The dean of Australian swimming coaches, Forbes Carlile, presented a keynote address at the 1998 American Swimming Coaches `World Clinic` titled, "Breakthroughs in Competitive Swimming". In that address he highlighted four major developments that have influenced our sport. First, the physiological preparation of swimmers has been profoundly influenced by the application of `interval training` techniques. Second, force analysis of swimming mechanics has allowed a better understanding of how movement patterns are structured. Third, our understanding of fluid mechanics has triggered numerous changes in stroke technique, as well as improvements in equipment, that have allowed swimmers to reduce water resistance. Fourth, advances in sport psychology, nutrition, recovery techniques, and injury/illness prevention have collectively contributed to the overall wellbeing of our athletes. The scientific contributions from three academic domains; exercise physiology, swimming biomechanics, and sport psychology; can be translated into coaching methodologies to produce increasingly higher standards of performance. Taking `theory` and successfully applying it in `practice` is by no means an easy or straightforward process. However, this link can be accomplished if coaches develop conceptual models to help shape their coaching behaviour and practice.