Following is an e-mail exchange I had with a coach in Idaho:

Hi Brian,

I have a swim school in Boise ID.  I have been a long time follower of TI and love the philosophy.  I also went to school and swam in your back yard..the Air Force Academy. ;o) 

I just purchased your Olympic distance tri training book from TI and wanted to get some suggestions from you as to how we might incorporate tempo

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Total Immersion is unique in its singular devotion to the skills that enable one to move more efficiently through the water. No matter what stroke you are working on, paying attention to balance, comfort, relaxation, streamlining, economy of movement, and pacing will result in improvement. If I hadn't already been convinced of that ( I was),  a recent experience really drove the point home.

 I got

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See the plans here. 

You're at the triathlon starting line. As you stand in the water, surrounded by 150 of your closest friends, your heart starts to race, even though you have not.  You think of all that training you've done.  You swam hard, countless sets of KPS (kick, pull, swim).  You worked so hard in the pool that you were often too tired to workout effectively on the bike or run. 

The

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Which program should I choose?

Beginner Freestyle Stroke Efficiency Program - Choose this program if you:

• Have a basic knowledge of the current TI drills: Skate, SpearSwitch, ZenSwitch (SwingSwitch), Swim and Nod.
• Want guidance to help you explore the TI drills, and develop a Shinji-like stroke.
• Can swim at least 50 yards without stopping, but have difficulty swimming more than a couple hundred

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 http://www.totalimmersion.net/store/books/beginner-practices.html

I often work with swimmers who, at our second or third lesson together, can't quite seem to remember which drill is the skate drill.  This usually leads to a discussion about what they've been practicing since our last lesson.  I often find out that they've been swimming mostly whole-stroke, because they have a race coming up, are

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The Skatch drill uses the Skate drill to develop a higher traction position for the stroking arm.  During the pull phase of the stroke, the forearm should be oriented somewhat vertically.  Somewhat, because it can be a difficult position to achieve, depending on your shoulder flexibility.  This drill helps move you closer to that ideal vertical forearm. Rest assured that you don't have to "get

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Zenswitch is a favorite drill for many TI swimmers, because it more closely approximates whole stroke swimming than Skate or Spearswitch.  In fact, I tell my swimmers that Zenswitch "evolves" into whole stroke swimming.  There are really just two things that separate Zenswitch from swimming:

• 1) Using pauses to isolate parts of the stroke.
• 2) Dragging part of the forearm through the water.

The

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I recently ran across an article in the August issue of Competitor magazine titled "10 Commandments of Swimming" and subtitled "Swimming Gods from Across the Country Share the Top-10 Laws for Increasing Your Efficiency in the Water".  Here's Commandment 4 from the article:

Thou Shalt Not Decelerate
If you've ever been kayaking, you know that as soon as you complete a paddle-stroke on one side, you

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"I Feel the Need - The Need for Speed!"

Maverick (Tom Cruise) captured the sentiment of millions of people with that line.  In fact, it earned the 94th position in the American Film Institute's top 100 movie lines.  And for the competitive swimmer or triathlete, speed is one of our top goals.  And it should be a goal for every improvement-minded swimmer. 
Speed is relative.  Obviously, I'm not

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Following is correspondence between myself and a recent student, a triathlete...

_____________________
From: Edward
To: Brian Vande Krol
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 10:41:05 AM
Subject: Moving Forward with TI

Hello Brian,
 
Tomorrow is our last class of the session. I really like the TI approach and feel more comfortable in the water. I don't want to lose that as I go forward, but I also need to know

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