KAIZEN: Be the quiet center

While in Kona, Hawaii, for Ironman week in 2003, I swam 1.4 miles on the course every morning –typically accompanied by hundreds of Ironman qualifiers—experiencing how the actual swim leg would feel. I was surrounded by a mass of swimmers for the 500 meters closest to the pier. I became very aware of how inefficiently virtually everyone was swimming, churning the water rather than working with it. The amount of energy ineffectively expended was remarkable. I made my swims an exercise in being the “quiet center” of all that was going on around me—less noise, less splash, fewer bubbles. Whenever a swimmer passed me, I would strive to match their speed, but with slower, quieter movements. In every open water race or Masters practice I join, I aim to be the one expending the least energy and to have a sense of moving with a bit more cunning than everyone else.

Kaizen Swimming From Terry Laughlin