#432 : 2:30/100m to the 1:40's with Sandra Surkamp with Sandra Surkamp
6/23/202630 min
How do you break through a swimming plateau when it feels like you've already tried everything?
In this episode, I sit down with Sandra Surkamp to discuss her incredible swimming journey—from struggling to swim 25 meters without stopping to swimming comfortably in open water and dropping her pace by nearly 50 seconds per 100 meters.
Sandra shares the key lessons she's learned over the last few years, including how revisiting the fundamentals, improving body position, refining her catch, and finding the right coaching cues helped unlock a major breakthrough in her swimming. We also talk about the frustrations that come with progress, why improvements don't always happen in a straight line, and what it takes to make lasting technique changes.
Whether you're stuck at a plateau, learning to swim more efficiently, or looking for motivation to keep improving, Sandra's story is packed with valuable insights and practical takeaways.
00:00 Introduction to Sandra's Swimming Journey
01:18 Overcoming Initial Challenges in Swimming
03:24 The Importance of Technique and Coaching
05:48 Experiencing Breakthroughs and New Goals
08:33 Key Insights on Swimming Technique
11:06 The Role of Mindset in Performance
14:42 Navigating Setbacks and Maintaining Progress
18:21 The Value of Video Analysis in Improvement
20:55 Revisiting Basics for Continued Growth
23:43 Current Focus and Future Goals
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
Welcome to the Effortless Swimming podcast, the show that helps swimmers and triathletes love the water, become a better swimmer, and live a better life. Here's your host, Brenton Ford.
Brenton Ford· Host0:10
Welcome to the Effortless Swimming podcast. My guest today is Sandra Surkamp, and Sandra came along to, uh, one of our clinics in Brisbane a couple of years ago, um, and has been doing some filming sessions in the, in the past, and has just continually worked with us, and recently you've had a bit of a breakthrough in terms of your, your times. And I wanted to get you on to talk about what you did, what those changes were, and then what you've seen and experienced since then, because I think the people who listen to this podcast, they are looking to improve. But I think it's also very relevant to know what you experience when you do make an improvement, whether you stay there forever, whether you go back, whether you go... how it all works, and, uh, I think people will be able to, um, pull a lot for themselves from listening to your story. So Sandra, firstly, welcome to the podcast.
Sandra Surkamp· Guest0:59
Thanks, Brenton. It's great to be here.
Brenton Ford· Host1:02
Tell me about your swimming journey. Where did it start for you?
Sandra Surkamp· Guest1:06
Yeah, yeah. So I, I grew up in Brazil, and I had some swimming lessons when I was about 20-something, um, and I came to Australia about 20 years ago. But during COVID, my health went [laughs] really downhill. And I have a, a really good friend who is a very strong swimmer, and she was always telling me, "Sandra, you should just, you know, go swimming, and we should,