Robert Strauss

Since 1978, Robert Strauss has tirelessly traveled the globe, training recreational and competitive swimmers of all ages to be water-wise. His innovative approach that integrates swimming into one's lifestyle in such a way that it enhances all aspects of existence led to the development of the celebrated Swim Gym TM techniques, programs, and products.

A 1972 Olympian, Coach Strauss first brought his dynamic perspective to swimming education in 1983 when he established his Swim Gym™ Swim School in Miami, FL. He created one of the top aquatic instructional and safety certification curriculums
internationally that to date, is credited for graduating more than 25,000 students, life guards, and instructors.

Strauss, who holds a Master's of Education from the University of Miami, credits his success to creating a friendly environment in which teachers can expose students to the art of swimming. Describing his organization's tenets, Strauss says "We focus heavily on developing control of the body in the water, in order to dispel fear and provide an
enjoyable experience."

Beyond teaching in order to eradicate drowning and instill a lifelong passion for swimming, Strauss has built an impressive competitive training organization. A Master Swimmer who remains a top contender consistently ranked among the top ten in his age group, Coach Strauss led a number of teams to state championships. "I advocate teaching people to swim for life, not for their lives," Strauss asserts. "I don't believe that being overly competitive is an attitude that will necessarily lead to a lifetime of swimming, so finding the right balance that will promote achievement in all aspects of your life is a key component of my philosophy."

Today, Strauss enthusiastically juggles the burgeoning demands of worldwide Swiminar® engagements with his ongoing commitment at Swim Gym Aquatics™ to teach the values of training, physical fitness and health as they relate to motivation, goal-setting, and individual performance. Most recently, Coach Strauss presented Swiminar® clinics to the

  • Nordic Country Baby Swimming Convention, Oslo, Norway
  • American Swim Coaches Association World Clinic, Indianapolis, IN
  • V Fantasmic Aquatic Congress, Cuernavaca, Mexico
  • Club 2004 Congress on Fitness, Mexico City, Mexico
  • ASCA World Clinic / International Swim Clinic, Veracruz, Mexico
  • FAEL, Nantes, France
  • Aquapedagogue National Convention, Hanover, Germany
  • International Fitness Conference, Zaragoza, Spain
  • ASCA World Clinic, New Orleans, LA
  • Ist USMS Training Camp, Colorado Springs, CO

In addition to posting daily workouts for the United States Masters Swimming organization, Strauss has produced the following highly-acclaimed teaching tools:

  • My First Fifteen Months of Aquatic Life DVD, an easy step-by-step
    infant instructional program
  • Why swim...if you can fly?, a competitive edge video for Kinesthetic
    Awareness Development
  • Swim Gym™ Professional Swim Teacher's Handbook

To find out more go to www.swimgym.net

Training Q&A by Robert Strauss
Q: What would be the single best drill to practice in the pool to improve time/performance?
Gustavo Olier, Miami FL
A: By: Robert Strauss
To improve time - speed in swimming you need to train lots of aerobic base and diligently work the sets of anaerobic threshold, VO2max and Lactate tolerance, you need to record the times you did and repeat the set, and approximately every four weeks repeat the set to compare your time improvement vs. yourself.

To improve your swimming speed you can also improve your Technique, if your:
• Breathing pattern that allows you to rest while you swim
• Breathing timing is EZ on both strong and weak sides
• Balance allows you to maintain a long water line, in order to obtain better distance per stroke.

Single Arm Freestyle is perhaps the best exercise to obtain the proper timing for your breath and if you do it slow enough to “get it,” you will be able to go faster when you do the whole stroke, and quickly you will also be able to breathe to both sides, at least in practice for body balance once you race you breathe when you need to every 2, 3, or 4 arm pulls.
Drill description:
Push off with the normal streamline glide position, stroke first with the arm you will stroke the whole way; when the second arm pull begins roll to that side to breathe and leave the arm down at your side the rest of the way. Make sure to keep, the arm that is swimming at the front end extended until you set the head, after each breath. You will swim one lap with the right arm and one lap with the left arm, when the right arm swims take your breath to the left, and vice versa. In other words you are breathing away from the stroking arm and to the side of the arm in the backend. We do this drill keeping the stroke true to form, every breath is taken when one arm is in front and one arm is in the back end. Caution, do not let the leading arm drop until the head is set.

The best “drill” is hard work, lots of training!