# Coach's Corner: Why connection comes before everything else

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-at-the-deep-end-7686583/coach-s-corner-why-connection-comes-before-everything-else
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-at-the-deep-end-7686583/coach-s-corner-why-connection-comes-before-everything-else.md
Podcast: [In At The Deep End](https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-at-the-deep-end-7686583)
Published: 2026-09-15T00:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/f9aacf4b
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/f9aacf4b/134a1e43.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/in-at-the-deep-end-7686583/episodes/coach-s-corner-why-connection-comes-before-everything-else
Duration seconds: 1274

## Resource

This is the first ever Coach's Corner , a brand new monthly series from In at the Deep End . Between main episodes, Salim will take a deep dive into one coaching topic at a time, answering the questions you send in and sharing tips, techniques and advice picked up across 20 years of swim coaching. And you can help choose the topics, just email in or leave a voice message about what you struggle with, what you want to improve, or what's holding you back, and Salim could cover it in a future episode. To kick things off, this episode is all about connection, the thing most swim coaches skip straight past. Fear of open water doesn't care how fit or experienced you are. It's hit Olympic swimmers, seasoned triathletes mid-race, and pool swimmers who feel completely at home in a lane but freeze the moment they're in a lake or the sea. Salim breaks down why building a genuine connection with the water, before you even think about technique, is the real foundation of confident, efficient swimming. In this Coach's Corner, Salim covers: His five-step process for building water confidence Why coaching often has nothing to do with swimming at all What Vicki Anstey had to overcome before she could even begin training for her record-breaking Pacific row Why "the push and glide" is the fastest part of any length, and how top Olympians already use it The moment Joe Wicks, one of the fittest men in the country, panicked fifty metres into an open water swim, and how connection work turned that around The three pieces of kit Salim recommends once you're ready to start working on propulsion Why Salim describes swimming as a performance art rather than a sport, built on doing less to get more Coaching tip of the episode: Before you touch technique, get connected. Stand on the poolside or th…

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## Transcript

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