Total Immersion: a technique school for swimming
The three steps
| Step | What it teaches (according to the organisation) |
|---|---|
| 1. Comfort, control, confidence | Balance and core stability, for a horizontal position without kicking hard. |
| 2. Less drag | A long, steady body shape against pressure drag, and fewer waves, bubbles and splash against wave drag. |
| 3. Move from the core | Rhythm and power start in the core and flow to arms and legs. |
For the organisation, fitness is built while you learn the skill.1
Stroke length and tempo
According to Laughlin the foundation of speed is stroke length: in freestyle, 55% to 65% of your height or more per stroke, converted into strokes per length (SPL) with height-indexed charts. He also says studies on speed point to it as the main factor: this is the author’s statement, not checked here.2
To go faster he proposes holding a stroke count and raising stroke tempo a little: if strokes per length stay the same, raise it again; when they go up, that is the level to work at until it becomes easy. He cites USA Swimming Olympic Trials data as the basis, not re-examined here.2
Illustrative example
A swimmer counts 18 strokes per 25 m at a comfortable tempo. She raises the tempo slightly and counts again: if it stays 18, she raises it again. When she reaches 19, that tempo is her current limit and she trains there until 18 is easy again. The number 18 is an example, not a target: the count depends on height, pool and push-off.2
Limits
- Commercial sources from the organisation: no independent verification or comparison with other approaches was searched.
- It describes technique and a way of organising sets, not a weekly programme with volumes or intensities.
- The stroke-to-height ratio is the author’s criterion: it is not shown to be the right target for every swimmer.
- For the high-intensity method see USRPT; for critical speed the CSS sheet.
Sources
- Total Immersion, About TI Technique. totalimmersion.net. Read.
- Terry Laughlin, Three “Secrets” of Swimming Faster, 20 May 2016. totalimmersion.net. Read.
Sources read on 29 October 2026.