Archive for the ‘open water swimming’ Category

How a Swim Can Make You Happy
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on September 25th, 2014

I’ve often said that the purpose of swimming is the pursuit of happiness. (If you haven’t had the same thought, consider that the Dalai Lama has written that the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness.) Indeed, my main reason for swimming open water events is anticipation of the happiness they’ll bring. My latest […]

T.I. (‘Tee-Aye’) Chi
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 7th, 2014

Brian Suddeth, a TI enthusiast from Bowie MD. has been helping a blind friend and co-worker, named Mark, to learn efficiency the TI way. Mark had attempted a marathon run, but suffered an injury and had to drop out.  So his new goal is to complete a mile in open water, at the Great Chesapeake […]

Allen Rosenberg Transformed Olympic Rowing: What can his methods do for your swimming?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 15th, 2013

This week, TI Coach Bill Lang sent me a link to a NY Times obituary for Allen Rosenberg,the US national coach for rowing in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of transformation in rowing form and philosophy. Bill shared this with me because he saw such strong parallels between Rosenberg’s principles and those of TI. […]

Crossing Gibraltar Strait: A Journey to Joy
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on October 31st, 2013

On October 11, I swam across Gibraltar Strait, with  TI colleagues Lennart Larsson of Orebro, Sweden and Tommi Patila of Helsinki, Finland. We swam 18km (11+ miles) in 5 hours 18 minutes. Water temperatures started at 18C (64F) near the Spanish coast, rose to 19 in mid-Strait, then dipped to 16C (60F) as we approached […]

Video: Swimming for ‘Epic Experience’
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on September 29th, 2013

Last week during TI OW camp on the Mediterranean, in Ciralu Turkey, Coach Mat Hudson posted this on his Facebook wall: “Johnny Widen  [a TI coach from Sweden] asked if I keep my mind completely consumed with stroke counting and focal points like Terry Laughlin does.” While keeping track of ‘metrics that matter’ is a […]

Life Lessons from Diana Nyad?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on September 12th, 2013

The below is a guest post by psychotherapist Jeanne Safer PhD, a thoroughly Kaizen TI student taking weekly lessons at the TI Swim Studio in New Paltz for 10 years. This article was originally published at the Psychology Today web site, where Jeanne has just begun writing regular essays on the psychological revelations possible through […]

Swim 3 Open Water Miles and Enjoy Every Stroke? Yes!
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on August 24th, 2013

This is a guest post by TI/OW enthusiast Christian Miles of Washington DC Back in January I’d registered for the 3-mile open water swim event– part of the Kingdom Swim in Newport, VT–scheduled for July 6th. At the time it struck me as a good challenge and a great adventure which I could share with lifelong […]

Video: The BEAUTY of Effortless. The SKILL of Slow.
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on August 1st, 2013

The liveliest thread on the TI Discussion Forum at the moment is titled ‘a question about continuance.’ with, as of this morning, 59 posts, which have drawn over 1300 views. What’s curious about this thread is that the initial query was about how to swim faster, yet the bulk of discussion has centered on various forms […]

‘Drafting Off’ My Inner Voice
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on July 29th, 2013

In my last post, Enjoyment Meets Improvement I wrote that I’ve reduced my racing schedule this summer to preserve bandwidth for writing e-books (the first, “How Swimming Works . . . and How It Doesn’t” should be released in October.)  But in practice, I still focus on improvement—it’s addictive and it stokes my creative juices. […]

Enjoyment Meets Improvement
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on July 12th, 2013

Prospects for improvement are best when practice produces a state of such intense Happiness that it’s the best part of your day.