

The Effortless Swimming Podcast
Brenton Ford
Faster times and better technique aren't a guarantee when you train hard. What really makes a difference to your speed and efficiency in the water? The Effortless Swimming podcast helps make a complex sport really simple to better your swimming. We cover open water swimming, triathlon swimming and pool swimming. Hosted by Australian National swimmer and coach Brenton Ford.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 4, 2021 • 58min
#210: Lessons From The Top with David Tilbury-Davis
My guest today is David Tilbury-Davis. You might know him, you might not. He is the former coach of Lionel Sanders, he coaches a number of professional triathletes, he is one of the most highly successful, highly experienced triathlon coaches out there at the moment. He has been coaching for the last 26 years, he has worked with Olympic athletes, Commonwealth Games athletes, and a lot of age-group and professional triathletes. Enjoy. 04:54 Coaching Long-Term Athletes 08:26 Neurological Fatigue 13:42 Descending Set 19:30 Testing Overall Improvement 24:01 Resilience 29:25 Developing Technique 39:39 Openwater Swimming 41:15 Developing Openwater Swimming Skills 43:14 Safety 51:16 Risk Assessment Instincts http://www.tilburydavis.com/ https://www.instagram.com/coachtilburs/

Nov 26, 2021 • 47min
#209: Uncovering The Magic Of Ocean Swimming with Phil Clayton
My guest today is Phil Clayton. Phil was a professional Ironman, Surf Ironman Competitor from 1992 to 2004. In 2000, he won the World Ironman Championships. He has a lot of experience as a Surf Ironman Coach and as a swim coach. His main thing is helping people get comfortable, get experience to become open water swimmers. 05:06 Swimming Background 06:55 Where Do You Start? 12:48 Swimming In The Ocean 15:23 The Story That You Are Telling Yourself 17:34 "Marine Creatures" 28:38 Breathing Cycle 29:28 Bilaterral Breathing 33:32 Creating A Community https://www.philclaytonandco.com/

Nov 18, 2021 • 36min
#208: Preparing For An Ultraman Event with John McCann
My guest today is a fellow coach, a competitor, a triathlete who has done a huge amount of racing. He has done one of the longer distance triathlons that there is, the Ultraman. 01:50 Competition/ Coaching Background 03:58 Training From Ironman To Ultraman 06:37 Not Too Much Running 07:28 Swim Training 08:33Swim Techniques 09:59 Open Water Swimming Skills 15:07 Coaching Triathletes 17:45 Changes In Coaching Approach 23:24 Focused On Mature Athletes 29:36 They Are Not Going To Remember All These Things Straight Away 30:56 Upcoming Events 32:39 Swimming Is A Great Body Maintenance

Nov 16, 2021 • 53min
#207: Keeping Your Cool In 10ft Surf with Matt Bevilacqua
My guest today is an elite athlete who won an incredible 5 World Championships in paddle boarding and holds the course record for the Molokai to Ohau race in Hawaii. Won his first full Ironman series in 2018 and the Coolangatta Gold Ironman in 2019. Join us as Matt talks about his training sessions, visions, and upcoming races. 02:48 Loving The Sport From The Getgo 04:35 Becoming A Tougher Competitor 06:47 What I Love About The Sport 09:30 The Ultimate Humility Teacher 11:57 Training Environment 14:14 Transition From Pool To Openwater 19:36 Favorite Swim Training Sessions 27:16 Upcoming Calendar Events 28:32 Train, Train, Train And Compete 32:43 What Sets You Apart 36:36 Winning The Coolangatta Gold 43:20 Visualization And Mental Imagery 46:13 Knowing The Purpose Of Drills

Nov 8, 2021 • 38min
#206: It's All About The Exhale with Alex Butchies
My guest today is Alex from AB Physiology. Take a listen as Alex talks about the importance of breathing, shares some breathing exercises, and how we should prioritize exhale. 04:32 Strategies Used To Help People Stay Calm 06:44 Level OF Awareness Towards Breathing 09:39 Breathing Exercise 14:28 Breathing In A Highly Stressed Situation 16:16 Prioritize Your Exhale 19:40 CO2 Tolerance 29:59 Keep Your Mouth Shut And Slow Down

Nov 5, 2021 • 45min
#205: What It Really Takes To Be An Olympian with Tristan Hollard
My guest is Olympian Tristan Hollard. I wanted to get him into the podcast to talk about his experience in qualifying, his training, and racing at the Olympics. 01:42 Holy Hollard!! 05:36 Reaching The Potential 04:01 Developing Discipline And Routine 07:56 It's Not Easy 09:43 It Changed My Life Completely 11:51 Is This What's Best For Me? 14:14 Changing The Attitude Towards The Program 18:45 Changing Your Headspace 20:37 Making It To Team 24:33 After Qualifying For The Olympics 28:38 Lessons From The Olympics 30:00 Expectations 32:44 Having The Best Swimmers In The World Around You 38:51 Mentally Reflective/Overthinking 40:58 Future Plans

Nov 2, 2021 • 39min
#204: The Beginner's Guide To Freestyle with Irene Cats
My guest today is Irene Cats from Swimfitforlife based up in far north Queensland. I find a lot of similarities between me and Irene as a coach, we normally coach adults, and a lot of adults that haven't got any swimming backgrounds or adults who just learned how to swim. In this podcast, I want to talk about the things that help these swimmers be more efficient, enjoy the water more, and become better swimmers. 01:21 Swimming Principles 04:11 Starting Point 05:13 Body Position 08:39 You Can't See Yourself 10:43 Snorkels 12:34 Understanding Water And Finding Your Grip 18:37 Drills/ Bending Of Elbows 22:39 Timing 25:35 Breathing 30:39 Follow A Swimming Program/ Get Some Help 35:20 Swimfitforlife Swimming Camps

Oct 29, 2021 • 41min
#203: Cracking The 30-minute Half Ironman Swim with Chris Naimoli
Seeing some incredible improvement with his swimming time, I want to get Chris into the podcast to get his take on what's made the difference for him and with experiences like this, a lot of listeners will surely have a lot of takeaways that could help them in their swimming journey. 01:36 Swimming Background 04:14 Training Plan For Triathlon 07:47 First Swim Analysis 04:15 Saw An Effortless Swimming Video Online 16:21 5-Day Catch Challenge 16:52 Slower With The Masters Club 18:23 Areas OF Improvement 20:14 Doing The Drills 23:09 Variable Pace Training 26:15 Not All Sunshine And Rainbows 34:45 What's Ahead 36:51 Recording Swim Videos

Oct 27, 2021 • 30min
#202: Getting Beyond 1:45 per 100 with Chris Georgeson
I have been working with Chris for a little bit over a year and recently had a good result in his Ironman swim. I thought it would really good to get him into the podcast to talk about what he has done to improve his swimming. 01:09 Swimming Background 02:40 Swimming In The Dark 04:18 Reluctant To Record A Video 06:02 Ripping The Band-Aid Off 08:03 Get Over That Fear And Talk About It. 09:42 Ironman Race 15:57 Focusing Technique and Drills 17:50 Training Solo 18:42 Confidence In The Pool 20:32 Areas Of Improvement 24:16 Sprinting Faster r

Oct 20, 2021 • 45min
#201: [Case Study] What To Do When Your Open Water Times Are Slower Than Your Pool Times with Prescott Balch
My guest today is Prescott Balch. Prescott was recently featured in one of our YouTube videos where we are looking at how can someone can go from 2:10 minutes per hundred down to 1:30. I want to get him into the podcast to talk about his experience and frustrations when it comes to open water and how he was able to manage it. 02:03 Swimming Background 04:19 Don't Try To Work On Too Much 05:44 Steady Progress 08:21 Terrible Race Results 10:34 Frustrations 13:51 8 Week Faster Freestyle Program 15:13 Open Water v.s. The Pool 20:19 Half Ironman 25:23 Starting Slow In Triathlon Swim 26:45 Easy Speed 28:28 You'll Never Know What Race Day Brings 31:51 Always Be Humble Enough To Go To Basics 33:21 Breathing And Relaxation 34:10 Learn To Like Open Water Swimming


