SwimMastery Switzerland

13/04/2026

Nice demo how we can improve the recovery in freestyle.

02/03/2026

That’s physics!

03/02/2026

12/04/2025

If we want to change anything in our swimming, we have to stay VERY focussed - otherwise we'll go back to default pretty quickly, actually as soon as we loose the focus.

The human brain is a lazybones: it wants to go back to what it already learnt.
So the brain thinks it's a huge effort to "unlearn" one thing and "relearn" something else instead.
But why is it so difficult - and why does it take so many focussed repeats to get the changes in the body?

The axons (nerve fibres) in the brain are projections of nerve cells.
And the job of the axons is to transmit information from the nerve cells to the muscles (and to other parts of our body) with electrical impulses.
Around the axon there is an "insulation" that's called myelin.
Myelin's best known function is to increase the rate at which information, encoded as electrical charges, passes along the axon's length. And the myelin is parted in segments.
Therefore the electrical impulse can travel much quicker from one side to the other.(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Saltatory_Conduction.gif)

When we learn something from scratch the axon is tiny and fragile.
And the myelin layer around just starts to grow around it.
The more we repeat the movement the thicker the myelin gets.
And the information travels faster.

If we have to modify something that is different but very similar to a movement we already learnt, the fragile new axon has to be "used" much more in a focussed way to make sure the layer of myelin gets thicker - and therefore a faster transmitter - than the "old" one.
Until the "old" one is fainting and disappearing.

That's why it is so hard to re-learn a movement that's slightly different to what we already learnt.
And our survival instinct as well as our human nature are pretty big spoilsports.

More about those in the next post.

31/03/2025

A waterproof strategy, but for most of us a really challenging one....

If we want to change anything in our swimming, we have to tune into our movements, we have to feel our bodies and we have to allow the feedback of the water (and our coach...😉 )
If we want to change anything in our swimming, we have to be VERY focussed - otherwise the brain strikes back by going back to default.

Most of us - including me - have trouble to stay focussed for more than 25m in the water.
And as soon as we are in a desperate need of air, our brain looses the focus anyway.
So how can we implement a change in our swimming as quickly and sustainably as possible?
By doing short repeats with a 100% focus on the task.
Six strokes, no breathing - stop.
Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
Until the brain gets it.

I coach a lot of swimmers (about 40 different per week), almost all adults.
And just a few can stick to the task in the six strokes no breathing in the endless pool.
It IS hard. It needs FOCUS. Our brain goes NUTS.
We all think we are the one genius who can execute the new task right away in full speed with breathing.

Sorry guys - no one can.
At least I haven't met this genius in my more than 10 years of swim coaching.
But ok, at first I also thought that I might be the one ....
That I'll get it within one week of practice....
Wrong, very wrong.
I had to learn what my brain is able to process in swimming (which is much less than I thought), but on the other hand I also learnt, that it is a process to learn a new task - not only in swimming.
And our human brain usually comes in the way - mostly in swimming.

Why?
This will be the topic of the next post.

16/03/2025

I wrote a lot about the fact that humans want to multi-task - and why it does not really work.
Especially in water for our brain other things emerge as more important:
we need to breathe! And our body position is horizontal, not vertical. And we don‘t have the floor and the gravity to give us feedback.

To make a long story short:
in the water our brain has to deal with problems that are essential and unfamiliar.
Therefore a lot of swimmers act just as humans: getting to the air is paramount.
The human survival instinct often makes us do weird movements:
lifting the head to the breath for example is one of the most common ones.

So going back to the fact that we can‘t multi-task and we have to breathe, we have a problem.
When we try to focus on a movement for several strokes the need to breathe comes in the way.
As soon as we start to take a breath the survivasl instinct takes over and we loose the focus on the task.
So one of the most asked questions I get as a swim coach is: „How can I practice the task without being distracted by the need for air?“

There is a really waterproof strategy to highly focus on a task without being distracted by the need to breathe… but that strategy needs self-contol and the ability to trust the process.
Curious? Stay tuned….

11/03/2025

Our brain does not like multi-tasking! Part three

As a swimmer we want to integrate a new movement pattern in our swimming as quickly and smoothly as possible. But how do we do that the best, quickest, easiest way?

The secret is: focus... multi-tasking is a myth!
The more we focus on JUST ONE task, the quicker our brain gets it.
The problem: human!

The solution:
turn off your smart watches and switch on your body and brain!
Be there, in the moment, in your swimming, in your body.
Focus on ONE thing, one part of the stroke, one section of the movement.
Whatever the rest of the body does, stick to your focus.
THAT IS HARD! (at least at the beginning)

So when you want to improve your streamline, just tune into your streamline.
Does the left streamline feel different than the right?
Can you tune into your body and see if the torso is more stable on one side than the other?
What happens on the breath?
Do you loose focus on the breath?
Does the streamline feel different on the breath?

You can do the same thing with the body position, the catch, the legs, the breath, ... every part of the stroke.
The more you tune in the more you can feel - and the easier and quicker you can implement the corrections.

This is the quickest way to improve your swimming.
Want more quality and less quantity!
Look for a high mental clarity, more accuracy in executing the task and more dedication to the learning process.

The water is teaching us so many lessons.
We can fight a lifelong battle against the water - and will always loose.
Or we can try to be humble and learn to accept the subtle information the water can give us about our bodies - and about our minds.

More about the swim-philosophy in the next posts....

08/03/2025

Our brain does not like multi-tasking! Part two

Almost every swimmer I coach asks me at least once in the coaching process:
"How do I train and incorporate what I learnt in the lesson?"

My answer usually is:
Pick ONE cue, just focus on that ONE cue, do short repeats of six strokes no breathing (except if the focus is on the actual breath) until the cue feels more natural.
Then try to put the breathing back in and see if you can still focus on the ONE cue.
If you can manage that you can try and swim one length focussing on the ONE cue.

That is damn hard! (And it takes practice to be able to tune into your swimming that way!)
But why is it so hard to focus on just ONE cue?

Well, when we try to multi-task we feel much more efficient.
We think we can speed up the learning process when we focus on more than one task.
We think we have our bodies and brains under control. But in the end the learning process is fault-prone, takes longer and is less efficient.
And, according to Ingrid Gerspach, every focus switch causes "task-switching-induced amnesia".
That means when we switch tasks quickly in order to get more done in less time, the brain can be so distracted that we forget what we were focussing on before we switched.

Another problem is the human ego:
we just don't have enough patience (me at the beginning...!), or we think we are the super hero who can do five things at the same time (me at the beginning as well...).
NOPE, no super-hero, and yes, mostly a lack of patience.
It's a mental effort to dive deeper into our bodies. And we need to get into our bodies and minds if we want to change something in our swimming.
We realize that we are less great than we think we are.
Not easy to accept for the human ego...

So how can we integrate a new movement pattern in our swimming as quickly and smoothly as possible?
Stay tuned for part three...

05/03/2025

Our brain does not like multi-tasking! Part one

I recently read an article (found on XING, written by I. Gerstbach) about multi-tasking in the work environment:
Emails, phone calls, messages, tasks, all should be done at once.
As long as we are able to do several things simultaneously we think that we are really productive and we save a huge amount of time.
But our human brains are not made for multi-tasking.
We make more mistakes, feel more stressed and are much less efficient.

And the worst thing:
the brain slowly but surely loses it's ability to stay focused for ONE task.
Our brain is dulling and we forget how to distinguish important things from those of no importance.
So in the long run also our thinking skills are affected adversely.
Every time we start with a task and change abruptly to another one our brain has to deal with a temporary loss of attention.
This is called the "switching costs effect".
And our brain needs a few minutes to re-reach its full potential again.
So the more we hop from one task to another, the more time and energy we lose.

You might ask yourself what all of that has to do with swimming?
A lot!!!
Stay tuned - part two will be coming soon...

25/02/2025

You might have asked yourself why I am writing about mindfulness when we talk about swimming...
Every swimmer I have talked to over the past 15 years (that's for how long I'm coaching swimming now) wanted to get better.
Not necessarily faster - but better (and better usually means faster ;) :
- being more streamlined with less drag
- swimming longer distances and spending less energy
- overcoming fear or injury
- etc.

And you only get better when you can tune into what you are doing.
When you can stay focussed in the process of change and development.
When you don't get distracted by mistakes, errors or fails (in your eyes).
These are all part of the learning process.

So many online videos, tutorials, posts and comments are about getting faster in swimming.
Many just tell you to do this and that - often without a real explanation of the "why" or just talking about their own experiences (it's not a one size fits all...)
And many tell you drills, positions or instructions that might cause trouble in your body.

Stay on board if you want to learn more about the secrets to becoming a better and therefore more holistic swimmer.

23/02/2025

Mind training part 3:
How did your breathing exercise go?
Could you tune into your breath and calm your mind?
Would that be an option for you before you start the next swim?

I see many swimmer who do random "warm-ups" on land, but it's mostly like shaking their arms, rotating their shoulders and things like that.
But we can actually tune into our bodies on land very well (guess why? ... we are land mammals and used to it ;) - when we allow it.

So next time before you hop in the pool do your little breathing practice on poolside.
(And probably it's not so easy to stay focussed when there are many people around you.)
Once you feel that you are concentrating on the way you breathe you can tune into your stroke:
- Is my body compact or loose?
- Can I feel the water against my skin?
- Does my stroke feel easy or rushed?

Could you visualize your body and stroke?
Then have a look if you can connect better to your body when you are in the water.
The more you can connect with your body in the water the more you can connect with the water...