As part of the Blackwater Triathlon Club’s ongoingcommitment to improvement we regularly arrange different types of training tohelp keep our members fit and focused, especially over the off-season wintermonths. This is an opportunity for members to focus on key skills and improvingtheir technique in each of the core triathlon disciplines. On Sunday the 30thof November, the club hosted a Total Immersion Swimming course for members. TotalImmersion swimming is a method of swimming instruction, developed by Terry Laughlin,an American swimming coach. Its primary focus is to teach swimmers to movethrough the water efficiently. By conserving energy and focusing on balance andstreamlining in the water, any energy used for propulsion becomes much moreeffective. Basic principles of teaching include sustainability of effort, drag reduction,vessel shaping and full body swimming. The course was run by Melissa Duncanfrom The Swim Studio based in Co Laois. Training covered both classroom andpool lessons.  As part of the course each club member was videotapedat the start of the session, and again at the end of the day. This allowedMelissa to give each swimmer an individual valuation and critique of theirswimming technique. It was also an opportunity for the participants to see theimprovements accrued over the course of the day and gave them specific goals toaim for going forward. Fourteen members of the club attended the course onSunday and all agreed that it was a very worthwhile and beneficial day.