AI Can’t Feel

You can ask an algorithm for a training plan for your next 5k, 10k, or even a 20K swim. It will spit one out in seconds.

It looks complete: distances by week, technique with recommended drills, threshold sets, open water skills practice, it even recommends practicing fueling and mental strategies.

Convenient? Absolutely.

But also completely missing the point.

AI can write a training plan based on the latest in exercise science, but it can’t help you feel the water.

And when efficiency is everything—literally everything—in the unstable medium of the water, it pays to get a coach.

A coach that can help you shift your mindset away from counting lap upon lap and learn to feel your body in the water.

A coach who can help you notice the tension that sneaks into your jaw when you’re trying too hard.

A coach that can help you understand the timing that connects every movement so that you can effectively apply pressure on the water.

Because here’s what happens without that awareness:

You can continue fighting the water. Complete your AI-generated plans. Hit your distance goals.

And the water will let you.

That’s the dangerous part. Water is forgiving in the short term. You can muscle through with compromised mechanics. Build stamina on horrendous technique. Compensate with your shoulders for what your core should be doing.

The water won’t stop you—until one day, it does.

Your shoulder starts talking to you. Then screaming. Or you realize you’re dreading every swim, and you can’t remember why you used to love this.

The water breaks you slowly, then all at once.

By the time you’re in line for shoulder surgery—or you’ve just stopped swimming altogether—the damage is done.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

I’ve watched swimmers move from burned out and dreading the pool to engaged, curious, playful—having their best seasons yet. Not because they got a new plan, but because they learned to listen again. To trust what they feel.

To recognize when the catch connects.

To notice when they lift even the tiniest bit and how it sinks their whole body.

To feel the subtle shift when they stop fighting and send their energy forward in every movement.

That’s the intelligence of water. And that’s what makes swimming transformative.

What I offer my swimmers isn’t copy-paste workouts or algorithmic training plans. It’s a process of discovery:

• Learn the fundamentals to start tuning into your body.
• Refine awareness with video analysis.
• Find flow so that every stroke, every time you go to the water, teaches you something.

If you’re ready to rediscover your connection with the water, I have space for a few Discovery Calls in November. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to go, and whether working together makes sense. No pressure, just clarity.

And if you’re craving community while you explore, we’re diving into “Gratitude and Anchors” in November at The Water’s Edge—a perfect theme for anyone wanting to reconnect with why they swim in the first place.

You don’t need a better algorithm. You need awareness.

Meet yourself in the water,

Shannon

P.S. For those in southern Oregon: I have two clinics coming up at Rogue X on November 8th from 8-10 AM, Discover Ease in the Water, and November 15th from 8-10 AM Crack the Speed Code. If you can’t make it, please help spread the word by sharing this email.