Perth, Western Australia February 01, 2003 Home News Down South Letters Classifieds Search Submit Real Estate Online Archives Edition List Search AboutUs Contact Us About Us Legal Production Rate Card Readership &  Distribution Subscribe	Shane is totally immersed Ready for the plunge are (from left) Reegan Gilmore, Astrid Hansen, Anthony Philips, Jonathon Beh, Karim Dahan, Pradeep Ruba, Caitlin MacPhail, Lisa Hindmarsh and Shane Gould. Picture: Paul McGovern Thanks to swimming legend Shane Gould, the humble outdoor pool at Bold Park is holding its own against bigger and better-equipped centres. Shane is a convert to the American swimming technique called Total Immersion and has been teaching the method to a growing number of adults and children at Bold Park for the past 18 months. The method teaches swimmers to relax and "swim downhill". The technique has taken off and the pool now has three types of Total Immersion lessons and six Total Immersion teachers - and is looking for more. Shane, a triple Olympic gold medallist who in 1972 held every women's freestyle world record from 100m to 1500m, has credited the technique with helping her win recent world masters swimming titles. She said: "It changes the way anyone can move through the water, including me!". The method is proving a profitable niche for Bold Park, the only pool in Australia to teach Total Immersion exclusively. Pool manager Karen Kelly, a swimming teacher and former competition swimmer, said she was sceptical when she first saw Shane teaching Total Immersion at the pool in 2001. "They hadn't even moved their arms and they had wasted two classes," she said. But she learnt the method herself a few months later and describes the serene feeling of learning to glide through the water as "like pilates in the water" and "almost a spiritual experience". Shane's latest venture is a Total Immersion swimming video for children called Swim Like a Seal, which is due for commercial release in June. - BACK TO TOP HOME - NEXT> copyright © 1999 - 2002 Post Newspapers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Feel free to email the website admin if you have any problems or suggestions.