Generic advice fails swimmers because it assumes everyone has the same body, the same background and the same faults. Swim Types is the Swim Smooth framework that changed that — six recognisable freestyle profiles, each with its own strengths, its own faults and its own fix list.
Find yours in two minutes below, free. Then take the full guide with you.
Recognise yourself yet? Each character below is a real pattern our coaches see in the water every single day.
31.1% of swimmersBig engine, fighting the water
Strong, powerful and determined — the Arnie muscles through the water rather than moving with it. Often a former runner, cyclist or gym athlete who brings raw horsepower to a sport that rewards finesse first.
Lengthen the stroke and lift the legs before adding any more power.
18% of swimmersNew to swimming, finding your feet
Everyone starts somewhere. The Bambino is early in the journey — often anxious in deep water, stopping at the wall to recover, and unsure which of the internet's thousand tips to trust.
Relaxed breathing and comfort first. Speed arrives on its own afterwards.
3.8% of swimmersKicking hard, arms along for the ride
Usually a pool-raised swimmer with a phenomenal leg kick that masks a weak catch. Take the kick away — or put a wetsuit on — and the wheels come off.
Build a genuine catch and pull so the arms can carry you when the legs can't.
40.6% of swimmersToo much glide, not enough rhythm
The Overglider has read all the books and taken the advice to 'swim long' too literally. Every stroke pauses out front, momentum dies, and the swimmer works harder to go slower.
Lift the stroke rate and take out the pause. Rhythm is the missing gear.
5.1% of swimmersPunchy, rhythmical, built for open water
Flat, fast-turning and relentless. The Swinger doesn't look textbook-pretty but is devastatingly effective in choppy water, in a wetsuit and in a pack.
Sharpen the catch and hold the rhythm — don't try to become a Smooth.
1.4% of swimmersEfficient, balanced, the classic model
The stroke most swimmers picture when they close their eyes. Long, balanced and economical — but even Smooths have a ceiling, usually a lack of top-end rhythm and open-water adaptability.
Add rhythm and race-craft on top of an already excellent stroke.
Poolside identification, the fix order for every type, squad coaching tools and certification — the coach's side of the Swim Types framework.
Across the swimmers who have taken the Swim Type questionnaire, just 1.4% land as a Smooth — and yet nearly every coaching video online teaches the Smooth stroke as if it were the only model.
That mismatch is exactly why so much stroke advice quietly makes people slower. Fix the faults of the type you actually are.
Swim Types isn't a label you're stuck with — it's a starting point. Every type has a natural development path towards a faster, more economical stroke.
The guides tell you who you are. The Guru tells you exactly what to do next — the complete Swim Smooth stroke correction process for every single Swim Type, in the right order, with the drills, visualisations and sessions that go with it.
And you don't have to rely on the questionnaire alone: the Guru's Stroke Insights read your real swimming data and stroke footage back to you, so your Swim Type is identified from how you actually swim — then refined as you improve.
Every Swim Type has its own correction sequence — no guessing which drill comes first.
Your data and footage identify your type from how you swim, not just what you answer.
Hundreds of videos and visualisations filtered to your type and your faults.
Sessions and plans built around your type's strengths, not a generic template.
Ten short notes from the original Swim Types microsite — the quirks, the faults and the personality behind the framework. Pull a tab.
Reach across the centre line and your body has to snake to compensate — legs swing wide, you scissor, and drag goes through the roof.
Overgliders and Bambinos are the usual suspects: reaching for length in front of the head instead of in front of the shoulder.
The original Swim Smooth questionnaire — your 400 time, your stroke count and a handful of honest answers are enough to place you.
Freshly rewritten, beautifully laid-out PDF guides — one for every Swim Type. What your stroke looks like, why it happens, the faults to hunt down and the exact drill and session priorities to fix them. Buy the guide for your type; each one is $9.99.