He targeted Masters swimmers and triathletes, stressing the benefits of finishing the swimming leg of competition with a low heart rate.
[7] Laughlin's first book, “Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster and Easier,” was published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster, and has sold more than 275,000 copies as an e-book and trade paperback.
But those who knew him well were struck by his child-like curiosity about the world, and the optimism with which he confronted life’s challenges and rewards," wrote Laughlin's friend and business associate Keith Woodburn.
[14] “After living with metastatic prostate cancer for two years (about which he blogged widely), Terry passed away on Friday, October 20th, 2017, of complications related to his condition.
[15] Following his death, The Economist wrote that Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion "has become a bestselling book, a much-watched series of videos, a coaching business and a catchphrase among hydrophiles the world over.
[17] His lifelong passion for swimming involved multiple roles—student, athlete, coach, teacher, technician, author and producer—while his career took him all over the world, from Hawaii to Thailand to the Caribbean.
Although he trained national-level swimmers as well as top-ranked triathletes, Laughlin found much satisfaction in teaching people who were afraid of water — who were 20, 30, 40, even 90 years old, who had never learned to swim.
"He never dismissed an honest inquiry with a curt response and would spend hours each day returning emails," wrote his longtime Master's Swimming lane mate David Barra.