiently - this tends to be especially true of triathletes who came from running or biking (as opposed to the ones who came from swimming). To fix it, they practice more and more and more, but because they’re practicing and reinforcing the bad swim habits, they’re not actually getting the results that they could and should be able to get. And so the method has people working on body position, head position, isolated body movements, etc. instead of just swimming for an hour. That way, they can swim farther and faster using less energy (again, good for triathletes who have to get out of the water and onto a bicycle and will be in trouble if they’ve drained themselves in the swim.)
The older book (again, it has changed) has a lot of work on not dropping your hips all the way through the stroke.
Basically, I want to increase my distance and stamina. I used to swim a lot in high school (I’m 26 this year), did almost no swimming while I was at university, and since then I’ve gone through phases of lap swimming several kilometres a week, then giving it up, then getting back into it. Now I’ve recently landed a good job, but it entails long hours sitting on my arse so I’ve gotta stay fit by doing some form of exercise (I hate that flabby, unfit feeling ). I tried running and I suck at it. I hate gym workouts, I find them extremely boring even with an ipod in my ears. I do actually love the feeling of swimming, plus it’s the only sport I’m any good at.
I know that joining a Master’s club would be the way to go, but I don’t think I’m fit enough yet. I was toying with the idea of taking a TI course in order to quickly increase the distance I can swim in any given session, but I don’t know anyone in real life who has any insight into the technique.
And I agree, the website isn’t a mine of information. But I watched a few of the free short video footage on the site… the freestyle TI stroke looks fast, but kind of…odd.
Basically you’re like I am. I swam a bit in high school, and if your school was anything like mine then they really didn’t teach you much about swimming. I went back to swimming when I was 27 and swam by myself for 6-8 months. I would say that joining a team wouldn’t be a problem for you. I’ve swam with a couple of different teams and they all have different lanes with different speeds. I’m talking speeds from 1:30 per 100 to 2:30 per 100, and some even slower. I would look into a team and see what they are like, I do know there are a few that are into racing, though I’ve never swam with any of them.
I didn’t watch the videos until just now and I think I know why the stroke looks odd. They are doing what’s called a catch-up drill where one hand stays in front of you at all times and the stroking hand comes back over the top and catches up to the hand in front. This is supposed to make you “longer” by getting your arms out and pulling more water. They are also turing their body more so your front arm goes out more.
Most of these are normal drills now, I don’t know if the TI people came up with them or not, but we sometimes do them in practice. Basically it helps by getting more pull with your arms. The stroke itself isn’t different, they have slowed down the stroke and over exagerated it so you can see what they mean. I also think that a number of the fastest swimmers do a catch-up stroke, though I’ll have to look and see if I can find some videos of them.
I would suggest giving a try to a team before taking a lesson since you’ve already got a background. It’s rare to meet a total jerk at the pool on a team since everyone is there for the same reason. Plus the coaches will be there to help out as well. I’ve also found that it forces you to do more since the people in your lane are swimming and the peer pressure makes you want to keep up, at least it does for me. Most teams will also give you a time or two to try them out to see if you like them or not.
I swam competitively in high school, made it to the state championships in the 500 yd freestyle one year, haven’t done much since then. Been swimming since, literally, before I could walk (there are baby pictures and 8mm footage of me swimming taken when I was about 18 mos). I don’t have any experience with the method, but what I read on the website sounds pretty gimmicky to me. The philosophy sounds okay (streamline, relax, more results for less effort) but the “become one with the water, swim like a fish” crap makes me think that they’re hyping it as badly as the come-on for a speed-reading course does.