Becoming a

Total Immersion

Instructor

TI Teacher Training

Total Immersion is the most effective swimming instruction in the world and our trained TI Teaching Professionals have the tools and skills to teach anyone to swim well and enjoy it completely

Please first note we will no longer train anyone who does not already have somewhere to teach TI instruction on a regular basis, as we already have enough workshops coaches to cover all our UK and Ireland workshops

COACHING WITH TOTAL IMMERSION IN THE U.K.

A quick summary

Why teaching Total Immersion is a unique opportunity:

1. Countless millions would love to be able to swim much better than they do and/or would benefit greatly if they could. For most, the ability to swim well will add immensely to their quality of life. Virtually any person you meet is a potential client, making the market for your services almost limitless
2. For many people – no matter what their age – the ability to swim well will be a priceless tool for maintaining health and staying youthful and fit
3. Swimming is universal. Among all sports or fitness activities, Swimming is unique in three ways:
   • It is not simply a fitness activity; it's also an essential life skill; for young children and those who live around water, even a critical safety skill
   • It's widely recognised as perhaps the most complete fitness/wellness activity
   • It's ideal for all ages from toddlers to seniors

By teaching TI, you will be teaching swimming in the most unique way. TI instruction inspires unequalled loyalty, passion, and emotional connection among our clients. People taught by TI instructors feel their swimming is transformed and often tell everyone they know how great their TI experience was.

Who is a candidate to become a Total Immersion Teaching Professional?

We are looking for serious and motivated candidates. Our objective is to build a network of highly professional teachers, with a desire to devote a significant amount of their time to delivering swimming instruction. We seek candidates with the following qualities, and will accept those with the strongest combination of qualifications for the limited number of spaces:

1. A heartfelt passion for the ethos of Total Immersion
2. Dedicated swimmers - we believe to teach TI you must practise it regularly and enthusiastically
3. Sociable, personable and mature. People skills are essential
4. Life experience: experience in coaching and teaching (not just swimming, but other forms of athletic skill or physical discipline – e.g. yoga, Pilate's, martial arts) are valuable
5. The necessary minimum swimming qualifications are: (a) certification to at least level 1 ASA (or an equivalent), (b) membership of the IOS, (c) successful completion of a TI workshop/camp
6. Regular access to a suitable venue in which to teach TI

What are the benefits of a career with Total Immersion?

Total Immersion Teaching Professionals will have the privilege of carrying a credential confirming their qualifications and of being listed on the TI website directory of Teaching Professionals.  They will be approved to teach Total Immersion any time, any place, to any student, so long as they maintain their certification in good standing and comply with the terms of the TI UK coaching agreement. It is clear that this credential will be the most trusted indicator of the best instruction available in the world of swimming. Please be advised: The only coaches permitted to publicly advertise themselves as Total Immersion instructors will be those who have successfully completed all required elements of our teacher training and have signed an agreement with Total Immersion Swimming Ltd, which includes the requirement to pay a 10% of gross monthly Royalty fee to Total Immersion Ltd, and are up-to-date on their CPD (Continued Professional Development) requirements

How does it work?

Assuming you meet the requirements already outlined above, the pathway to becoming a certified TITP is as follows:

• Complete Unit One of our Teacher Training at SwimShack, Loughborough and the related 'home study' work
• Start your interning program of at least 4 Total Immersion Workshops - working alongside experienced TI instructors
• Complete Units Two and Three of our Teacher Training at SwimShack - you don't need to complete all the interning before taking these units 
• Once you have successfully completed the three teaching units and at least four 'intern' weekends and are 'signed off' as being competent, you will be invited to complete a coaching agreement that allows you to teach TI independently on a 1:1 private basis (details of this agreement will be supplied on request once we have your completed application) 
• Assuming you have also displayed an aptitude for coaching in a workshop environment you will also be able to work as a paid TI Workshop Assistant.  Not everyone is suited to coaching at our workshops, so if after attending four workshops as an intern we do not feel you meet our highest coaching standards we will allow you to attend further workshop(s) as an intern to continue to develop the required skills
• After sucessful completion of the program you will be required to teach at a minimum of 2 workshops per year, either paid or unpaid, to maintain your level of certification (for your CPD). Progressing to higher levels of certification will be on merit only having proven continued development on deck at TI workshops and/or by workplace assessment, as deemed necessary (this would be at your own cost)

Method of Instruction

It’s essential to the development of every TI Teaching Professional to have achieved a level of mastery of the drills and skills they will be teaching. During TI Teacher Training each trainee will learn, as well as teach, each drill and skill developed by TI Head Coach & TI CEO Terry Laughlin and his team of TI Teaching Professionals.  All instruction will take place at SwimShack in Loughborough under the tuition of UK Head Coach Ian Smith.  There will be three 2-day units to complete and three or four trainees under tuition on each intake.  During practical sessions one trainee will be the 'instructor', one the 'student swimmer' with the third/forth observing and taking notes - each trainee will be expected to take their turn performing each role

• Unit One - 'Freestyle Weekend Workshops': is where you learn the skills necessary for working at one of our freestyle weekends, so this sets you up to start the interning process 
• Unit Two - 'Advanced Freestyle' & 'Short-Axis Basics': is where you learn how to develop an individual's freestyle to a higher level and learn to teach the foundational skills for Butterfly and Breaststroke
• Unit Three - '4-Stroke Instruction': once completed you will be equipped to teach all four swimming strokes the Total Immersion way

Application: To be considered for acceptance on our training program, you will need to be able to provide the following the following:

• A covering letter which outlines your motivation for wanting to become a TI Teacher & your goals as such. Include 3 references we may contact after successful completion of the full program
• A resume noting the date & site of the TI workshop you attended, including the names of the instructors. Include any professional or life experience you consider helpful to your development & performance as a TI Teaching Professional, including details of the swim teaching qualifications you already hold and where you are teaching swimming and/or where you are going to teach TI
• A diary or log of a week (or 3 pool sessions) of your own TI practise from the past month with as much notation & description as you wish to include. This will help us understand your thinking process in your own pursuit of mastery
• A brief video (5 minutes or so) showing you performing 25 meters of Fish, Multi-Under Switches, Zipper Skate, Multi-Zipper Switches and whole-stroke freestyle. Surface video is sufficient in either VHS tape, Hi8, mini-DV or on DVD - you may also post this on the internet and send us the link for viewing.  This will not be necessary if you have very recently been on a workshop and prior to that told us that you were interested in teacher training

Tuition Fees

Each unit if booked and paid for separately will be £450. Book and pay for all three units up front and the total cost will be £1250.  Please note this is for your tuition only and does not include costs of travel or accommodation, either for the training weekends or when interning on freestyle weekends

Our next training dates will be determined by having a sufficient number of suitably qualified applicants 

To inquire email Head Coach Ian Smith