I was recently interviewed for the Effortless Swimming podcast by its founder and host, Brenton Ford. In the podcast, I talk about how the mind impacts swimming comfort (especially in open water) and performance. I discuss confidence, intensity, focus, and fear, and offer lots of practical tools you can use to swim with greater confidence and to get faster. The podcast is great for both swimmers and triathletes (who, obviously, also swim).

If you’re not familiar with Effortless Swimming, it is one of the most viewed swimming channels on YouTube. I’ve been watching Brenton’s videos since last fall when, because I could only swim after being hit by a car on a training ride, I decided to see if I could make a big improvement in my swimming (up to that point, intensity and distance weren’t getting me faster). As someone who suffers from “Adult Onset Swimming Syndrome” (meaning I didn’t start swimming beyond knowing how not to drown until I was an adult), for the first time, I learned how to swim faster (it’s 80% technique). Following the Effortless Swimming videos on YouTube, I completely rebuilt my swim technique (I couldn’t believe how bad a swimmer I had been!) and I’m now more than 10s/100y faster than last year!

To listen to the podcast, click here.