EP 372: How to Improve Your Freestyle as an Adult – Olympian's Advice with Sharon Van Rouwendaal

The podcast that helps you improve your swimming, love the water and live a better life.

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In this episode, we sit down with Sharon Van Rouwendaal, Olympic gold medalist in the 10 km open water marathon at Rio 2016 and Paris 2024, to talk all things freestyle—especially how adults can improve their technique in and out of the water.
Whether you’re getting back into swimming or looking to sharpen your technique, this episode is packed with actionable tips and deep insights from one of the best in the world.

01:16 – Transitioning From Competitive Swimmer To Coach
04:27 – Learning From Previous Coaches
08:20 – Slow Stroke, Take A Step Back
12:38 – Warm Up Is Important
13:36 – If You Can’t Do It In Dry Land, You Can’t Do It In The Water
20:07 – Sets
22:55 – If You Lose The Kick, You Lose The Rest Of Your Stroke
26:56 – Using Stronger Muscles
31:35 – The Back End Of The Stroke
33:34 – Hip, Ribs, Shoulder Connection

Maldives Long Distance Camp
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Want to really transform your swimming? Join us on a swim camp in 2025 in the Maldives, Galapagos Islands, Whitsundays or Thailand: https://effortlessswimming.com/camps/

Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog

Get in touch with Sharon:

https://www.instagram.com/svrouwendaal/

CeilidhRobertson

Amazing swimming and fitness podcast

Love, love, love listening to Brenton and his guests. Always learning something new to add to my swim sets with drills or training sets. Also very motivational guests with great tips to add to your fitness routine. I love the stories of the longer distant swims and what’s involved. I’m always smiling after listening to these podcasts!! Thank you so much !!!!

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Brenton and Mitch were great to work with at the clinic, Good to get video analysis to work on straight away, practice some new drills and go home knowing what you need to work on.

Alex McFadyen

Sydney