Rating: 
Summary: Make sure you get the REVISED & UPDATED version
Review: A lot of people have mentioned that the techniques are obsolete, and that you should get Laughlin's other book, Swimming Made Easy. Not so!
In this revised and updated version, the author has completely revised the drills used -- if I remember right, he said that only two of the original 12 drills are used in the now-14 drills.
Why did I give this book only 4 stars? Let me give you the breakdown:
First, the CONTENT, or the substance of the book: the techniques and drills presented are superb! I don't know if olympic swimmers can actually improve their times using this book, but I know that as a casual swimmer, I have improved a LOT. The techniques are, for me, revolutionary (but maybe not for professional/olympic swimmers, who may already know these techniques). And for that, this book would have gotten 5 stars -- because of the new techniques that one can learn from this book.
Second, however, is the PRESENTATION. For something that shows a lot of techniques, pictures are worth a thousand words. But instead of photos, we only have illustrations (drawings only! and by the author's brother at that!). And the number of illustrations are sparse! I have weightlifting books, stretching books... and they all have PICTURES. I think, especially for a book like this, I would have preferred that there be a SERIES OF PICTURES (a frame by frame thing showing the technique in practice).
Sure, the author tries to explain, but so much verbiage can only go so far -- besides, he would have to use a thousand words to be worth it, as the saying goes. Several pictures would have helped tremendously. Or at the very least, more illustrations.
Again, I highly recommend the book, but as some other reviewer has said, if you can get the DVD Freestyle Made Easy, then that would be fantastic. Personally, even if it does jack up the price a bit, the book and video go HAND in HAND. The author would probably say the book and video complement each other, but I would go further and say that the book and video are INDISPENSABLE from each other, and that they SHOULD be bundled in the first place.
The book fills in all the words that they can't fit in a voiceover of a video, and the video shows the actual techniques in action. If one needs to make a choice, I'd probably get the video first, then fill in all the details (and read all the explanations) in the book. If you can only afford one, I'd say get the video (but really, try to get the book, too).
In this revised and updated version, the drills in the book are the drills used in the Freestyle Made Easy DVD.
So, this book is NOT obsolete, and in fact I think it explains the theories of the Total Immersion way better than Laughlin's Swimming Made Easy. If, however, you want to read on all four strokes, then by all means, get Swimming Made Easy. If it's just freestyle, get this book and the Freestyle Made Easy video.
If the video and book were bundled together, this would have gotten 5 stars. As it is, with the lack of pictures of the book alone: 4 stars. I really wanted to give it 5 stars because it has improved my swimming and the content is great, but a book that teaches technique should have more pictures.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy the book
Review: Hi:I bought this book with a lot of hope and was disappointed. The author has repeatedly said in the book that one has to swim like fish but unfortunately I am not a fish! I think the fact is like many things every person is different and has different capabilities of swimming faster and better. For example, the body density could be different and therefore the propensity to float etc. could be different. Just because the author has had a chance to see Popov or some other world class swimmer swim for hours is not going to do me any good. If you want to swim better, I suggest you buy Richard Pete's videos and not this one. This one is full of fluff. It is a great example of how thousands can be taken for a ride. SV
Rating: 
Summary: Swimming Intelligently
Review: I am a competitive swimmer, and Total Immersion has allowed me to have a vastly more efficient stroke rate, saving energy in distance events without any compromise in speed. Although the focus is on freestyle, most of the concepts Laughlin discusses apply equally well to backstroke.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent a must read by any competitive swimmer
Review: I am a masters swimmwer back competing after a 30 year hiatus and I'm finally learning how to swim. By employing the methods presented in this book plus some excellent supplementary coaching I have been able to take off a full 2 seconds on my 50 yd repeats in workout and expend what seems like less effort. That is a two body length improvement through technique improvement alone. I have read may books about swimming technique and this book seems to be the best to date. I am fortunate in having an Olympic Gold Medalist as a masters coach and this book illustrates many of the techniques used in his stroke which he passes on to his swimmers. I use it as a personal clinic before practice to remind me of proper technique and some of the all important drills which I use during warmup
Rating: 
Summary: Very wordy, too much gibber-gabber, but has some good stuff
Review: I am new to swimming, but have been an active athlete for 3 years. I have read many books on cycling, running, and triatholing. I bought this book because a chapter was dedicated to his theories on swimming in the book TRIATHLON 101(great book, a must have for the new triathlete), and he sounded well experianced. But his book has got to be the wordyest athletic book I have ever read. It's over 260 pages with about 120 pages of valuable information. I gave the book a 3 star rating only because of the valuable 120 pages, which also had a lot of gibber-gabber. If you need a book, and want info on training and techneque on swimming, look else where because trying to find what the info you want in this book is like trying to find a needle in a hey-stack. Not to mention that the writer likes to bad mouth other sports in an annoying way, which leads me to believe he has never trully experianced what multisport athletes love...all of it!
....sorry about my poor spelling!
Dave Lepore
I recommend these books about athletics, just to list a few.... 1.Optimal Muscle Recovery, written by Dr. Edmund Burke.
2.Greg Lemonds Complete Book of Cycling, by Greg Lemond(1st American to win the TDF)
3.Triathlon 101, by ...I don't have the book with me.
4.The Triathlete's Training Bible, ...
Rating:
Summary: From 24 to 21 Minutes on 1,500 metres within one week.
Review: I have been doing triathlon since 1989 and thus worked on my swimming skills for quite a long time. Just one week after reading this book I improved my 1,500 metres split by three minutes from 24 to 21 minutes. To know how it should feel if you do it right is the most important message the authors get across. There is no more to add.
Rating:
Summary: As a swimming instructor for over 5 years...
Review: I have been teaching swimming for over 5 years, and when I picked up this book, I was really excited!
It now sits on my bookshelf as a reference guide, and I recommend it to anyone I know who is learning to swim for racing or fitness, and also to people who teach swimming.
I have been swimming all my life, and have 2 seasons of triathlon under my belt. This book taught me many new and innovative ways to teach kids 'how to feel the water' to improve their stroke. After I read some of the points in the book, I went to test it out in the pool during one of my swimming sessions. The principles all worked, and put everything I have learned since I was 2 into perspective! I now know how to swim faster and smoother! I was very impressed that a book could do this, compared to the many years of swim instruction.
As for some of the negative comments made about this book, I will address a few:
*diagrams... if you read the introduction, it mentions how to best use the book, and how it is laid out. The book actually has a very easy layout: the intorduction for the concept (with 'proof' of why this concept works), a section (33 pages!) with diagrams to be used as the reference section for the drills in the next secions, sections on how to use the pace clock and equipment... among other things. *"wordy"... I found this book to be great for teaching many people. The 'words' are there to illustrate and explain key concepts of swimming. I often had a hard time explaining concepts of "why" you wanted to swim this way (which adults always want to know) and what a proper technique should feel like. Knowing these things not only helped me become a better swimmer, it also taught me how to explain the concepts better to my sutdnets. THe neatest thing is, it taught me how to teach myself how to swim. I say, keep the words, they are excellent. *the logistics... one person commented that the book focused on the aspect of body position way too much. From teaching every age from 3 months to 60+ years old, I can tell you that EVERYONE starts at the same place: learning PROPER body position. This book takes you back to the first part, as the vast majority of the population has not learned proper body position to begin with. The individual differences in people will determine how much their legs sink or float, but if you use the principles in this book, it will help you swim to your potential. Proper balance in the water is essential. I have spent countless hours watching the public swim laps and comparing their techinique to how the olympic swimmers swim at the pool I work at, and what this book teaches can be recognized in the elite athletes. I have also received coaching from various national level coaches, and they also teach these same prinicples. They train the olympians, so who is to argue? This book is an EXCELLENT value for those who can't get to, or afford the author's workshops. If I had the money and the time to go, I would definitely go!
...I highly reccommend this book to those who want to swim faster and feel more confident and comfortable in the water.
Rating:
Summary: the drills from this book are obsolete
Review: I highly recommend this technique, however, I recently participated in a total immersion workshop and the drills have changed! They no longer teach the drills from this book. I was a little disappointed because I just bought the book a couple of months ago.
Rating:
Summary: The Only Way To Swim
Review: I just finished a 1000 yard training session using the Total Immersion techniques and I feel fresh as a daisy. The book has helped me so much. I swim almost effortlessly with plenty of energy left for other training. The techniques derive from the basic idea that power comes from the trunk - hips, buttocks, abs- rather than from the arms. Using the rotary movement outlined in the book, plus learning to swim sideways so you cut a slim figure thru the water and being balanced, will get you in the water faster and, very important for us time-challenged people, out of the water faster than ever before.
I used to dread the endless laps but now I look forward to them. I highly recommend the book and the video
Rating:
Summary: a real find!
Review: I learnt to swim as an adult, and swim very slowly - mile in 50 minutes. After reading the first four chapters of this book, and implementing just one idea - front-quadrant swimming - I'm still in the slow lane, but passing other swimmers for the first time in my life! I can hardly wait to find out what the rest of the book will offer. I enthusiastically recommend _Total Immersion_ to any beginning swimmer.
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