HR, Effort & Ease | Mediterra Swim & Run

Relaxation Comes From Appropriate Stiffness

by Coach Mat | 5 Feb, 2023

Do you seek more relaxation in your swimming experience? This overall relaxation is actually a product of a balance between softness and stiffness around the body, and the balance of these shifts through the stroke choreography. Softness allows tissues to rest and...

Endless Pool Review + Stroke Demo

by Coach Mat | 12 Mar, 2016

Last July I had the opportunity to get a little practice time in the Endless Pools Performance model unit owned and operated by my TI Master Coach colleague Tracey Baumann, Swim Solutions UK. The studio is located in Wraysbury, near Windsor, near London UK, where she...

Special Stamina Part 1

by Coach Mat | 26 Dec, 2015

I received a request from one of you to talk about building stamina. Stamina is defined as ability to withstand hardship, to maintain strength over a longer period of time. I might add to this by saying stamina is the ability to be stronger than the hardship facing...

Swimmer Speed Curve – Part 1

by Coach Mat | 3 Oct, 2015

I have been working on a presentation to improve understanding of ‘Easy Speed’ and ‘Smart Speed’ concepts in the Total Immersion swimming framework, as I see it. I will break this presentation down into 4 parts. Let me post some diagrams to...

Metrics In Open Water: How To Train

by Coach Mat | 20 Jul, 2014

For most swimmers who desire it training in open-water may still only be an occasional or seasonal experience. That means most swimmers practice in the pool, swimming and measuring things between walls – this is ‘normal’ while swimming without walls...

Metrics In Open Water: Measuring Improvement

by Coach Mat | 21 Jun, 2014

When training in open-water how do I measure improvement? The best arrangement is to set up two fixed points (as described in the previous post), and then measure 2 of the 3 variables in the Pace equation: Pace = SPL x Tempo More specifically, for calculating Pace at...