Extraordinary swimming for every body: A guide to swimming better than you ever imagined
Terry Laughlin
New Paltz, N.Y.: Total Immersion, 2006
Call no.: R 797.21 LAU
Available for reference at the National Library

Few people are born with an innate gift for swimming and fewer yet become elite level Olympic swimmers. Most people either struggle to learn on their own or engage a coach to learn how to keep afloat. While children are fast learners and pick up swim skills relatively quickly and easily, adult learners tend to take longer due to a variety of reasons, such as water phobia, muscular disuse, stiff joints and coordination difficulties.

This book is written for these people in mind - the average recreational swimmers who constantly fight the aquatic elements instead of using the flow of the water to help them swim better. Advanced and competitive swimmers will also benefit from reading this book, which offers new insights and discusses the latest training techniques.

All rights reserved, Total Immersion 2006

Divided into three parts, the first section of the book examines some of the common swimming challenges people face and the skills that one should master to overcome them. The second section explains how to swim efficiently through applying the principles of how the body interacts with water to achieve longer strokes, an optimal stroke length, efficient kicks, effective sculls and strong propulsion by using the core muscles. It includes individual chapters on the four specific swim strokes - butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle.

As the founder of the total immersion (TI) method, in the last section of the book, the author discusses how to incorporate the TI method in to the swim training, to develop comfort and self-awareness (phase one), to swim with consistently effective and efficient strokes (phase 2), and to swim further and faster with the least effort (phase 3).

The total immersion website www.totalimmersion.net provides a wealth of information and advice that can be used to supplement this book. Video clips of specific TI drills can also be viewed online. A Discussion Forum thread on this book is also available on the website where insights and experiences from other swimmers are shared.

You can check the availability of the book at: http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg

Written by Sharon Teng
Reference Librarian (Reference & Research Services)
National Library Singapore

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