Feedback from TI swimmers:
June 2008
"Dear Dunstan and Ben,
May I just thank you once again for your labour of love in passing on the TI tools to us at the weekend workshop. It has also been so lovely to meet you both. Dunstan, your philosophies and outlook on life are inspiring. Ben, your patience and encouragement are much appreciated. A highlight for me was watching you both do the drill at the end when one sped up and then slowed down to end together. It was fabulous to watch!
I went for a swim today, firstly just working on breath control. I found that if I basically held my breath, I was fine. I could still be relaxed while holding my breath and that way, maintained a better bouyancy. I ended up doing drills and laps for 2 hours!! (Not non-stop, but constant) It was great to piece it all together at my own pace! It really felt fantastic! Yesterday, I was too caught up in trying to remember stuff that I found it hard to count strokes. Today I counted 17 strokes for every 25m lap. That is a real encouragement! I also caught the attention of someone who was intrigued as to what I was doing. He said it looked like some kind of water ballet. After the 2 hours, I got out and felt like I had just had a massage. Very relaxed, not fatigued at all. That is amazing for someone who has not swum freestyle for years!
There is a long way to go for me. I stil have to figure out my breathing properly, but I have sure come a long way! Thank you so much for helping me get to where I am."
Emily - Cremorne, NSW
"I am totally moved by you and your team's passion for believing
that everyone can develop such a beautiful experience with water.
Evidenced based techniques - connecting science and art as you call it.
Thanks for the great weekend! I definitely feel truly inspired!"
Khrys - Newtown, NSW
May 2008
"Hi Dunstan!
I went for two swims this weekend - not long ones but very enjoyable.
On Saturday I went with two other ladies at Port Beach (Fremantle) and although they swim a lot more regularly than I do I had to keep stopping and waiting for them. I was very happy with my swimming and I wanted to tell you that since doing your weekend workshop I didn't feel any tension in my shoulders when I finished this swim on Saturday. It all felt so easy and relaxed - you know how I love swimming in the ocean. After the swim one of the ladies said to me, "I envy you, the way you swim, it's just so relaxed and effective!" You can imagine how that made me feel!! Thanks for the great training Dunstan!"
Yvonne - East Victoria Park, WA
"I thoroughly enjoyed doing the Total Immersion course with you in Brisbane over Easter and can’t thank you enough for making it available to me. I gained so much out of it, and although the pool is now closed in Goondiwindi I am really looking forward to getting stuck into it again in spring time. Hope fully there will be an opportunity to catch up with you again for some kind of refresher as you were talking about, I’m sure that would be very beneficial. Having done the course with Drew will make it much easier to get back into the swing of things. I also enjoyed your approach to the course and your approach to life in general. It was very refreshing and really added to the experience, as did the location.
Thanks again Dunstan"
Jeremy - Goondiwindi, QLD
"Thanks again for your coaching over the weekend. You have a very positive and supportive style. On reflection you never once focused or pointed out areas of weakness – it was always what we did well. This is a rare quality.
Look forward to catching up on your next trip (interested in Rottnest)"
Phil - Wembley Downs, WA
April 2008
"Thank you so very much for all yr patience, time, training and encouragement during the Taster, Cottesloe surf awareness, and yesterday's Backstroke, Breather and Freestyle.
Thank you also for all the countless snapshots, I really appreciate it, it really feels good to look back at the stages of progression, the memories will only boost my confidence and help me focus on the next steps towards TI freestyle and backstroke. I am really happy that I achieved my first goal of the Taster.
I learnt to relax so much standing up from backfloat and that really surprised me ! The snap proves it !
I will always recommend TI to any of my friends or 'would be learners', you now know how crazy I am about TI.
Thanks again, all the best, and have a safe trip back home."
Susan - Stirling, WA
February 2008
"Had my first Open Water Swim since working on my new improved thrust…..and improved my position into the top 20 of the 50+ age group….
One of the competitors that I have been consistently 1-2 minutes behind in each of our previous 5 races over 1.2km…..was only 4 secs ahead of me on Saturday..
I am rejuvenated and really looking forward to this week’s 1.5km race.
Looking forward to catching up again soon."
Peter - East Brighton, VIC
January 2008
"Just to give you some feedback since the session on Tuesday evening….
Have had two “Open Water” training sessions since then (Wednesday and this morning)
Yesterday my training partner asked……”What did you have for breakfast this morning?? ..You’re flying…………
All I was doing was what you showed me…Dropping my hand just over my ear and then Driving my hand (via the core) forward…and I was able to get that “Propulsion” that I was not getting before…….The pennies are starting to drop…I’m sure there are more to go….but I am re-invigorated..
I was trying to explain this to my training partner…..who then paid me a “great” compliment…….she said “You somehow look more graceful in the water”……This was magic to my ears……..So thank you….
I am looking forward to this weekend’s swim at Dromana…."
Peter - East Brighton, VIC
November 2007
"Thanks heaps for the help before my Xterra race. Ended up having a great day – my swim out performed all the other disciplines – the bubble approach worked superbly and in fact I never have been so relaxed before an event – 5 minutes before the start my hr was only 65!
23 minutes for the swim (2 x 750m) including a 500m sand run and run up to transition was not too bad and I was coming out of the water with quite a few pros!
The whole race for me went amazingly well physically and mentally – just unfortunate that I ended up with 2 flats (one quite major) which cost me around 13 – 15 minutes. Saying that though, the 'bubble approach' I used in the swim was very usefully while changing my flats and seeing the rest of the field go by!
It was great to finish and ending up 14th in my age group out of 69 was very pleasing. Even more rewarding was knowing that without the flats I WOULD have finished in the top three. So now I have an excuse to go and do it again!
Given I swam only 2 – 3 times a week (often only 2) for an hour at a time I believe my return on investment was huge."
Patrick - Auckland, NZ
October 2007
"I have completed 10 Ironman events in New Zealand, the most recent one being in March 2007. It was my best swim ever! It wasn't my fastest, but it was the most enjoyable and relaxing.
On the Friday before the event, Dunstan Bertschinger from Total Immersion Swimming gave a very informative and inspirational speech. He mentioned things like - relaxing, gliding, balance and most important to me was, he said to imagine my self enclosed in a "Pod"; and this was the secret for me.
Along with relaxing and gliding I got through the 3.8km swim with great ease and surprised myself with my time, as I don't train with a squad so most of my training is done alone. I swam 1hr 16mins.
I am 56 years of age and work a full time job, so it is never too late to learn something new and I totally recommend the Total Immersion way."
Phil - Auckland, NZ
April 2007
"The workshop was very rewarding. It was anything but generic as all participants were taught at their level. Now I use the TI concept to guide my own pool sessions where I concentrate on some aspect of my stroke whenever I swim.
Since the workshop I use the concepts of TI whenever I swim. The small suggestions from the instructors pop into my head as I do my laps and I try to have a real sense of my body as I move through the water.
I competed in a long course tri early 2007 and swam the 2k in 32mins. I felt amazing as I ran up the stairs from the beach to transition.
And so to Ironman. My 3.8k swim, that day was the best I have ever felt in the water. No shoulders screaming as I used my TI hints to move through the water. I got out with 57mins on the clock.
I have often thought that perhaps it was my increased fitness that produced these results. However I do not train to excess. I train smart and I think that my emphasis on technique (even though I am not always "drilling") has been the base for my improvement.
I had my first swim leg win on the weekend. A short corporate triathlon. First out of the water and did not get overtaken for the rest of the day. TI gives you the mental approach to swim smooth and efficently and FAST."
Andrew - Wollstonecraft, NSW
March 2007
"Two years ago swimming a length of a 50m pool in freestyle left me panicked and gasping for breath at the end of it. I'd never been a good swimmer because I'd never learnt the skill properly.
I remember my first "TI" swimming lesson vividly. I swam / struggled about 25m after which time Dunstan said "ok, let's go over to one of the other pools and have a chat". So we went from the "big pool" to the "baby pool" where we paracticed backfloating. I remember thinking that I must be an even worse swimmer than I thought if I had to go back to backfloating and wondering what on earth backfloating had to do with freestyle anyway!
I knew absolutely noting of TI before that first lesson and had even less of an appreciation of just how different my life would be as a swimmer. Fastforward about four months where I find myself in a TI weekend workshop. We started in a classroom and it was interesting to hear the variety of reasons why people were there. That weekend workshop changed my swimming and my life in ways that it's difficult to explain now. It was one weekend but it's made the world of difference to me. Now, an ocean swim is something to enjoy rather than to fear.
Shortly before IM 2007 I was watching the sun rise over Balmoral Beach and was struck with the realisation of just how far I'd come in such a short period of time. The girl who couldn't swim was swimming happily at dawn, all by herself, about to race her first ever Ironman with a 3.8km swim. And I wasn't even worried about whether I'd make it. Of course I would. Now that was something to smile about and smile I did."
Wendy - Wollstonecraft, NSW