Brent Hayden

Do you still struggle to time your breath properly when you’re swimming?

You’re probably thinking about when to turn your head.

That’s the easiest way to swim feeling disconnected.

Do this instead…

Join your head with your body rotation.

As my rotation comes back to center, I imagine my chin lining up with my sternum and moving them together (although you can see it ends up lining up more with my collarbone)

When you get this right this happens:

✅ timing improves
✅ stroke feels more connected
✅ easier to keep head in alignment (ie: one goggle in)
✅ you swim faster without added effort

Will you give this a try?

Want to save your shoulders while swimming? Use this cue…

Swim with a “dry shoulder”

What does that mean?

It means every arm recovery your shoulder should be out of the water.

This does three things:

1 - puts your shoulder in a better position to recover your arm without impingement.

2 - makes sure you are properly utilizing your rotation to drive a more effective pull.

3 - puts your body into a more hydrodynamic position to reduce drag.

Will you give this a shot? Let me know!

Diving into my favourite swimming pool in the entire world. Goggles are optional 😎

Describe this swim in one word 🏊🏻‍♂️

Swimming gets easier when you stop thinking of it as a bunch of separate movements… and start thinking of it like music. 🎵

Your arms are the drums. They set the rhythm and tempo of your stroke.

Your kick is the beat underneath.

A 2-beat kick is like a slow classical piece. Calm. Relaxed. Efficient.

A 6-beat kick is like a rock song. Fast. Powerful. Aggressive.

Then comes your breathing.

Not only does the timing of each breath have to match the rhythm, but so does your breathing pattern. Whether you breathe every 2 strokes, every 3, or every 4, it becomes part of the song.

Miss the timing, change the pattern unexpectedly, or hold your breath too long, and it’s like a musician falling out of sync. The rhythm breaks down, your body loses momentum, and swimming suddenly feels much harder than it should.

The best swimmers aren’t just strong.

They’re in rhythm. 🎶

Sometimes you just gotta swim FAST! But…

This comes at a cost.

Kicking vigorously like this (which is called a 6-beat kick) burns way more oxygen because your legs have large muscles.

So even though this is fast (and fun!) it is not sustainable.

Save your kick for higher speeds over shorter distances (like 50-100m)

Describe this swim in one word 🏊🏻‍♂️

📍 Sasamat Lake, Port Moody 🇨🇦