Youtube swim sensation Shinji Takeuchi

Wow is all I can say after watching youtube swimming sensation Shinji Takeuchi's Total Immersion video. He swims effortlessly and it seems like his head barely comes out of the water to breathe. His video "The Most Graceful Freestyle" (2008) is now ranked number one worldwide among swimmers. He really makes swimming  look easy, just gliding in the water for 2:48. Right now it has been viewed 3.9 million times (note though that Psy's gangnam sytle is still #1 with 1.6 billion views).

















I was able to meet him up close and personal last weekend with effervescent Tessa P. who hosted the

Coach Shinji Takeuchi with TI Philippines' Ria 

closing ceremony of  'Smart, Speed and Open Water Skills Camp". Total Immersion Philippines' Ria Macay  invited coach Shinji of Total Swimming West in Japan to hold the open water skills clinic, a 3-day weekend class in Batangas.

The participants were mostly triathletes who would like to  learn how to swim the distance without getting tired and  master open water skills such as sighting, swimming straight and drafting to maintain speed. The highlight was his 'perpetual motion freestyle', four key stroke habits for tireless swimming. This is to swim with ease and flow to go the distance or a hundred untinerrupted strokes.

before the race with Coach Ria

Coach Shinji said "when you submerge your head, a vow wave is created and the level of the surface gets lower. I do not roll my head so much since the surface is 8-10 inches(20-25cm) lower than the original one."

The culminating activity was an open water race 500m for kids and for adults - a choice of 1km or 2km distance. Luckily, it was sunny and the water was calm and no stingers. I crazily joined the 1-km swim and managed to finish without cramping. Mind you, I haven't been training at all.  Tessa, on the other hand,  joined the 2-km distance and finished third! She could've finished first if she didn't stop before and after transitions to pose for her fans. LOL!

The cost of the 3-day swimming clinic  was pegged at  USD550 for international participants and USD450 for Philippine residents. The  private tutorial was pegged at  USD120 for 35-minutes. Coach Ria said that he'll be back this third quarter for a longer distance openwater clinic.

what a beautiful day, the venue

at the finish line

Tessa wins 3rd place at 40 mins, 1-min behind the 1st 

group shot