"I was in survival mode, swimming until finally…"

If you're afraid you won’t succeed in your first triathlon because of the swimming portion, here’s some good news. Swimming is the least accessible sport of the three disciplines.

Your strengths lie in cycling or running, but you don’t need to be as strong in swimming. What you need is to finish the swim without being excessively out of breath. At that point, you’ll be able to fully express your athletic potential and overtake competitors.

If you participate in triathlons but the swimming part is a nightmare because you’re gasping for air, know that achieving breathing ease doesn’t take long. You’re almost there.

It only takes a few sessions to develop sufficient breathing to swim without pausing or flipping onto your back. Once you’ve gained control of this part, your cycling and running will only improve.

Many athletes in this situation come to me with the same problem as Susan. She is a triathlete specializing in running, so she understands the importance of breathing. In the pool, Susan breathes every two strokes to the right, always to the right. When she swam 100 meters at his own pace, without pushing for speed, she finished completely out of breath. At that point, we couldn’t even have a conversation. After 30 seconds of clinging to the ladder, she would say, “I’m breathing, I’m breathing, but it’s not enough!”

Without proper breathing, no progress. No glide, no effective propulsion. For now, as soon as your head is in the water, breathing overrides all other actions. It takes precedence over everything.

In other words, you’re only thinking about how to get air. You’re in survival mode.

Like all technical skills, you need the right reference point—a sensory cue to guide your actions. That’s my focus when I give each swimmer an exercise. That’s what I teach.

Simply saying “breathe” is only a reminder; it doesn’t teach anything at all if you don’t already know how to do it.

You know how to swim—enjoying the water without interruption should not be out of reach for you. Susan only needed one piece of advice and one session to achieve this. One hour later, she understood the problem and had started solving it. She progressed from difficult two-stroke breathing to smooth four-stroke breathing over 300 meters.

One cue. One session.

That’s all it took for her to understand. She already had the rest. She’s now able to correct herself in real time while swimming.

You only need one session to begin your transformation—from survival mode in freestyle to enjoying freestyle.

Becoming an Olympic swimmer takes time, but swimming comfortably does not.

Breathe easily and focus on your strength

Your strength lies in cycling or running. Your goal, therefore, is to arrive at the part where your skills are most decisive, in the best possible condition, so they can shine. Swimming is just a necessary step that can ruin a race but won’t win it for you. Let your competitors exhaust themselves in the water, and overtake them on land as they’re still catching their breath.

I’m Sylvain Zuchiatti, a swimming coach with years of experience. I’ve worked with children who couldn’t float, adult competitors, and triathletes preparing for their first Ironman starting from zero in swimming, as well as others seeking to improve their performance in shorter formats.

For years, I’ve been testing different sensory and tactile cues. I keep the best ones, change the sequence to determine which is most effective based on skill level, and watch new swimmers progress from swimming 100 meters with pauses to 1,000 meters and more without excessive breathlessness. The method I’m offering you is the result of these years of experimentation.

If you’re unsure whether this is right for you, here are some key facts about the method:

Where to start

To get started, you need to click the button below. Here’s how it works.You’ll be redirected to PayPal to provide your email address and confirm your payment. Once that’s done, you’ll receive your first email with the week’s initial sessions. If you want to start tomorrow, you can.

During the rest of the week, you’ll hear from me with tips on technical points or to ask for feedback on your progress. Then, each week, on the same day, you’ll receive two new sessions. Everything is automated.

In addition, you can email me with any questions that come up during the sessions. We’ll progress together, and I’ll provide extra individualized advice if the session instructions aren’t enough. We won’t waste time staying stuck on the same issue. Unlimited email support is available as long as the number of participants remains manageable for me. Once I reach this threshold, I’ll remove this bonus for new subscribers, but the first participants will keep it for life.

Sylvain Zuchiatti

See you soon!