Freestyle Masterclass: What We Learned and Where Next

Eighteen swimmers. Three coaches. One Olympian.

Our Freestyle Masterclass this weekend was a great success.

The focus was swimming efficiency – making the water feel calmer, more relaxed, and easier to move through. We spent time on position: head alignment, engaging the core, and maintaining posture throughout the stroke.

A progressive series of drills followed, each building on the last, reinforcing how the way we hold ourselves in the water directly affects how efficiently we swim.

The feedback said it all. Swimmers at every level took something away – a new awareness of their current technique, a clearer sense of what to work on next, and a better understanding of how to swim with less effort and more control.

Feedback on your stroke.
From one of the best swimmers in the world.

Olympian, Freya Anderson, showed everyone just how normal good technique can feel, and reminded us that fundamentals are fundamentals – whatever your level.

In the days after the Masterclass, it’s been wonderful to step back and reflect – not just on what happened in the pool, but on what it revealed for swimmers and coaches alike.

The most interesting part of sessions like this often comes afterwards. Not in the drills themselves, or even in the feedback given on poolside, but in the conversations that follow – swimmers comparing notes, coaches reflecting, small comments that reveal something has shifted.

A few things stood out.

Many swimmers didn’t leave talking about speed, splits, or fitness. They talked about feel. About noticing when their head position changed, when posture strengthened, when effort crept in unnecessarily.

That’s a meaningful shift. Awareness is the gateway skill. Once swimmers can feel what’s happening, improvement stops being something that relies entirely on external feedback and starts to become self-directed.

Several swimmers commented that they now knew what to pay attention to – not ten things, just one or two that mattered most to them right now. That clarity is powerful.

One of the strongest takeaways for swimmers was reassurance.

Seeing elite principles presented without complication helped normalise the learning process. It removed the sense that good swimming lives somewhere out of reach. The message wasn’t you need to do more, but you can do less, better.

Confidence in swimming rarely comes from pushing harder. It comes from knowing that what you’re working on is worth your attention.

One of the unexpected pleasures of the session was the chance to observe.

To watch how swimmers respond when ideas are demonstrated clearly. To see how quickly posture and awareness can shift when the right cue lands. To notice how different swimmers interpret the same message in individual ways.

It was also a reminder of how valuable it is, as coaches, to keep exposing ourselves to great teaching. Not because it replaces what we do, but because it sharpens it. We learned a lot — particularly about restraint. About when not to add. About letting the water do some of the teaching.

There’s sometimes a temptation to think swimmers will tire of fundamentals. That they’ll want something new, something clever, something harder.

What we saw was the opposite. When fundamentals are presented well, they stay interesting. They deepen rather than stagnate. The work doesn’t change – the understanding does.

That opens up some interesting possibilities.

---

One swimmer had this to say after the session:

This was an incredible session. Loved it so much. Freya is an inspiration and a great teacher and it was such a privilege to have been part of this with lots of learning taken away to work on. Also big shout out to Tash and Sara and of course to yourself Bryan for creating this fantastic opportunity. Still can’t believe it happened so thanks all. Definitely interested in any futures ones too!

Rather than repeating the same format, sessions like this could evolve in focus while staying rooted in the same principles:

Not chasing power, but connection. Feeling pressure, avoiding slip, and learning what an effective catch actually feels like.

Exploring how efficiency holds up as tempo increases — and how speed can come from control rather than effort.

Translating good pool habits into open water, busy lanes, race starts, and fatigue. Learning to keep shape when conditions aren’t ideal.

Each of these builds on the same foundation: awareness, position, and simplicity – just viewed through a slightly different lens.

We loved running this session. Not because it was flashy or different, but because it created space for learning – for swimmers and coaches alike.

If that sounds like something you’d want to explore further, we’re listening. If you would be interested in more of these sessions, comment or message us directly – we’d love to hear from you.