What do you think of total immersion?

I joined a local LMSC at age 45 when I started swimming 10 years ago and struggled for three months before I found Total Immersion. Since then I've been to the Stanford Masters camp, Walnut Creek Camp, the USOTC to swim in the flume, etc., and a few other camps. My reality is that in my short 10 years' swimming TI (which has many similarities to Stanford and the USOTC camps' curriculum) I'm one of those people in my age group who have gotten better. There are a lot of people out there who swim slower and slower every year, and now sometimes I beat them. So here's my conclusion: TI taught me how to swim. TI teaches me how to continue improving every year with new drills, new thoughts, new approaches. I'm a happy swimmer. I'm in great shape. I gota tell you, I just don't see a downside here. I didn't swim when I was in high school/college. Gay kids weren't welcome in sports in the 60s-70s. So I never swam 10,000 yards a day with kick boards and paddles and pool buoys and the other toys. Kick boards make my neck hurt, pool buoys do what I think I ought to be able to do for myself, and I've never figured out what the paddles, or the 10,000 yards, are for. So I don't have a history of 30-year-old technique that I have to swim around in order to enjoy TI. I like TI. It's simple. It's logical. It emphasizes the positive. It explains the why in swimming. And it is constantly changing. I've never left a TI workout frustrated, never swam a race poorly when I stuck to the TI principles. TI is all about Terry Laughlin. And I guess if you don't like him, you won't like TI, or vice versa. My experience is that he is an easy-going guy who answers his email, remembers who you are, is excited about, and really thinks seriously about swimming day and night. He's the first to test new techniques, and the first to share them. It's easy to see why so many people are disciples. I haven't been on these boards since the big gay discussion a few years ago, but when I read them tonight I was amazed that this guy, who I would guess sells more swimming books than anybody, is responsible for improving the times and attitudes of, I guess, thousands of swimmers, is being beat up over I'm not sure what. His success? His ability to market his company and himself? Like all good coaches, he changes people's lives for the better. A few coaches may be lucky enough and smart enough to train an Olympian or two, and earn the respect of thousands of spectators. Terry and his coaches, however, have been lucky enough and smart enough to train thousands of swimmers, and earn their respect in the process. So while I guess a lot of coaches dream about the former, only a few are able to create reality from the latter.

I joined a local LMSC at age 45 when I started swimming 10 years ago and struggled for three months before I found Total Immersion. Since then I've been to the Stanford Masters camp, Walnut Creek Camp, the USOTC to swim in the flume, etc., and a few other camps. My reality is that in my short 10 years' swimming TI (which has many similarities to Stanford and the USOTC camps' curriculum) I'm one of those people in my age group who have gotten better. There are a lot of people out there who swim slower and slower every year, and now sometimes I beat them. So here's my conclusion: TI taught me how to swim. TI teaches me how to continue improving every year with new drills, new thoughts, new approaches. I'm a happy swimmer. I'm in great shape. I gota tell you, I just don't see a downside here. I didn't swim when I was in high school/college. Gay kids weren't welcome in sports in the 60s-70s. So I never swam 10,000 yards a day with kick boards and paddles and pool buoys and the other toys. Kick boards make my neck hurt, pool buoys do what I think I ought to be able to do for myself, and I've never figured out what the paddles, or the 10,000 yards, are for. So I don't have a history of 30-year-old technique that I have to swim around in order to enjoy TI. I like TI. It's simple. It's logical. It emphasizes the positive. It explains the why in swimming. And it is constantly changing. I've never left a TI workout frustrated, never swam a race poorly when I stuck to the TI principles. TI is all about Terry Laughlin. And I guess if you don't like him, you won't like TI, or vice versa. My experience is that he is an easy-going guy who answers his email, remembers who you are, is excited about, and really thinks seriously about swimming day and night. He's the first to test new techniques, and the first to share them. It's easy to see why so many people are disciples. I haven't been on these boards since the big gay discussion a few years ago, but when I read them tonight I was amazed that this guy, who I would guess sells more swimming books than anybody, is responsible for improving the times and attitudes of, I guess, thousands of swimmers, is being beat up over I'm not sure what. His success? His ability to market his company and himself? Like all good coaches, he changes people's lives for the better. A few coaches may be lucky enough and smart enough to train an Olympian or two, and earn the respect of thousands of spectators. Terry and his coaches, however, have been lucky enough and smart enough to train thousands of swimmers, and earn their respect in the process. So while I guess a lot of coaches dream about the former, only a few are able to create reality from the latter.