I swam competitively as a junior but did not have the physical attributes (or probably the talent) to be part of the elite squad at my club. Swimming alongside people who did, and who went on to compete internationally definitely aroused a curiosity in me about swimming. How did they swim so fast? I never lost my passion for swimming but for quite some time surfing became the priority water sport in my life.
When I came back to club swimming with my local masters group in my late 30s I was still a competent swimmer who had reasonable pace over 100 to 200 metres but struggled with distances over 400 metres. The notion of swimming 1500 metres and beyond was pretty much unthinkable to me.
It was only when an Ironman triathlete at my club Chichester Cormorants, lent me the Total Immersion swimming book that I started to learn about how swimming actually worked for the first time; how balance and streamlining are vital to becoming an efficient swimmer and that if you want to swim as efficiently as possible then the best solution is core-driven "front quadrant" freestyle.
In 2014 I took the Total Immersion Coach Certification course and became a fully certified and licensed Total immersion coach. Through TI, I discovered the work of American coach Bill Boomer, who coined the phrase "The shape of the vessel is more important than the size of the engine".
In 2023 I ceased to be an affiliated Total Immersion coach. With over 10,000 hours coaching under my belt; my understanding of swimming had grown and my coaching methods had evolved. I realised I had developed my own methodology although of course you might recognise some elements of Total Immersion in my coaching.
My philosophy is to keep swimming as simple as possible. People often over complicate swimming and my first step with a swimmer is to strip things back to basics. Once the fundamentals are in place the smaller things often take care of themselves and if they don't then tat's time time to start tweaking and fine tuning a swimmer's stroke.
When not coaching, I enjoy swimming, playing chess, keeping fit in the gym, pilates, cycling the Sussex country lanes and walking in the Downs with my working cocker spaniel Daisy. I am also a passionate open water swimmer and Alpine hiker.
When I came back to club swimming with my local masters group in my late 30s I was still a competent swimmer who had reasonable pace over 100 to 200 metres but struggled with distances over 400 metres. The notion of swimming 1500 metres and beyond was pretty much unthinkable to me.
It was only when an Ironman triathlete at my club Chichester Cormorants, lent me the Total Immersion swimming book that I started to learn about how swimming actually worked for the first time; how balance and streamlining are vital to becoming an efficient swimmer and that if you want to swim as efficiently as possible then the best solution is core-driven "front quadrant" freestyle.
In 2014 I took the Total Immersion Coach Certification course and became a fully certified and licensed Total immersion coach. Through TI, I discovered the work of American coach Bill Boomer, who coined the phrase "The shape of the vessel is more important than the size of the engine".
In 2023 I ceased to be an affiliated Total Immersion coach. With over 10,000 hours coaching under my belt; my understanding of swimming had grown and my coaching methods had evolved. I realised I had developed my own methodology although of course you might recognise some elements of Total Immersion in my coaching.
My philosophy is to keep swimming as simple as possible. People often over complicate swimming and my first step with a swimmer is to strip things back to basics. Once the fundamentals are in place the smaller things often take care of themselves and if they don't then tat's time time to start tweaking and fine tuning a swimmer's stroke.
When not coaching, I enjoy swimming, playing chess, keeping fit in the gym, pilates, cycling the Sussex country lanes and walking in the Downs with my working cocker spaniel Daisy. I am also a passionate open water swimmer and Alpine hiker.
"James is the most thoughtful and engaging coach I’ve worked with. He responds to what’s in front of him rather than trying to fit your swimming to a general model, unerringly zeroing in on one or two points that will help you improve. His understanding of the stroke dynamics of front crawl, in particular, is exemplary. The video segments James sends post-session are invaluable – and every bit of advice is delivered with tremendous charm and thoughtfulness. His coaching has helped recently my short course PB for 1500m from 19:00.17 to 18:42.32. Big thanks."
– Paul Mason, open-water swimmer; National Masters 1500m silver medalist, SE Regional 3k champion.
– Paul Mason, open-water swimmer; National Masters 1500m silver medalist, SE Regional 3k champion.