Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Out in the ocean, during a lake swim or sitting on an escort boat, the world’s open water swimming coaches employ a Japanese concept of communication – ishin-denshin (or 以心伝心).
When means of communication is limited in marathon swims, information between coach and athlete must be conveyed in unspoken or unwritten ways. This nonverbal, mutual understanding between a coach and an open water swimmer is something special and must be developed over time.
When open water swimmers and their coaches communicate through a nod, a smile, a thumbs up, a wink, a wave or a “look” (seen through a pair of goggles) while in the open water, this isshin-denshin just feels right. Both coach and athlete feel the communication and internalize the messages being relayed from coach-to-athlete and from athlete-to-coach.
These implied communication skills, that may be unfathomable by others onshore or on the escort boat, are one reason why many people in the open water world understand the concept of ‘what the mind thinks the heart transmits.’
Copyright © 2008 – 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff.
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