The Effortless Swimming Podcast (Brenton Ford)

Amy recently did the Cairns Ironman. She had a pretty big PB. She went from 1:18 down to 1:09. I invited her to the podcast to chat about what she did to make such a big improvement on her swimming speed.

01:05 What Inspired You To Work On Your Swimming
02:26 Take Away From The Effortless Swimming Clinic
03:08 It Takes Patience
04:20 Making Changes Permanent
05:46 Clinic Expectations
07:59 Noticing Changes On The Stroke
08:44 Keeping Those Changes In The Openwater
11:00 Few Things At A Time

Join me in this engaging episode as I chat with Sandra Schenkel, an elite duathlete from Spain who overcame swimming frustrations during the pandemic. We'll dive into her journey of making incredible progress through focused training and coaching. Discover how Sandra regained her swimming skills and achieved her best level ever. We'll also explore the significance of relaxation, breathing exercises, and technique in swimming. Get ready for valuable tips on mobility work, rest intervals, and maintaining a healthy diet.

01:56 Overcoming swim frustrations and developing skills
03:32 The Impact of breathing exercises on stroke improvement
04:18 Breathing exercises can help improve relaxation and body position in the water
08:05 Focusing more on the process than the result
11:49 Improving technique through the catch, breathing, leg posture, and head position
13:19 The importance of mobility and flexibility in swimming and how to improve them
19:07 Advice for those who are frustrated by their swimming
21:45 What's the next goal?
22:58 Interval Rest is Vital for Athletes
30:20 Work on technique, breathing, and the things you can control, and do not always train at maximum intensity

Race Pace Training is about swimming at or quicker than your racing speed. It’s often done in short intervals (eg 25m or 50m) with enough rest between intervals to recover and hit race speed on the next one. On this podcast Garrett McCaffrey, coach at the Phoenix Swim Club, joins me as we chat about how to best include this type of training in your workouts (and if it’s relevant to you!).

He’s just released a 12 week Race Pace Training program ideal for age group or Master’s swimmers and coaches.
We’re also joined by Chris Ritter, a strength and conditioning coach to Olympic swimmers and a guest on one of the most well-received podcasts we’ve done – listen to it here.

03:30 – What is race pace training?
09:05 – When a Swimming Technique Drops Off
09:20 – The Muscle Memory
10:11 – Finding a Way To Keep The Speed
13:19 – How do you deal with change?
17:28 – The Correlation of Age and Speed
18:00 – Why Race Pace Training Makes Physiological Sense
22:14 – Race Pace Training & Vegetables
28:13 – The Importance of Structure in Directing The Work
30:48 – The Race Pace Training 2.0

In this episode, professional speaker and author Glenn Capelli shares his expertise on learning better and making better decisions. He focuses specifically on how to improve swimming skills and mindset. Glenn discusses various topics he has studied throughout his life that can be applied to swimming, including getting into flow, maximizing the fun factor in training, using magic words to change approach, and developing small habits that lead to significant results. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights and tips for becoming a better swimmer!

01:45 Swimming for Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health
04:08 The Essence of Flow: Finding Mental and Metabolic Flexibility
07:14 Finding Flow in Swimming: When Time Becomes a Blur
09:51 Discovering Flow in Other Aspects of Life
12:54 Flow and the Power of Whole Brain, Whole Body Engagement
15:01 What is Autotelic?
20:13The Power of Shifting Language: Instead of 'Have to', Say 'Get to'"
24:09 The Endless Journey of Learning: Upping the Challenge, Upping the Skills
27:50 Finding Beauty and Challenge in Swimming and Life
29:12 How Small Changes Can Lead to Success
31:09 Improvement of Life and Training: More, Less, Get Rid of, Throw In, Instead Of
34:45 Swimming is More Than Just a Sport, It's a Path to Friendship and Social Circles
35:57 Connecting with Glenn!

In this episode, we have a special guest, marathon swimmer Andy Donaldson, who is a three-time world record holder. Andy shares his insights on freestyle technique and how he is able to maintain an impressive pace of 1:12 per 100m for 4 hours. This episode focuses solely on technique, as we delve into Andy's thought process and approach to his stroke. Tune in now!

00:00 Introduction and Background
2:31 Where is your head position?
2:58 How often are you breathing?
4:30 How do you use your kick?
5:23 What does your recovery look like?
8:09 What is the end of your stroke like?
9:07 What is your rotation like?
9:47 How did you develop your catch?
11:13 How much power are you putting into each stroke?
11:54 What do you do to increase your swim speed?
13:11 How do you like to train?
14:20 What pace are you aiming for?
14:49 What stroke rate are you aiming for?

Gary Barclay of TheSwimmingExpert.com is the author of Swimming for Parents – a book about how to best support your child in swimming. In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast Gary will talk about how to raise a champion swimmer.

Ryan Evernden is the founder of Formidable Strength and Conditioning, a coaching service that’s reshaping how swimmers integrate strength training into their routines. Ryan isn't just any strength coach; he specializes in tailoring strength and conditioning programs specifically for swimmers, helping them power through the water with more speed and resilience while safeguarding against injuries.
Today, Ryan will share his insights on the essential strength exercises for swimmers, how to prevent common swimming injuries, and some truly inspiring success stories from the athletes he’s worked with. Whether you’re a competitive swimmer looking to enhance your performance or a recreational swimmer aiming to swim smarter and stronger, Ryan’s expertise is sure to provide valuable guidance.

02:19 Veering towards Strength Training for Swimmers
03:11 Trying to Create Swimmers For Life
04:14 Preventing Injuries
04:32 Coming Right Back Around The Basics
06:14 Assessing Mobility and Range of Motions
07:20 Improving Overhead Range of Motions
11:18 Starting Inside Out
12:13 Finding The Balance 
14:51 Strength Required For Long Distance Swimmers
21:38 How Do I Fit My Strength Sessions
29:00 Common Misconceptions
35:33 Age Group Strength and Conditioning

My guest today is a fellow coach, a competitor, a triathlete who has done a huge amount of racing. He has done one of the longer distance triathlons that there is, the Ultraman.

01:50 Competition/ Coaching Background
03:58 Training From Ironman To Ultraman
06:37 Not Too Much Running
07:28 Swim Training
08:33Swim Techniques
09:59 Open Water Swimming Skills
15:07 Coaching Triathletes
17:45 Changes In Coaching Approach
23:24 Focused On Mature Athletes
29:36 They Are Not Going To Remember All These Things Straight Away
30:56 Upcoming Events
32:39 Swimming Is A Great Body Maintenance

Here are the 9 things we have learned from Hell Week Camp that I thought it would be worth sharing.

1. Clear your mind

2. Regular feedback

3. Go crazy

4. Find your ideal stroke rate

5. 3 different ways to think about your 'Catch'

6. Patience

7. How a 3-minute active warm up can change your entire workout

8. Educate, try and test

9. Getting faster right away isn't always an indicator of a correct change in your stroke

Steph Lowe is a Nutritionist, a tri-athlete training for the Hawaiian Half Ironman, she is about to complete her master’s degree in nutrition and she specialises in sports nutrition using natural food and ingredients. In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, Steph will talk about high performance nutrition for swimmers.

In this episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast, we'll find out why you run out of breath at the end of the lap and how you can change it so that you are swimming easier, you are more relaxed and you are not gasping for air every time you touch the wall.

My guest today is Simon Hearn, a professional triathlete whom I've known for a couple of years now. He turned pro in the last two years and I want to get him in the podcast to talk about that journey and a little bit about his journey in swimming.

01:49 Start Of Triathlon Journey
03:35 Turning Pro
05:54 Impostor Syndrome
08:16 Placing 4th On A Full Distance Ironman
09:27 Swimming Background
14:16 Training Surges
16:42 Prescribed Pace
18:23 The Gap Between Effort Levels - Developing Gears In Between
26:02 As A Physio
30:44 Mobility And Stability Work
37:37 Being Conscious In The Water
39:29 Motivation
41:35 Begin To Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Russell Smith is the current age group triathlon world champion in Olympic distance & Asia Pacific age group champion in Ironman.  He has been using the Effortless Swimming Workouts as part of his training program.  In this podcast, he will talk about how he is using the Effortless Swimming Workouts to succeed in triathlon.

Today, I have the pleasure of chatting with Joe Friel, an exceptional endurance sports coach, renowned for his expertise in triathlon and cycling. Not only is Joe a highly respected coach, but he's also an accomplished author, having written multiple books, including his most popular work, the Triathlete's Training Bible. In this episode, we will discuss swimming techniques, including the PDLC method for improving skills, the 5-2 training methodology, and many more. Tune in now!

03:41 What stands out in people's swimming skills when working with them in person?
06:54 What is a PDLC method? How does it contribute to swimmers becoming faster?
20:18 Open water swimmers don't swim the same way pool swimmers do.
28:08 Going back to the fundamentals
34:08 Could you explain the 5-2 training concept and its origin?
42:15 What mental advice would you give someone transitioning from the 40s and 50s into the 60s and 70s?
52:43 What has recently piqued your curiosity?
56:24 Current projects and where to find your books and learn more about you?

This podcast episode is about having a breakthrough swim, whether it’s in a triathlon or an open water swim. Our guest today is Paul Speed a coach a recently turned pro triathlete.

With Paul, he changed his technique and training to make that second pack and come out with the water with the faster group so he can have a better chance of keeping up in the bike and setting himself up for a good race.

Our guest today is Marc Evans, a former National USA Triathlon team coach. In this episode, we will introduce the M25 Lift Paddle. We will discuss the paddle's purpose and why it differs from others in the market. Specifically, we will focus on how it helps improve the catch, which is an essential part of the swimming technique.

00:49  Kickboard Is A Great Tool
04:02 Skinny S
4:42 Pass or Fail Coaching
5:59 Learning Engages Additional Muscle Groups
8:19 Learning New Things Takes Time
11:17 The Invention Of The M25 Lift Paddle
17:55 The Is Purpose Of The Paddle?
20:18 Seeking Help To Launch M25
23:47 Product Design Is Based On The Fundamental Of Movement
28:28 Persistence Is The Key 

My guest today is Sam Laidlow who is considered one of the best triathletes in France today. He is born in the UK and was raised in French Pyrénées. Join us as Sam talks about his training, beliefs, and goals.

00:46 Working Hard And Working Smart
01:59 Dad As A Coach
03:39 Swimming 3X A Week
05:22 Big Part of Success In Swimming Is How Much You Enjoy It
06:06 There Is No One Way OF Swimming
08:18 Swimming With Stones
09:56 Strength Development
12:41 Go-To Sets
15:03 Should I Learn How To Flip Turn?
16:32 If You Don't Use It, You Will Certainly Lose It
17:47 Spending Too Much Time Running And Biking
19:16 Main Goals
22:38 Best Time
23:42 This Is What I Want To Do
27:29 Contact Sam Laidlow

I've got John Hancock to join me again on the podcast. He recently returned from having a successful crossing of the Cook Straight and is here today to share his experience and some of the preparations he did for the swim.

00:57 Where did this goal come from?
04:28 What are the preparation that you did?
09:33 17 hours of swimming in one week
12:46 How many Ks a week were you doing?
12:33 It's a very tidal crossing
17:59 Grateful to have a team of people supporting you
19:51 Covering yourself with grease
21:40 "If the swells on your side then surf across"
26:24 Was there anything that surprised you about the swim?
28:35 All about preparation and execution.
29:10 Surround yourself with people who want you to be successful
29:54 Do you feel like your achievement changed you as a person?
34:14 What's next for John?

Tim Ballantine is a full-time endurance coach and the owner of Koa Sports. In this episode, he shares about being a coach, finding your passion, not having all the answers and intensity in training.

02:56 Coaching Philosophy
05:30 "You've Got To Find What Works For You"
06:17 You Can't Be All Things To All People
07:01 "It's Not The Words, It's How You Say Them"
09:25 "If You Don't Like It, You're Not Going To Last Very Long"
10:31 There Is No Cookie Cutter Here
14:48 Swimming As A Barrier To Entry In Triathlon
19:02 Coaching Remotely
20:18 "Don't Be Afraid To Say That You Don't Have All The Answers"
24:20 Injecting Intensity In Swimming
31:19 There's Always Something To Work On

1:15 WHY? Total Body Force Swimming
3:50 do not focus on trying to feel the water
5:14 use whole body to create force
7:40 Bilateral breathing > Is bilateral breathing necessary?
9:21 TBF swimming gives both rhythm and balance >
12:08 straight arms recovery stroke
12:45 hand entry
13:15 head position
14:55 find the stroke that best suits you

Today, we are talking about the 5th and final Core Principle of Fast Freestyle: find your rhythm and timing.

00:36 The Dancing Part Of Freestyle
01:13 Kick Timing
04:35 Use Different Types Of Kick
10:33 Serape Effect
13:35 Hand Speed
14:07 Split Tempo
17:54 Drills
19:22 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course

My guest today is Scott Dickens, a two-time Olympian. And now director of Business Development at Form, who is one of our sponsors of the podcast. We will talk about the 8-Week Faster Freestyle course, how you can ensure you're making progress and the improvement you would want to see. Tune in now!

01:02 Technique Change
09:51 Change Doesn't Feel Good
12:18 Long Dog Paddle Drill
16:15 The Kick
21:05 8-Week Course Is now in Form Goggles
22:02 Week: 2 Posture, Head Position, And Kick
25:10 The Base Position In Freestyle
27:12 Using A Kickboard?
30:16 Wearing Fins
32:57 Week 8 - Stroke Rate
35:03 Hold Your Rating
41:24 What's The Biggest Benefit of Using Form
46:10 Small Incremental Change In Pool Can Be Very Impactful
47:18 What Happens When You're Learning A New Skill
48.34 The Optimum Goal Is To Be Able To Relax
49:58 What's Coming Out Next?

Today's podcast is entitled "The Best of 2017". We have compiled all of the best parts from all the podcasts across the year and put them on this episode. This special episode is a mix of everything--from ideas, skills, and techniques to becoming a lean athlete and swim fast to overcoming anxiety and uplifting your mental state. Thank you very much for a big year. Thanks again for listening. I will see you in 2018.

My guest in this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast is Karlyn Pipes. She is one of the top 10 Master Swimmers of all time and a multiple record holder in all 4 strokes in Masters Competitions.

My guest in today's episode is Melissa Hughes from Tasmania. We will talk about her remarkable journey into the world of triathlon.

01:19 I swim like a runner
02:30 Arms are a bit wide
04:17 How many swim sessions a week?
06:08 What is YMCA Drill?
08:43 Building Confidence in the race
11:44 I've got to overtake all the heroes!
13:08 Diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis
17:30 Thinking about doing the triathlon
19:19 Do you think you can continue training without doing any long-term damage?
20:29 What are you working towards or focusing on with your swimming?

In today's podcast episode, I want to talk about a book I recently listened to on Audible, The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. I wanted to share some learnings from this book that I thought were really good. I hope you enjoy this episode!

00:23 The Comfort Crisis
00:48 Problem Creep
02:44 Remind Ourselves To Be Grateful
03:02 Toughening Theory
03:47 Misogi
06:07 Doing Challenges
07:23 Better Perspective On What's Important
07:54 Creating Your Rites Of Passage
09:06 Being In Nature
10:14 Conversations Are More Meaningful
11:02 The Way To Combat Loneliness
12:19 Ditching Unnecessary Comfort

Our guest in this episode is Christian Schwaerzler, a triathlete who attended our Melbourne Freestyle clinic. He is an author, corporate coach and a speaker.

Christian weighed 135 kgs five years ago and he is now down to around 75 kgs. He lost 60 kgs as a result of changing his lifestyle, diet and exercise. He finished the Melbourne Ironman recently and training for another race in Zurich this year

In this episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Sara McLarty. She is a professional triathlete and a swimming coach based in Clermont, Florida. In December, I’ll be with Sara running the swim section at the Triathlon research Camp in Florida with Gwen Jorgensen and her coach Jamie Turner.  

In today's episode, I wanted to get Matthew Tones on the podcast to talk about how the 5-day catch challenge and 8-week faster freestyle course helped him get from 2:20 to 1:22 for 100 yards.

00:55 Swimming Background
03:10 Training Sessions
06:30 Started The 5 Day Catch Challenge
08:16 Immediate Results
10:15 Better Entry
11:02 Feel For The Water
12:05 Swimming With A Purpose
18:23 Training For A Triathlon
21.09 Gold Coast Open Water Swimming Club
21:54 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course
23:48 Swimming Knowledge
26:08 Power Diamond
32:27 What's Next?

Mitch Kibby is a professional triathlete who's placed 16th in the 70.3 World Championship. He began his triathlon career without a swimming background, and has gone on to compete with some of the strongest swimmers in the pro field. This is how he did it.

00:22 Introduction
00:57 Favourite cue
01:56 Kick
03:03  Breathing both sides
05:11 Catch and pull
08:38 Developing speed
09:57 Long-term approach to improvement
10:33 Finding the right company and support

Today we are talking about the third core principle of Fast freestyle which is Rock, Return And Align.

00:36 Rock v.s. Rolling
02:15 Return
03:24 Correct Entry
06:08 Align

In today's episode, I want to talk about five things that helped me break out of the swimming rut. For the last three months or so, since coming to the pool from our recent lockdowns, it's taking me ages to get back, much longer than what it had in the past. I want to share a couple of things that helped me finally get back down to the times that I was doing prior to the lockdowns.

01:06 Blow-Out Session
02:53 Sprint Session
04:00 Hard Massage
05:30 Kicking
06:29 Tune In To The Rhythm Of The Stroke

In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Eric Neilsen. Eric Neilsen is a multisport coach and consultant who works with athletes of all abilities from novice to professional, by providing personalized services that empower clients to achieve their full athletic potential.

Eric will be sharing about how he got started coaching, a few tips about triathlon training and the ABC's of optimal health and training.

In this episode, Carl Reader, an expert in exercise physiology and Pilates, discusses exercises that can improve movement patterns for swimmers. He focuses on the modified squat, which enhances mobility and activates the hip flexors, and the sumo squat, which targets inner thigh muscles and aids in knee stabilization. Carl emphasizes the importance of addressing imbalances and discusses the electrical system of the body. Tune in to learn how to enhance your swimming performance through improved movement patterns.

00:00 Introduction and Background
2:11 Modified Squat
4:53 Using Slant Boards and Rolled Mats for Better Squatting and Hip Flexor Activation
6:29 Sumo Squat
8:15 Understanding the Depth of Squats: Finding Comfort and Avoiding Back Strain
12:55 Common Movement Patterns in Swimmers
16:29 The Importance of Addressing Shoulder Imbalances in Swimming
19:49 Barefoot: Exploring the Connection Between Movement and Grounding
23:03 Muscle Warm-Up and Understanding the Body's Electrical System
24:48 Why patience and dedication are important for building strength and mobility
26:01 Get in touch with Carl!

Our guest in this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast is James O’Connor. He is a success and leadership coach at Elite Team Leadership where he works with a wide range of sports and athletes to help them improve their results in their chosen field. He is also host of the JocX podcast.

Today, we're thrilled to have triathlete Josh Salley sharing exciting updates on his technique and swimming breakthroughs. You can learn from his journey and find out the secret to his success. Get ready for an inspiring conversation!

02:33 Josh's Swansea Half Ironman Experience: Calmer and Faster!
07:21 Open Water vs. Pool Impact On Awareness?
10:32 Build Confidence In Open Water. Fear Fades With Time
12:34 Josh Shares His Progression And Coaching Insights
20:36 Consistency, Feedback, And Patience Led To Progress
21:51 Find What Works Best For You, Avoid Overthinking
24:09 Having Strong Foundation And Better Habits In Swimming
27:27 Believing In Yourself And Taking Your Place In The Race Leads To Better Results
31:56 Advice For Triathletes Struggling To Improve Their Swim
35:23 Focus On Progress, Not Pace. Be Obsessed With Improvement, And Use Feedback To Refine Your Technique.
37:43 Consistent Practice Helps Your Body Learn What Works

Our guest for today's episode is Carl Reader who is a Functional Movement Coach and a Biokineticist (Exercise Therapist). He's been helping athletes and clients move and exercise better or what is known as functionally. Join us as we discuss warm up, squats and functional movement.

Prescott Balch is an ironman triathlete who started at 2:10/100m, and is now able to consistently swim under 1:30/100m. He recently broke through a plateau in his swim times by focusing on one change to his swim technique. In this podcast we delve into what change Prescott made and some unique approaches he took to fixing these areas of his stroke. 

00:00 Introduction
01:09 Overcoming Plateaus and Finding Speed
05:27  Weak Core, Weak Performance
12:02 Body Awareness Challenges for Adult Onset Swimmers
16:35 How Dead Hangs and Handstands Improve Upper Body Strength
21:14 Executing a Well-Planned Race: Negative Splits and Smooth Pacing
30:45 How a Good Swim Sets the Tone for the Rest of the Race
34:57 What's next for Prescott?
38:27 Exploring the Concept of "Swimming Downhill"

How long does it take you to warm up in training? We share our favourite pre-training routine to improve shoulder stability and reduce the chance of injury.

In this 3-part episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Eney Jones. In part 1, we’ll talk about cues and analogies for faster swimming. In the second podcast, we’ll talk about gear for faster swimming and the third podcast of this series is about racing and rhythm and how you can put everything together to get a better result in your triathlon or swimming race.

In this podcast episode, we hear from Jay Mueller, an emergency doctor who started swimming 16 months ago after injuries led him to take up the sport, as he could no longer run or ride. When Jay first started, he was averaging 2:15-2:30/100m and finding he was exhausted after a few hundred meters. Fast forward to today, where he is consistently swimming between 1:20-1:30 in training, with a personal best of 1:06 in the 100m freestyle. Tune in to learn about his transformation and the lessons he has learned along the way.

00:00 Introduction and Background
4:21 Initial Pace and Improvement
7:21 From Fast Swims to Sustainable Laps
9:38 The Science Behind Shoulder Pain Relief through Static Hangs
15:27 Improving Rotation and Reach
18:22 Strategies for Maintaining Buoyancy and Momentum in the Water
23:15 The Challenges of Learning a New Skill
28:28 Importance of Body Awareness in Swimming Technique
34:09 Drills for Technique Improvement
37:47 Impressive Swimming Progress in a Short Time
38:34 Being Patient and Kind to Yourself

Eney Jones is coming back for the third time to share what she has been working with recently and about trying a different approach for triathletes who needs help with their swimming.

01:31 Origin Of Phrases That Swim Coaches Have Used
08:26 Core Connection
10:18 Working With Triathletes
12:43 The Mental Aspect
13:41 Aloha!
15:54 Alternate Ego
17:26 You Either Win Or You Learn
19:28 Between The Stimulus And Response
21:24 Going Back To The Fundamentals Of Breathing
22:49 Connecting To Your Breath
24:37 Shells And Rocks
32:36 One Size Doesn't Fit All

My guest today is Frank Sole who is a fellow coach from Arizona and the author of "The Five 'B' To A Succesful Triathlon Swim. Reading through his book, I found so many similarities about how we coach. I want to get him to the podcast because I think there will some good discussion about it and I would love to learn from other coaches.

01:14 Coaching Approach
03:16 Working With Masters And Triathletes
04:31 When Do You Expect To See Results
08:34 The Ability To Relax
15:11 Teaching The Right Posture
20:14 It's Always About The Swim But It's Not Always About The Water
24:57 Either You Got Or You Don't?
34:53 Multitasking
40:58 SR X SL=Velocity
52:41 More Mentally Tired Than Physically Tired
56:39 Opportunity To Improve
1:01Even Out Of Chaos Comes A Blessing

My guest today is Hollie Buerckner who just completed a 100km around the bay, starting from Port Melbourne finishing in Sorrento. Join us in this podcast as Hollie shares her experience during that 5 day swim.

4:52 Having a great support system is important

7:27 Unlucky Weather

8:28 First To Last Day Experience

13:47 Struggles

21:59 Block Negative Thoughts

26:30 Swimming With Your Old Self

31:11 Everything Comes To An End

33:56 Expand your Comfort Zone

40:10 Post Swim

48:50 It's Not About Winning, More on Improving Yourself

What if you could go from struggling at 2:20 per hundred to cruising at 1:55? Today's guest, Fraser Hill, did exactly that, and he's sharing exactly how he did it. Fraser started swimming as an adult, dabbled in triathlons, and eventually found himself diving deep into the world of technique, training, and open water swimming.

From joining an effortless swimming camp in the Maldives, to refining his stroke using simple but powerful cues, Fraser has transformed not only his speed, but his entire approach to swimming. In this episode, we talk about the key changes that made the biggest impact on his speed. The mental battles of open water swimming and how small tweaks like fixing body position and connecting the stroke led to massive breakthroughs.

If you've ever felt stuck in your swimming progress, Fraser's story will give you some practical takeaways to help you break through your own barriers.

01:48 Swimming Background
04:25 From 2:20 to 1:55
06:42 You Need Someone Else Giving You Feedback
09:48 Small Changes, Big Differences
13:19 Openwater Swimming
18:29 Next Big Improvement
27:06 Drills
31:48 Advise For Swimmers Who Are Struggling To Break The 2-Minute Mark

Studies show that if you are training with someone, you push yourself up to 16% - 18% harder than you would if you are training by yourself.

My guest today is Kiah Melverton who has just returned from Tokyo. She recently placed 6th in the 800m and the 1500m Freestyle. Join us as she talks about her experience during the trial, leading up to the Olympics and the Olympics.

1:33 Racing With No Crowd
4:31 Leading To Trials
5:40 5 Weeks Between Trials And Olympics
6:59 Is It Harder To Hit PBs in the Olympics?
7:50 First Race
9:02 Making The Finals
9:57 Fake Crowd Noises?
10:41 Sleeping At Night Before The Finals
11:40 Olympics Being Postponed For A Year
12:28 The Australian Team
15:55 Leadership Group
17:16 Watching It Live
19:32 Typical Week Of Training
21:30 Being A Distance Swimmer
24:54 Technique And Drills
28:24 Tension Is The Enemy Of Fast Swimming

Marc Evans joins us in this episode to talk about the possible things you can do at your home during these times. In this episode, Marc discussed maintaining the feel of the water, the importance of mobility, stability, and flexibility.

00:38 Triathletes In Motion
02:40 It's Not The Strongest Athlete That Wins The Gold Medals
06:19 Functional Strength
06:58 Most Of The Triathletes Underswim In Volume
08:01 Having A High Elbow Catch
08:40 Sculling Your Hands In A Tub Of Water
10:10 Mobility Test
11:30 Technique Is Related To Mobility And Stability
12:43 Put Your Heart Monitors And GPS Aside
17:24 Using Therabands
18:55 If You Can Get It Right Out Of The Water, You Can Get It Right In The Water
19:18 Fingertip Wall Slide
22:42 Q Swim App
23:09 Swimm Specific Yoga
23:48 Cold Showers

00:13 Introduction
00:37 Body Position and Kick Mechanics
01:58 Coaching Kyle Chalmers
03:01 Recovery and Entry
04:41 The Importance of Video Feedback
04:47 Setting Up Your Catch
5:46 Favorite Drills
7:56 Breathing Techniques
10:05 Coaching Philosophy and Common Mistakes
12:25 Challenging Training Sets
13:50 Memorable Races: Best and Worst
15:27 The Best Advice

Joining me today is Gerard Donnelly from Trivelo Coaching, an Australian champion and podcast host. His podcast is a go-to for triathletes seeking insights from his seasoned journey in the sport. We'll dive into life lessons from triathlon, smart training with technology, race focus, and the balance between short intense sessions and longer technique-focused ones. And, of course, get advice for those training for half or full Ironman events.

01:29 How the sport has changed in the past 30 to 40 years due to various evolutions
05:00 Getting ahead in technology helps coaches train athletes better
12:55 We've plenty of technology to test and train smartly, aiming for peak performance in races
15:44 Athletes should understand their body's feelings along with data for better decisions during races and training.
22:01 What does perceived exertion look like for most athletes?
27:15 Form goggles provide solo training feedback, crucial for refining swimming technique 
29:54 Avoid drifting and losing concentration during races
37:55 Key habits for faster triathlon swim times 
41:57 The fitness component is the key to holding the form
49:20 Shorter intense sessions VS Longer technique-focused ones 
53:10 What advice would you have for someone training for a half or full ironman?
58:10 A focused race plan lead to a positive experience and a more fulfilling life journey

My guest today is Ryan Roselli. He attended one of our freestyle clinics in Brisbane last March. During the Cairns Half Ironman, he managed to cut down 5 minutes of his swim time. In this episode we, talked about the things he focused on in his stroke, making the changes permanent and some advice to swimmers and triathletes who been wanting to improve their swimming.

16:12 Ryan's Swimming Background
02:43 Attending Effortless Swimming Freestyle Clinic
03:55 Key Point Take-Aways From The Clinic
06:07 Locking Changes as a Habit
07:36 First Couple of Weeks
10:15 Curve
11:28 Race Day Focus
16:00 Swim Time Target for the Next six to 12 months
16:34 Advice to Swimmers Wanting To Improve Their Time
17:55 Filming Yourself

In today's episode, I'm speaking with Dudley Duncan, a seasoned coach and author of The Art of Swimming and The Game of Racing. Dudley has spent years refining his approach to swimming and he's sharing some incredible insights that will help you improve both your mindset and your technique in the water.

We cover stroke mechanics, the power of visualization to boost your performance, and strategies to build confidence so that you feel stronger and more capable every time you swim. Dudley also talks about how to balance hard work with mental toughness, giving you practical tips to stay motivated and achieve your goals.

Whether you're training for a big race, or just looking to swim smoother and faster, this episode is packed with ideas to help you take your swimming to the next level. Let's dive in.

02:22 How Did You Get Into the World Of Swimming
05:40 Philosophy in Developing Personal Growth of Swimmers
08:02 Setting Standards
09:00 Pulling People Back In The Line
11:28 Pushing Athletes To Their Limit
14:20 Philosophy in Developing Good Technique
19:59 Kayak Analogy
21:43 Drills
26:42 Visualization
35:22 Developing Confidence
38:13 Dealing with Failure
40:48 Advise to New Coaches

In today's episode, I will talk about the equipment and pool toys that I recommend to the athletes that I coach. 

00:41 Have A Good Pair Of Fins
03:38 Paddles
05:51 Pull Bouy
06:45 Kickboard
07:20 Snorkel
08:15 Noseclip
08:38 Goggles
10:56 Heart Rate Monitor
11:50 Powermeter/Analysis

This episode's guest is Andre Obradovic. Andre is a mindset, health and well-being coach. Andre specializes in sleep. He works with executives and athletes in helping them get more control of their sleeping habits.

In this podcast, Andre will let us know about:

• the importance of sleep
• how it can affect your performance in the pool or in triathlon
• how it can affect your decisions and effectiveness when it comes to work, family and sport
• how you can utilize a software that analyses your sleep data

My guest today is Tim Reed, an Australian coach, and triathlete, who has had multiple Ironman and IM70.3 wins. I wanted to get Tim's perspective regarding swimming and coaching and discuss the struggles of transitioning from a professional athlete to a full-time coach.

01:15 Biggest Success In Racing
03:30 There Was No Overnight Success
04:51 Connecting With Athletes
06:38 A Powerful Combination
11:02 Pulling Back From Squad
14:13 Having The Evidence/Data
16:50 You Don't Need To Look Pretty
20:14 Stop Swimming Like Ian Thorpe
27:07 Correct One Thing At A Time
28:00 Swim Like No One Is Watching
29:17 Differences In Technique For People Getting Into A Wetsuit
32:02 Open Water Skills
35:13 Surrounded By Other Swimmers
37:27 Transitioning To A Full-time Coach
43:48 Training Sessions
47:55 What's Next?
50:02 Get In Touch With Tim

Melissa Urie is the first woman to complete 895km Uberman Ultra-Triathlon. In this podcast episode, she shares her experience during the race, doing training, and getting through the race with the use of mental strategies to survive the tough times.

5:22 Training For Uberman
10:23 The Power of A Positive Mindset
12:43 Proving Yourself That You Can Do It
13:51 Building Your Confidence
17:29 Giving Up Is Not An Option!
19:15 Post Race: Mental And Physical Recovery
25:24 Moving Forward By Going Back To Basics
29:18 Finding Identity Outside Of Sports Is Important Too
31:47 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
40:52 Training Session Management
43.24 Combat Decision Fatigue With Better Mental Habits
46:48 How To Trick Yourself Into Doing The Hard Things
55:00 What Keeps You Going?

We are joined today by Vicky Tate who has recently swam the 40 kilometr crossing of Lake. Earlier this year she made a crossing and she is one of less than a hundred swimmers who have completed the crossing. She came along to Hell Week last year, our Hell Week camp in Thailand and this was something that prepared for the swim. Join us we talk about her experience.

00:30 From Not Being Able to Swim a "K" to a 40 km Straight Swim
02:01 The Only Thing That Is Going To Stop You Is You.
04:58 Techniques Taken From Hellweek.
07:57 How Was It Like Mentally?
09:09 Swim Pacing In Lake Taupo
10:30 Motivation During The Swim
12:33 "Don't Look Forward and Don't Look Back"
13:36 Singing Songs And Counting Your Strokes
19:50 Feed During The Swim
22:08 Lake Taupo
27:28 Our Mind Can Get Accustomed Quickly
34:37 The Help Of The Community

My guest today is Ari Klau and he is a professional triathlete who started only at the beginning of this year. He essentially came from no swimming background at all and he is gotten to a point now where he swimming very well for someone who doesn't have a background in swimming. His background is running, he was an NCAA runner and that is particularly his strength but he is a very good cyclist as well. On this podcast, we explore what he is going through in the last year in terms of how he started with his swimming, where 's is he at now, and some of those things he has worked on and focused on with his technique to get to where's he at now. Enjoy!

3:15 Swimming Background
7:27 Start Of Training
9:38 Training Mindset
13:25 First Half Iron Man
16:04 Feel The Water
18:52 Finding The Balance
19:48 Making Some Changes
24:00 Video Analysis
26:35 Focusing On The Catch
30:21 Reaching The Minute Mark
42:21 "Feel For The Water"
46:44 Breathing

In this episode, we welcome back Dr Jim Taylor, a renowned psychologist specializing in sports and performance. Dr Taylor shares his insights and strategies from his recent experience at the World Championships in Spain. We discuss topics such as adjusting intensity based on race distance, effective focus and mindset for training and racing, and the importance of being brutally honest with oneself for improvement. Tune in for an enlightening conversation with Dr Jim Taylor.

03:34 Balancing Athletic and Professional Life
04:50 The Range of Physical Intensity in Swimming and its Impact on Performance
08:27 Finding the Balance Between Relaxation and Intensity
15:13 How to Clear Your Mind for Better Performance and What Happens When You Overthink in Races
18:14 Focusing on Higher Cadence and Intensity in Training
20:17 Progressing through Different Levels of Swimming
22:11 Developing a Mindset Plan for Racing
25:49 Tapping into Physical Fuel with the Mind
27:45 Practicing Mental Imagery for Race Preparation
29:20 Applying a Reality Check to Race Results and Performance Evaluation
31:46 The Value of Testing and Assessing Performance
36:44Having a Coach Analyze Data and Provide Insights
38:23 How to Get in Contact with Dr Jim Taylor

Today's episode is the Rottnest Swim Recap. We've got the winners Solomon Wright and Heidi Gan who won the male and female section in both record times.
Solomon just went under 4 hours and Heidi went 04:21. We've got them on the podcast today talking about their lead up to the race, how they fueled, their pacing, their strategy and you will also hear that both of them have a little bit of interrupted lead-up. We go into detail about what they did to combat that and how they managed to put 6-weeks of training in to still get a good result. We also have Lisandra de Carvalho on the podcast, my friend who has been in the earlier episodes, we talked about how we went to the race and how we found it.

Here some points that we have talked about.
Solomon Wright
-Solomon's injury before the race.
-Going for the "Rotto Feel"
-Feeding on the Race.

Heidi Gan
-Rottnest swim compared to 10k marathon swims.
-Having a slow pace at the start.
- Feeding Strategy
-Flu Before the race.

Lisandra de Carvalho
-The swimming community
-Conditions during the race
-The Swim Results
-The Mental Battle

Bobby McGee has 31 years of coaching experience. He started intensely coaching triathletes in 2002. He has coached the Olympic champion in Atlanta in a marathon. He also coached some age group race walkers, some amateur race walkers to world titles and then the last decade has been full on with the triathletes.

In this podcast, I'll interview Bevan McKinnon. Bevan is an elite level triathlete, a triathlon coach and co-host at Fitter Radio – a podcast that features professional triathletes and triathlon coaches.

Trent Grimsey is an open water swimmer, he is an Australian team member and most notably he has recently broken the English Channel world record. He went 6 hours 55 minutes, breaking the old record by 2 minutes and 50 seconds. We chat to Trent about the Channel swim but also his training, technique and how he avoids injury doing so many km’s in the pool.

I've known Grant through mutual friends for a quite a while. He is a Triathlon coach and to me, he is one of the best coaches that teaches and coaches a lot base on Mindset, Intuitiveness, and Beliefs. In the podcast, we talked about a lot of different topics from How to Change your Structured Beliefs, the methods and the questions that he asks his athletes in order to get them to change their beliefs. We also tackled overplanning races and how many people are too guarded and protective with the races that they do and following that plan to a tee can sometimes work against them as opposed for them. We talked about mindfulness and how you are better off focusing on the process in order to get in to flow.

On this episode, I was recently a guest on Kieser's Healthy to 100 podcasts. I was a guest there for two episodes. I thought it would be great to publish it in our own podcast because I think you will thoroughly enjoy the things we talked about in this podcast. It's pretty much going to basic with freestyle, with swimming and we looked at what really matters, what's worth knowing, what's worth doing when it comes to freestyle. I hope you enjoy this episode.

00:36 Background
02:13 Peak Of Swimming Career
04:35 Swimming Sessions
05:57 Training Sessions
06:52 Consistency
07:44 Load Management
08:27 Technique
10:02Common Technique Problems
13:26 Head Position in Pool And In Openwater
14:36 Alignment
17:13 Ripping the Band-Aid Off
20:53 Catch And Pull
21:35 High Elbow Catch
24:50 Shoulder Pain
32:43 Lower Back Pain

So excited to have Eney Jones back again as our guest in today's podcast episode. Eney is an open-water swim champion and a former triathlete. In this episode, we'll talk about coaching, drills, split tempo, and ways to swim faster.

01:22 Online Analysis
05:43 Power Phase - Power Diamond
07:18  Your Catch Is Dependent On Your Body Type
10:05 Scapular Mobility Is Important
10:43 Superhero Posture
12:50 Office Chair Swivel Drill
22:53 Split Tempo
27:55 Galloping Stroke
29:17 Breathing
33:46 Eney Bouy
34:55 Using Resistance Band
39:29 Get Your Mermaid Resistance Band
44:58 Contact Eney

In this podcast, our guest is Helen Walker who is a Physio for Athletes. The reason I wanted to get Helen on the podcast today is because she’s been doing screenings for the number of my swimmers because they want to get checked up if they’re inflexible in any areas or if they need to strengthen any parts of their body to make them a more well rounded and complete swimmer so that they not only swim better but avoid injuries.

Swimming can be compared to driving a car. In today's podcast, we share with you about going from manual mode to automatic. When training, we like our swimmers to be in the manual mode where they really need to focus so that they can coordinate these little elements together.If you can practice that in training, you come to a point where it starts to become more automatic and you almost completely switch off from thinking about your stroke. You can just go in the race mode and any technical focus has been made automatic and it has become a habit because you have practiced that in training.

Andre Obradovic joins us again in this episode as we talk about how to stop wasting your time and being more effective in your training.

00:53 Background on Being Productive
03:14 Structural Schedule
04:52 Today's Plan Scheduling App
09:37 Factoring The Appointments
16:08 Sticking To It
17:08 Getting Back On Track
18:37 "I Can't Do That, I Am Spontaneous"
19:02 Spontaneity
26:18 Being Conscious Of The Time You Are Wasting
28:35 First Steps

https://andreobradovic.com/

In today's episode, we will be discussing the core principle number four of Fast Freestyle, which is developing an effective catch and pull.

01:40 No Need To Overpower The Catch
03:07 Teaching The Four Key Positions
04:00 Start Of The Catch
06:00 High Elbow Catch
07:35 Power Diamond Position
10:20 Exit Of The Stroke
11:36 YMCA Drill Progression
14:38 More Drills To Work On Your Catch
15:07 Setup Phase
16:35 Path Of The Hand
17:57 Hand Speed

My guest today is Jeff Grace from Swimming Specific Yoga. Jeff has been in the podcast before. Now he is coming back to talk more about body awareness, mobility. preparation and many more.

02:26 Moving Better With Yoga
04:55 Body Awareness in Overhead Movements
06:55 Thoracic Mobility
08:18 Increasing Thoracic Spine Mobility
12:36 Rock Not Roll
13:21 Cross-Body Connections
15:05 How You Perform Drills Is More Important Than How Many Drill You Do
17:04 Activation and Relaxation
18:44 Effortless Effort
23:10 The Breath
26:02 Preparation

Speed, strength and power is crucial to high performance swimming.

Wayne Goldsmith has worked with Swimming Australia and Triathlon Australia and shares his top strategies to generating more speed in your swimming. We also talk about different types of training methods, different tools you can use in your workouts.

Do you only have one speed?
In this episode, we are talking about developing your gears as a swimmer. If you want to develop your ability and your skills as a swimmer or as a triathlete, then it is going to really pay off to be able to adjust the effort you put in and the speed that you get back as a result of it. We are also talking about the common mistakes that people make when they struggle to increase their speed.

01:15 Accordion Effect

02:23 Apply More Pressure and Power At The Front Of Your Stroke

03:31 Difference In Speed Is Minimal

07:25 Tighten Up The Kick

08:41 Tuning Into Your Breathing

In this week's episode, I want to cover the foundation on how we teach technique and the structure that we follow when we analyze stroke which is the 5 Core Principles of Fast Freestyle.

01:45 Use Your Diaphragm
02:29 Breathing Exercises Out Of The Water
03:42 Box Breathing
04:04 Relax Your Chest And Upper Back
05:38 Having The Right Posture
06:52 Letting Go When You Exhale

The 5 Core Principle Of Fast Freestyle:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-core-principles-of-fast-freestyle/

Carl Reader is joining us again in today's podcast episode. He is a Functional Movement Coach with a background in Exercise Physiology and Pilates. We will talk about the importance of upper and lower body connections and an exercise that can help you achieve better posture and mobility.

03:56 One Of The Best Ways To Get Your Body Connected
07:26 Case Study 1: Chronic Hip And Hamstring Problems
10:58 Case Study 2: Muscle Imbalance
12:08 Rotational Balance
13:41 Hip Flexor Tightness
17:45 Tight Hip Flexors Can Affect Breathing
18:53 Lack Of Shoulder Mobility
20:39 A Simple Exercise That Can Help You A Lot
21:55 Functional Movement Course
22:33 Get In Touch With Carl!
22:49 Coaching Online

Our guest for this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast is fun, inspiring and motivating. Kim Schwabenbauer is a professional triathlete from the U.S. and a nutritionist.

Kim will talk about:

• her experience when she broke a collarbone, thinking she would never be
• able to swim again and turning pro just three years later
• nutrition and training
• what she gets out of the sport
• reason for her motivation

01:33 - Breaking a Collarbone: Adversity or an Advantage?
03:50 - On coming out stronger...
05:45 - It's part of the journey.
09:22 - What do you get out of triathlon the most?
10:42 - Triathlon rewards consistency.
20:58 - Learn the basics and build the propulsion.
39:36 - Feeling like a kid in a candy store.
45:56 - Kim's Process in Evaluating Athlete's Nutrition
55:06 - "They've found the formula for success and they're not messing with it..."
01:08 - How much balance do you need in your life?

To learn more about Kim and work visit her website www.fuelyourpassion.net

Welcome to the third and final part of this three-part podcast with Brant Best. We worked together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps athletes swim faster. Tune in now! 

02:50 More isn't BETTER
05:27 Elbow is too high for too long 
10:43 Extreme high elbow catch
13:17 "Ladder" cue
16:28 More episode with Brant coming soon!

Julie McDonald is one of Australia’s most celebrated Swimmers. She’s competed in 2 Commonwealth Games and 2 Olympics. Julie held the Commonwealth Record for the 800m freestyle for 21 years, the longest standing record for any Australian. Join me as Julie talks about her experience competing in the Olympics.

00:46 Exciting Swimming Events Going On
06:00 Is It All About The Gold?
10:10 Going To My First Olympic
13:08 Getting Your Head Into The Right Space
16:47 Olympic Flashback
19:52 Best Swim
22:17 Second Olympic Performance
27:39 Listen To Your Body
28:51 Using Logbooks
30:50 Hardest Week Of Training
34:43 Transition From Athlete to Working
39:51 Positive Mindset Is A Daily Activity
46:27 Consistency

The 66 day and 18 month rule is a good rule to live by to replace old habits and become competent at a skill. Most people don't stick with something long enough to see results, especially when it comes to changing their swimming.

Gary Hurring is a former swimmer and a coach from Wellington, New Zealand. Gary won the gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in the men's 200 meters backstroke and silver medal in the same event at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships. He finished fourth in the 100m and fifth in the 200m at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He was also appointed as New Zealand's swim team coach at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In this podcast, we discuss the principle of the 'Pit of discomfort' and how to change your technique in swimming. We also talk about the mindset needed to overcome negative thinking.

In this podcast, we welcome back Eney Jones who is a successful Master’s swimmer, open water swimmer, and an accomplished triathlete. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado and has worked with many of the top triathletes to help them improve their swimming. She is also the creator of the Eney Bouy.

She was on the podcast many times before talking about technique, posture, tempo, catch and pull, open water racing tips and awareness in the open water. In this episode, we talked about her latest research On Swimming Fast in Open Water. This episode is one you shouldn’t miss!

There are some beliefs that will help you and there are some beliefs that are keeping us from achieving our full potential. Ask yourself. What are the beliefs that are holding me back?

In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, our guest is Mark Breadner. Mark has done a lot of work with the Australian team in relation to some strength and conditioning work, some mindset training. Mark is going to talk about that and how you can implement it into your own swimming and triathlon training to help improve your performance.

This week, we are featuring some of the best bits from 2024. We had dozens of different guests on, and we've picked out what we think are some of the highlights, some of the best bits from some of those episodes. So it's like a highlights reel for 2024.

And if you have listened to this show once or a hundred times, If you haven't left us a review in the Apple app store or on Spotify, it would mean a lot to me. If you could do that, it helps us out and helps us get in front of more people. I'm looking forward to 2025. We've got some big plans for the podcast, our YouTube channel, and then also the clinics and the camps that we run.

So if you haven't joined us on any of those things and you'd like to, you can head to effortlessswimming.com. If you're in Sydney, we've added a bunch of more clinic dates for freestyle and fly back and breast. Through late December and early January. So if you are in Sydney at that time, come and check us out there.

And you can find that on our website as well at effortlessswimming.com. Let's get into this week's episode highlights from 2024.

01:18 James Lawrence
02:44 Sharon Van Rouwendaal
05:11 Hollie Buerckner
06:49 Jarrod Briffa
08:55 Dan Eisenhardt
10:07 Dean Summers
13:18 Tracey Baumann
14:44 Nick Jankovskis
17:04 Jaimie Fuller
18:17 Craig Lewin
20:02 Sharon Van Rouwendall and Moesha Johnson
22:32 Bek Keat
23:56 Sandra Harrell
26:09 Laura Quilter
28:18 Kat Matthews
30:39 Ryan Evernden

In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, my guest for the third time is Steph Lowe - The Natural Nutritionist. We will talk about the truth about carbohydrate loading before your race week.

Today, we’re joined by Craig Lewin, founder of Endurance Swimming, who discovered his passion in the open water. Though he started as an average swimmer in the pool, Craig found his stride in marathon swimming, where endurance and mindset matter more than speed. In this episode, he shares his journey and insights on tackling challenging open water swims. Tune in now!

01:24 Journey into Marathon Swimming 
06:01 Building a Support Network and Mentors
13:05 Training and Recovery Strategies
15:25 Patience in Progress: The Long-Term Training Mindset
18:15 Embracing the Flow: Letting Go of Pace in Long Swims
20:45 Tempo vs. Stroke Length
22:30 Mental Preparation and Long Swims
27:35 Building Confidence Through Repetition
28:36 Finding the Right Coach for Long Swims
31:05 Get in touch with Craig!

For this episode, we talk about how wearing a watch in training affects focus and technique in swimming.
If you are using a watch when swimming, a little experiment that we would like you to try is that for 2 weeks leave your watch in your bag or at home and see how you get to track your swimming with your focus, feel and technique, and perception.

This podcast episode is from the audio of our Facebook Live and we talk about my consolidated thoughts on what most triathletes and open water swimmers can do to swim faster this 2018.

Today’s guest is professional triathlete, Josh Amberger. In the last 12 months, he’s won a range of 70.3 distance events including Port Macquarie, Challenge Half Shepparton and Western Sydney 70.3. He’s first out of the water in most triathlons. We talk to Josh about how he became such a good swimmer and triathlete.

Felipe Telles broke the magical 60-minute barrier in his first ever Ironman swim, coming in at 56 minutes with an average of 1:28/100m. When he first started swimming a few years ago, Felipe struggled to go faster than 2:00/100m. So how did he manage to increase his speed by that much? Find out in today’s podcast episode.

00:56 Swimming Background
03:34 The Impact of Learning the Right Technique
07:09 How Relaxation Transforms Your Swim
09:50 The Benefits of Incorporating Drills in Swim Workouts
13:18 Structured Sessions: Warm-ups, Technique, and Intense Training
16:46 Finding the Balance: Consistency vs. Pushing Too Hard in Training
20:35 How to Get the Most Out of Your Swim Training
24:23 How Observing Others Can Improve Your Technique
31:20 Catch and Pull: Finding the Right Amount of Power
37:23 Swimming Tips for Triathletes: Small Changes, Big Results
41:24 Follow Felipe on Instagram for Inspiring Content

In this episode, we discuss three ways to generate more propulsion without getting tired, along with a drill that will help you practice each of these methods.

00:16 Generating propulsion
01:31 The Size of the Paddle
03:44 The Power Phase of the Stroke
08:31 Accelerate through the Stroke.
11:01 Keyhole Drill
12:58 Building Power and Speed in Your Stroke

 My guest today is Mark Evans, who is returning to the podcast after eight years. He is a former coach for the National USA Triathlon team and is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and extensively researched individuals in this field. In today's episode, we will explore the catch and techniques for continuous improvement. (Listen to the PART 1). Link in bio. 

03:54 Triathlon and Swimming Background
07:32 Triathletes in Motion
08:38 Turning Vision into Reality
12:48 High Elbow Catch Is Essential For Improved Swimming
16:18 Correcting Straight Arm Pull
19:08n Combining Good Technique With Volume And Consistency
20:42 Backstroke Is An Amazing Way To Learn Freestyle
21:14 Vertical Kicking Is An Amazing Tool For Swimmers
24:22 Magic Bullets Are In Fundamentals
27:25  Applying Less Force And Holding Less Water
29:15 Ladder Cue

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to analyze the strokes of over 8,000 swimmers and triathletes, ranging from beginners to elite professionals. Throughout this experience, I've discovered the key factors that set fast, efficient swimmers apart from those who struggle to improve.

In this video, I'll be sharing the most valuable lessons I've learned from analyzing swimmers of all backgrounds worldwide. I'll debunk common myths and misconceptions often heard around the pool deck and reveal what truly makes the difference between a smooth, efficient swimmer and someone battling their way through the water.

1:07 Strava Is A Lie
02:47 Ignore Most Advice
04:01 Most Adults Overthink 
05:28 Swimming Is Not Running Or Biking
06:27 The Harder You Try To Force Speed, The Further Away It's Going To Get
07:01 Confidence Comes From Seeing Small Improvements 
08:24 Your Catch Is The Same In All Your Strokes
09:04 Look At The Things That Will Actually Move The Needle
12:36 We Are Own Harshest Critic-Nobody Cares
14:08 Swimming Is As Much Mental As It Is Physical
15:37 Swimming Is Like Watering Seeds
16:49 From Aerobic To Muscular To Aerobic 
17:43 You Just Need To Do The Work
18:21 We Need Reminding Of Things More Than We Need To Learn New Things
20:31 Focus On Fundamentals
21:16 It Will Take Longer Than You Think

In this podcast, we have Steph Saullo. She is a nutritionist who will share with us how you can get better performance in your swimming or triathlon by fuelling yourself better.

We'll cover:

• fundamentals in nutrition that every athlete should know
• common misconceptions about food and nutrition
• case studies of athletes that Steph has worked with
• what types of athletes should get a personal plan from their nutritionist and why they should do it
• supplements and what type of athletes should take them

In today's episode, we have a fascinating story of transformation. Our guest, pro triathlete Will Draper, started his swimming journey with poor technique and average performance. However, through dedication and hard work, he has completely transformed his swimming abilities. From being unrecognizable in his stroke analysis video in 2019 to becoming a pro triathlete in 2021, Will's progress is truly remarkable. Join us as we dive into Will's journey, exploring the strategies and mindset that fueled his transformation. Discover how Will bridged the gap from a non-swimming background to now swimming strongly, only seconds away from the front pack. Tune in now!

02:04 Introduction and Background
03:46 The Key Moment: Choosing Triathlon Over Cycling
05:52 Training Regime and Approach to Swimming
08:29 Benefits of Training in a Squad vs. Training Alone
10:43 Viewing Swimming as an Infinite Game
12:48 Overcoming Mental Barrier
15:52 Diversifying Workouts: Incorporating Longer Intervals for Speed Work
20:44 Lessons Learned from a Challenging Race
24:35 Transformation from Poor Swimmer to Competitive Triathlete
28:02 Swimming Confidence and Appearance
31:27 Advice for Non-Swimmers in Triathlon
37:25 Triathlon Goals: Aiming for the Front Pack
40:50 Importance of Video Analysis and Making Small Changes
42:47 Follow Will Draper on Instagram

Join us on today's episode as we interview Flynn Southam, a talented young Australian swimmer who has already achieved remarkable success at the age of 18. He's been in the Commonwealth Games team and won numerous gold medals at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. We delve into Flynn's unique perspective on technique, exploring the key aspects he focuses on and the mindset he maintains during training and races. Discover the one phrase his coach told him that completely transformed his training approach, turning him into a dedicated and determined athlete. Tune in now!

02:12 Representing Team Australia at a young age
03:13 Australian Team Wins Gold in 4x100m Freestyle Relay at World Champs
07:05 Breakfast with Michael Phelps at the hotel
08:27 Chasing Olympic Dreams: Why Not?
10:22 The Moment Flynn Realized He Could Compete with the Best
11:53 Overcoming Self-Doubt and Making a Comeback
14:46 The Role of Mindset in Achieving Flow State in Competitive Swimming
16:10 Creating Art on Race Day: The Power of Rituals
17:27 Mastering Body Position and Front Catch
22:14 Core and Functional Movement Workouts
24:32 Flynn's Favorite Training Set
27:29 The Power of Anaerobic Conditioning
30:00: The Use of Swim Parachutes for Drag and Resistance Training
34:19 Training with a Great Group of Mates
35:20 Mentoring Young Swimmers: Common Struggles and Advice
41:13 What's Coming Next for Flynn?

My guest today is Brian Johns who is a three-time Olympian former world record holder in the 400 IM and, the head of coaching science at FORM. In this episode, we will talk about improving your technique using FORM goggles and how important reliability and consistency are to transform your swimming.

00:47 Best achievement: Coming back from injuries
03:52 Focus on the process and getting better every day
07:18 Get yourself in a squad environment
11:55 Understanding how DPS and SR lead to increase speed
17:34 How can you find the sweet spot with stroke rate and stroke length?
22:24 Applying progressive overload principles to Workouts
30:53 Applying race results to training and improvement
33:56 Changes to stroke rate and effort are very incremental
40:58 Has anything been interesting regarding the swim data that the FORM collected?
43:10 Knowing the fundamentals and the basics goes a very long way
44:06 Reliability/consistency are the key
45:25 Be mentally switched on

In this podcast, we'll be looking at mistakes to avoid when doing your workout...

My guest is Tim Ford, who is someone I've known for the last few years, and a number of years ago, he started his triathlon journey and over that time he's lost more than 50 kilos. He's completely changed his life with respect to his health, his fitness, and his work, and I think it's a really good story to share on how a simple idea can spark a complete life change in someone.

On today's episode, we look at what are some of those things that Tim has changed to turn around his life and become a completely different person and we also share some of the things that we feel can help other people become better athletes, whether that's a triathlon or whether it's swimming. And focusing on the things that you can control and that you can change and why it pays to always have a longterm approach to this stuff.

03:07 "I Stopped Weighing Myself When I Reached 120 Kilos."
05:11 "My First Triathlon Was A Disaster"
07:20 "I Bought A Fancy Carbon Fiber Bike After My First Race"
09:11 Triathlon Is More Of A Race Against Yourself
10:13 What Motivates You?
12:14 Little Improvements
15:24 The Switch
20:07 When Your Hobby Becomes Your Job
21:33 Being A Coach
25:17 "I'd Rather And Potentially Fail At Something That I Really Care About, Rather Than Never Try At All"
27:35 Collaboration Is The Most Underrated Thing In Our Sport
30:55 Stepping Out OF Your Comfort Zone
32:37 Hardwork and Commitment Often Leads To Good Things
33:04 Leaving The Judgement Aside
39:05 Coming Up For Tim Ford