"I’m Fit, I’m Strong, But I Can’t Make it to the Other End of the Pool!"

* A Call to Arms: Help Your Mate Swim a Lap!*

Feb 05, 2026

∙ Paid

Upgrade to paid to play voiceover

Last Sunday arvo, I was at a BBQ with a group of people I’d never met before. Standard stuff. Snags on the barbie. Someone holding a cold drink. Someone else asking what I do for work.

It never fails.

“You’re a swimming coach? But what’s your real job?”

Or, if they clock my accent first:

“You’re a pom teaching Aussies how to swim… really?!”

Cue laughter.

But then the tone always shifts. Every single time.

Someone leans in. Drops their voice a bit. And says something like,

“I know swimming’s good for me… I just can’t swim more than one lap without stopping.”

I’ve heard it hundreds of times. Probably thousands.

And lately, with so many people training for the Busselton half Ironman, I’ve heard a slightly different version:

“I hate the swim. I just need to survive it.”

Here’s the thing. Swimming is meant to feel freeing. Relaxing. Empowering. Not like a frustrating, necessary evil.

And it doesn’t have to be.

Now here’s the irony.

If you’re reading this, chances are you love swimming. You might not think you’re amazing at it, but if you can swim multiple laps without stopping, you’re already accomplished in the eyes of most non-swimmers.

So why am I writing a blog about helping someone swim a single lap?

Because of last week’s massive response to the Shore-2-Shore community swim. Three days. Eighteen kilometres. Every swimmer paired with a buddy. No one left behind.

It reminded me how powerful swimming becomes when we do it together.

Thanks for reading Weekly Blog by Swim Smooth! This post is public so feel free to share it.

So here’s a little call to arms.

Next time you’re at a BBQ, dinner party, or chatting with workmates, don’t just talk about swimming. Help someone start.

Last week I worked with Rob from Ireland. Absolute powerhouse. Strong as an ox. Training for a full Ironman this December.

He jumped in the deep end. Literally and figuratively.

And despite all that strength, he couldn’t swim one length of freestyle continuously.

Sound familiar? You probably know someone exactly like Rob.

The first step is figuring out where your mate sits on the swimming journey.

Some people are genuinely starting from scratch. They’re nervous putting their face in the water. They hold their breath. They panic when they try to breathe.

If that’s them, the best thing you can do is point them towards our Learn to Swim from Scratch Course inside the Swim Smooth GURU.

There’s a free 7-day trial, and it walks swimmers through everything step-by-step:

Learn to Swim From Scratch

Two of the most important skills we teach early on are the “sinkdown” exercise and the classic “bubble bubble breathe” routine.

They might sound simple. They are simple. But they’re game changers. They teach relaxation and breathing rhythm, which immediately reduce drag and panic:

Once swimmers understand those fundamentals, everything starts to click - watch Scott doing exactly this at 11:14 into our 1st video in the Stroke Correction Hierarchy series:

The Awkward / Frustrating ‘Tween Stage

Then there’s another group. The tricky one. I call it the ‘Tween Stage.

They can swim… sort of.

They can make it across the pool once or twice. But joining a squad feels intimidating. Swimming continuously feels impossible. They feel stuck in no man’s land.

If your mate is in that zone, our free ‘Tween Stage video and downloadable guide can be a brilliant bridge. It explains why swimming feels so hard at that stage and gives a simple roadmap to move forward:

Get the 'Tween Stage Program

They’ll also likely benefit from our most popular YouTube video of recent years showing you how to get your bum higher in the water:

You Have the Ability to Help!

Here’s the bigger picture though.

Swimming has enormous physical and mental health benefits. We all know that. But access to those benefits often hinges on one simple milestone: swimming one continuous lap comfortably.

You have the ability to help someone unlock that.

Not by coaching them perfectly. Not by turning into their personal trainer. Just by encouraging them. Pointing them in the right direction. Maybe even jumping in the pool with them.

Shore-2-Shore showed us what happens when swimmers support each other.

So next time someone says,

“I wish I could swim…”

That’s your cue.

Help your mate swim a lap.

Thanks for reading,

Your Coach, Paul

P.S - if you want a bit of a trip down memory lane, here’s our first promo for the Learn to Swim Freestyle from Scratch DVD way back in 2008 - enjoy!

Want to Join Us on a Camp in 2026 to Improve Your Swim?

We’re now down to only a few places remaining on our various Swim Smooth Experiences in 2026. For the full run-down of events where I’ll be coaching, head to:

Boost my Swim in 2026!