Introductions - Say Hello

[manilenio]

Hello all! I'm Jon from the Philippines, just started to really learn how to swim freestyle a month or two ago. I swim breaststroke so I'm not new to swimming, but have never learned freestyle since it's much more technical. I started by watching videos off of youtube and finally by happy accident, found Mr. Smooth and swimsmooth.com. I'm still striving to swim 50 meters w/o stopping at the 75% mark, but I've managed to train myself to do bilateral breathing and have upped my stroke rate significantly (I used to be an overglider). I even made my own hand paddles . Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to take videos of me, nor count my strokes so I don't know how well or badly I'm doing, so I'll just have to rely on positive thinking . Great site, great community, thanks for all the help!

Cheers,

Jon

[dmc1972]

Hi, I used to coach swimming here in the Bahamas but took a break to start a family.
I love swimming and have recently started to train for my first Triathlon.
Great site.

David

[Sonner]

Hi all! I'm an Italian 17 y.o. swimmer and I've been swimming since I was 8. In the last year I started to swim really slower than my team-mates and my coach never told me how to correct my mistakes... then I saw this site and I found to have become and overglider! I really hope to become fast again with your help!

Federico

[Coach Jake]

Hi,

I hope this finds everybody well. Wow!! What a great sight and Mr. Swim smooth is a Hammer!! I am a USA Triathlon Coach, USA Cycling Coach and now also TRINSW Coach who has immigrated here from the US. I am in Leeton, NSW (country). I came to Australia to Coach triathletes,cyclists, and basically all types of endurance athletes.The reason I am here (Leeton) is because my Wife is a food scientist and took a job developing gluten free cereals, biscuits,etc.

It is great to be here and despite the small population here, there is a fun community of Athletes.

Anyways, the pool here is outdoor and it is closed for a few more months(?) I was wondering if there is a dryland swim trainer (such as Vasa) that is here in Australia? I can not find one on the web. There is a town about 45 minutes from here w/an indoor pool, but that can be a hassle as we all know. I am working with an athlete now who is getting ready to train for NZ Coast to coast in Feb. and this would be a big help to work on form and strength.

I also have a website which is systemjake.com if you want to check it out. Thanks so much and I am looking forward to the education Mr. Swim Smooth will instill in me.

Jake Brindle

[swimpre]

Hello All,

My name is Paul, and I'm an Intermediate Swimmer who recently discovered that my stroke exhibits many tendencies from the Kicktastic Swim Type. I've been a fitness swimmer off-and-on for the last 22 years and have recently ventured into open water swimming, completing the 1.5 mile Alcatraz Challenge swim in San Francisco on July 18th. During the training open water swims and the race itself, I noticed that when wearing a wetsuit I was slower than my training comrades based on our similar pool times (~45 minutes) for that distance. Also, I have had some nagging shoulder pain in recent weeks and decided to look for ways to improve my stroke following the Alcatraz race.

After introducing bilateral breathing to my stroke about twenty years ago in the hope that it would address a neck stiffness that flared up whenever I swam (the neck stiffness promptly went away once I got the hang of breathing every 3rd stroke), my stroke has not really progressed much since then. My times tend to gradually improve based on my overall fitness, but only up until the point that more effort results in mild shoulder pain; this happens at around 6:30 seconds for 400 meters (short course), at which point I back off.

I discovered the Swim Smooth site after doing a Google Search for "bilateral breathing swimming" a week or so ago. The information on the website has been quite informative and very well presented: my complete lack of body roll combined with my straight arm catch are most likely the contributing factors to my shoulder pain. After ordering the Kicktastic Swim Types Guide last week, I have been doing the drills in Development Session 1 for my last three swims. I have developed some body roll for the breathing strokes, but still feel pretty flat on the non-breathing strokes. Even with this inconsistent body roll, I am swimming faster with less effort and the shoulder pain has not come back. Looking forward to the journey and relieved that shoulder pain-free swimming is possible. Thanks!

[PamelaDolphin]

Hi everyone! My name is Pamela and I'm a newbie to the forums. . . not to mention somewhat of a newbie to the art of swimming. I've started taking swimming classes, but I always feel like I can use more advice from people far more experienced than me -- hence why I joined this forum!

I don't see myself being a crazed professional in the next 3 years, but I wouldn't mind becoming far more agile and determined than I am now. Either way, I'm glad to be here and I hope to meet everyone here very soon! Take care, everyone!

[bassdad]

Howdee
Great site - love love

[Tri2swimfast]

Hi, I am 45 and just started swimming 7 months ago when I gave up being a 30 a day smoker. Initially I had a 6 week adult group beginners course at my local pool which gave me the basics of front crawl. I then went out on my own and I found the first 4 months really tough and struggled to even get 10 lengths of my local 33 meter pool completed. Through various searching on the internet I found TI which I learnt from a book and was good enough to get me up to another level but I am now ready to move on and up. Although I wish I had found this fantastic site 7 Months ago!

So far this year I have completed the British Gas Great Open Water Swim, which was a mile in open water in Londons Docklands in July and just last week completed my first sprint London Triathlon again in the London Docks after being coaxed into it by my younger work colleagues.

I had been watching videos on You Tube since the Tri because my swim leg was not as good as I thought it could have been and I luckily stumbled across 'Mr Smooth' I have spent the last 4 hours reading the material on your site and cannot believe the quality and ease at which swim technique is explained. I can already see some areas which I can improve on, namely the catch, pulling back, (I pull down before backwards) and the dead spot while gliding. I cannot wait to get into a pool to start learning some of these techniques and a soon as payday comes I will be ordering my boxset of DVDs

Can I also just congratulate you on a top quality site, easy to navigate, great layout and packed with so much material it's hard not to keep on reading. Why all sites are not like this I don't know.

Many thanks for providing and sharing such a vast amount of knowledge. I hope you get all the success this site deserves. Top marks!

[kels488]

Hey!
I'm Kelsey! Swimsmooth is great- thanks! I used to a swimmer when I was younger, but haven't done anything since that! Am thinking of joining a graduates swimming club in September! To brush up on my techniques etc. The material on your website will help me vastly

[Ray Weikel]

Hi Swim Smooth,

(Sorry for the long explanation - this has been an intense journey)

I am 67 yr old, but new to swimming (18 months). I am probably a cross between a Bambino and a skinny Arnie. I am 5' 7", weight 128 lbs (58 kg), muscular but thin, with maybe 9% body fat. I'm not very buoyant - Vertical in the water I float at about eye level.

I had aqua-phobia my whole life, and would just panic if in water over my head. I would not survive very long.

I had two spinal surgeries within 2 months of each other for bone spurs when 64, and after the surgery was told to walk up and down a shallow pool for physical therapy for 6 months. As I did this I watched others swimming in other lanes and they seemed to be enjoying what would be terrifying to me. So at 65+ I decided to try to overcome this phobia and started some lessons for a month - twice a week. I was very anxious about going to each lesson, but forced myself to go. I really struggled to do what the others did in the class, but stuck with it. When the 4 weeks of lessons were over, I wasn't ready to go to the next level, so I just went to the pool and practiced all of things they taught us to do - over and over. Slowly I pushed the panic level down and raised my confidence level. This took months!

The steps I went through were - swimming on back (with fins), swimming on side (face out of water), swimming on side putting face in and out of the water, swimming on side face in water doing switch to other side. All of these with fins. Eventually I was able to do a few freestyle strokes with pauses for "sweet spot" breathing. Again it was press down panic feeling and elevate confidence - a slow process of reprogramming my brain.

Eventually I got to a point where breathing was becoming less of a pause and I could swim the 25m pool length (still with fins). Believe it or not this took about a year.

I found that when I tried this without the fins was like starting all over. I felt like it was a struggle to stay alive again. So, I went back for some private lessons. The instructor gave me some pointers to work on which I have for 6 months. I have improved my breathing and can now do it bi-lateral (but still better on the rt.) I improved my body position enough that I can swim the length w/o fins, but I swim the best with a pull buoy (PB). With the PB I can swim much more relaxed and with much better body position, good rotation, stroke, and speed. I swim about 1 kM a day (7 days a week). I usually do 15 laps with the pull buoy and 5 without. I swim with only a brief pause at the end of each Lap with the PB, but still need to catch more breath when not using the PB. My instructor said my back stroke is pretty good, but I cannot keep in the middle of a lane outdoors, so I don't do it a lot.

For those proficient at swimming, this may be hard to understand, but for me it has been a long struggle and required a lot of determination on my part, but is also rewarding achieving something so difficult for me.

My goals are:
1. To get as comfortable with freestyle w/o PB as I am with the PB.
2. To learn to do the breast stroke (everybody can do that - right? - well not me - I barely float - getting air is difficult) I also have difficulty treading water - really have to work hard.
3. To learn to do flip turns.
4. Learn to swim straight and centered in backstroke.
5. Continue to learn ways to relax in the water.

Thank you so much for your web site - much of the information and Mr Smooth animation is already helping.

Cheers, Ray

[Speculater]

Hello, my name is Simeon and I am a new swimmer.

[pjtriman]

Hello,
My name is Pete. This is a great site. I have come a long way over the years applying what I have learned on this site to my open water swimming. However, I still need all the help I can get on my swim technique. Instead of swim smooth....I happen to be a swim spas in the water but I am learning to calm down and try to stretch out the stroke.