Hey Swimmers,
On Saturday 5th September, something rather special is happening.
For the first time, I’ll be returning to the University of Bath, UK to deliver a Swim Smooth Video Analysis Clinic - nearly 30 years after the seeds of Swim Smooth were first planted there.
I arrived at Bath in 1997 as a Sport & Exercise Science undergraduate, surrounded by an extraordinary sporting environment. Coaches and mentors including Robin Brew, Chris Jones, Richard Hobson and David Lyles helped ignite my fascination with coaching, while Bath itself was becoming a hotbed for British and international triathlon.
Five-time World Champion Simon Lessing was there, and in the build-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics - triathlon’s Olympic debut - I somehow became Simon’s “swimming b1tch”, getting unceremoniously hammered by him in the pool virtually every day!
But it was the coaching and biomechanics modules of my degree that really grabbed me. I became fascinated by why one swimmer moved differently from another and how video could help us understand what was really happening beneath the surface.
After graduating in 2001, I backpacked through India, Nepal and Southeast Asia before eventually landing in Perth, Western Australia. By 2002 I was coaching at Stadium Triathlon Club and offering my first video analysis sessions - initially with little more than a handheld camera above the water.
The equipment became considerably more sophisticated. More importantly, so did the coaching.
Since then, I’ve personally analysed and coached more than 12,000 swimmers through video analysis. Those early ideas evolved into Swim Smooth and our Three Keys of Technique, Open Water and Training, followed by the Swim Types methodology and eventually our coach education programme.
More than 800 coaches have attended our in-person coach education courses, another 300+ have completed our Video Analysis Bootcamp, and today our methodology has influenced coach education across 119 countries through our work with British Triathlon and World Triathlon.
And yet, amazingly, I’ve never actually delivered a Swim Smooth clinic at Bath.
Until now.
Why video analysis still matters
This lovely review from Shaun dropped into my inbox this week after a video analysis session here in Perth:
“I have been watching videos online for years to improve but just one hour with Paul is all you need.”
Now, obviously I’m not going to complain about a review like that(!), but Shaun actually highlights something we’ve been discussing a lot recently.
There has never been more swimming information available online. YouTube, Instagram and countless other platforms contain millions of tips telling you what your hand, elbow, head, hips and legs should be doing.
The problem isn’t necessarily that the advice is wrong.
The problem is knowing whether that advice is right for you.
You can spend months diligently trying to correct something that isn’t actually holding you back — or, worse, introduce a new problem because you’ve taken perfectly reasonable advice intended for a completely different swimmer and applied it too literally to yourself.
That is why, even after nearly 30 years of technological advancement, nothing quite replaces having an experienced coach standing beside you, watching how you swim and explaining the why, what and how of what needs changing.
Video makes the invisible visible. Great coaching then helps you decide what actually matters.
From Bath and beyond
The 12 swimmers joining us at Bath will start with comprehensive above-and-below-water filming before moving into the classroom for their individual analysis. We’ll then spend two hours back in the pool turning those observations into practical stroke corrections.
Different speeds. Different backgrounds. Different Swim Types. Different solutions.
Importantly, though, their development doesn’t finish when they walk out of the pool.
Every swimmer will receive their analysis and recommendations and 30 days’ access to the Swim Smooth GURU, allowing them to continue working through appropriate drills, sessions and training guidance once they’re back swimming in their own pool.
To us, that’s where technology is at its best: not replacing the coach, but extending the reach and impact of good coaching.
From one coach to the next generation
That philosophy is also behind what we’ve been building for coaches.
We’ve recently completely revamped SwimSmooth.com and SwimSmooth.coach, where we’ve announced our latest Swim Smooth Experiences for 2026 and 2027. As our Certified Swim Smooth Coaches come onboard to SwimCoachHQ™, they’ll also be able to publish their own clinics, camps and Experiences directly through the same platform.
For me, SwimCoachHQ™ is something I could only have dreamed of having back in 2002 when I was starting out as a young coach in Perth.
Coach education, video analysis tools, bespoke websites built for you, bookings, payments, a CRM for better swimmer communication, marketing tools and even your own branded app - all within one integrated coaching platform.
The idea behind it is actually very simple: we want passionate coaches to spend their time doing what they got into coaching to do - coach people.
We want to remove as much of the red tape, administration and technological tedium as possible and give coaches the education, methodology and business framework to build something sustainable within their own swimming communities.
And that brings this story rather neatly full circle.
Nearly 30 years after sitting in a biomechanics lecture at Bath wondering how I might use coaching and video to help someone swim better, I’m returning to exactly the same place with better cameras, considerably more experience and an opportunity to help another generation of coaches start their own journey.
Perhaps one of them is you.
We’ll shortly be accepting applications for our next 2026/2027 intake of Swim Smooth Coaches, and we’re looking for passionate coaches from the UK and right around the world who share our belief in individual, swimmer-focused coaching.
If you’ve ever considered taking your coaching further - or wondered whether you could build a career doing something you genuinely love - we’d encourage you to put your application forward as soon as possible at SwimSmooth.coach.
After all, back in 2002, I couldn’t have imagined where that first handheld video camera might eventually lead.
Maybe it’s time to see where yours could take you.
The technology has changed enormously.
The fundamental idea hasn’t: coach the swimmer in front of you.
Thanks for reading, your coach, Paul.
