 |
Triathlon Swimming Made Easy
Another Laughlin Success!
—by Laurie Kocanda
If you’re like most triathletes, odds are you consider
swimming a necessary evil in racing. Despite time and
effort spent training, you jump on your bike tired and
winded from the swim, wondering how much of your race
you just left in the water.
In his new book, Triathlon Swimming Made Easy (TSME),
Terry Laughlin promises he can make swimming the best
part of your race. By adopting the Total Immersion approach
to swim training, Laughlin guarantees you’ll be
more fluid and relaxed in the water, saving precious energy
for the bike and run.
Part 1: Laughlin begins by explaining
why, as a triathlete, you should not train for your swim
as your do your bike and run. Swimming against the clock
will bring nothing but fatigue, Laughlin writes. Instead
you must "focus first on swimming easier,
and let speed be a natural, nearly effortless, outcome
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." By relearning
how to swim efficiently, you will become more fluid and
balanced in the water, thereby limiting resistance, effort
and fatigue.
Part 2: Next, Laughlin details the essential
components of comfortable swimming. He explains why Total
Immersion swimming is more effective than the standard
eggbeater approach. By focusing on key elements like stroke
length and balance, Laughlin replaces brute force in swimming
with logic and awareness.
Part 3: With dozens of pictures and detailed
instructions, Laughlin gives six lessons including 13
sequenced drills that teach us how to swim all over again.
Much like poses in yoga, you start with simple movements
and positions and work towards perfecting them. Only after
mastering the full sequence, does Laughlin suggest working
on full freestyle strokes.
Parts 4 and 5: Detailed training programs
reinforce the lessons and drills from previous chapters.
Readers learn how to consolidate stroke length and efficiency
rather than "training energy systems." Effective
open water training is addressed, including wetsuit use,
drafting and sighting.
Terry Laughlin is an experienced coach and open water
swimmer whose coaching philosophy focuses on pleasure,
not pain. To the average swimmer, Triathlon Swimming
Made Easy is 234 pages of hope.
Now it’s off to the pool…
All materials included in this website are Copyright © 2008 by Total Immersion, Inc. All rights reserved.
No portion of this website may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form without permission in writing from Total
Immersion, Inc. For information, contact: Total Immersion, Inc., 246 Main Street, Suite 15A, New Paltz, NY 12561 Or e-mail
us.
|
 |
