How I Found the Ocean Swimmer Within...and Finished an Ironman

By Tom Glynn

I entered the water tentatively but my doubts quickly dissipated as the combination of TI style and my wetsuit turned me into a fish, slicing through the water at unprecedented speed. The positive energy I drew from that swim propelled me through the bike and run.

I did it! I can now call myself an Ironman Triathlete – a distinction that would have remained beyond my reach, but for the help of Total Immersion….

Three years ago I left my CPA career to follow my wife’s career from the Bay Area to Bonn, Germany and care for our kids, then 11 and 1. After salving my male ego and settling in to home life, in a land where I didn’t speak the language nor understand the culture, I took advantage of increased free time to get back in shape after 20+ years behind a desk.

I pulled out my road bike and began riding on a regular basis for an hour or more. I traveled to France and cycled some of the most challenging climbs on the Tour de France including the Alpe d’Huez and Galibier. Conquering these peaks made me feel like an Ironman so, I reasoned, why not try a real Ironman? Bolstered by a background as a marathon runner, albeit over 20 years earlier, I even managed to minimize what some might have called a deal-breaker – at the time a single 25-meter length of our local community pool left me panting in exhaustion.

Undeterred I informed my family of my plan to swim 3800 meters in open ocean as a mere warmup for cycling 112 miles and running a marathon. My ever supportive wife encouraged me to set a more modest goal, the rest of my family thought I was kidding and didn’t take me seriously, and the neighbors just laughed.

What about the dreaded swim? The answer came after several hours on the internet – Total Immersion Swimming! Off to England for a weekend seminar. I figured if I didn’t come home a swimmer, at least I’d have enjoyed a great weekend in another country.

Lead instructor, Kevin Millerick, was entertaining and informative and the Workshop gave me a sense that my ambition was achievable along with a road map for getting there. After a program overview in the classroom, we headed to the pool, where I was diagnosed on video as a classic struggler – no surprise for someone who could easily bike for five or six hours but was toast after 30 seconds of water-churning. A program of efficiency-building drills, a lot of time in the pool, and unswerving devotion to mindful practice would carry me to my dream.

I began training at a local pool 10 months before the race and even completed a sprint triathlon two months later. I went out too fast on the 600-meter swim, and ran out of gas with 400 meters to go, coming out of the water last. Still, I had already increased my swimming capacity almost 25 times over!

Soon after, I took my 12-year old daughter and several of her friends to the pool with me. One, a competitive age group swimmer, watched me for a few lengths, then went home and confided in her mother her fears that I might drown in the ocean swim. Undeterred, I forged onwards.

When we visited the Bay Area, I checked the TI website for qualified instructors and found Darryl Bates. During two sessions, I picked up several tips that immediately made a huge difference. Lesson One: “Use a passive kick.“ Lesson Two: “Extend your arms as if following parallel rails.” With those and other focal points I resumed practice with a sense of clear direction.

Practice does make perfect. Six months into my program, my confidence was growing steadily and, by concentrating on my focal points, I could swim more than two miles without pause, which allowed me to visualize completing an Ironman swim without rescuers scooping me out of the water.

Several months ago when we traveled back home for the birth of our third child, I checked in with Darryl again, but this time in an Endless Pool. Wonder if I could ever talk my wife into putting one of those into our house? We also worked on how to swim in my wetsuit. My skills and confidence made another strong advance.

As race day approached my biggest fear remained swimming in the ocean, rather than a pool. I arrived at the Ironman location in Nice, France – not a bad location for one’s first event – a few days early to swim in the Mediterranean. I was initially uncomfortable in the swells but with practice, began feeling better about my technique, if not my speed. I was hoping I wouldn’t be last out of the water again. In the pool I could swim the distance in about 90 minutes, but I feared the unpredictability of sea conditions could slow me considerably.

On race day I had two modest goals - don’t drown, don’t panic – and one more ambitious one – have fun! I lined up with the slowest swimmers. When the gun went off I entered the water tentatively but my doubts quickly dissipated as the combination of TI style with a wetsuit turned me into a fish, slicing through the water at unprecedented speed. I completed the 2.4 miles in a remarkable 1 hour, 19 minutes and fulfilled my higher goal by feeling in control and having fun the whole way. The positive energy I drew from that swim propelled me through the bike and run, two events I was confident in completing. After 13 hours and 31 minutes I had completed my first Ironman. I still find it hard to believe that just a year ago I could barely swim 25 meters yet now I can confidently swim for miles in the ocean.

And now it’s back to drill practice. Though my wife hopes this midlife crisis might be over, I see another – faster – Ironman in my future! I'm no speed demon, but I'm on the fast track to swimming better!

Tom Glynn again lives in the San Francisco area with his ever supportive wife and three kids, all of whom think he is a little crazy. He is a CPA who temporarily retired to become a stay at home Dad for a few years. His next goal is to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii sometime around 2010.

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