Swim Improvement -- Best approach

Question
Dear Eric,

I took about 15 swim lessons and practiced on my own at the pool.  I was able to do the backstroke OK, the sidestroke OK, the elementary backstroke OK, and the breaststroke OK.

But my crawl was bad and I continue to struggle with it.  I never attempted the butterfly as it looked impossible.

I am 55 years old.  I heard about *Total Immersion Swimming*.  They seem to suggest that their approach is the best and that one can learn to swim better with their classes. Can you help me separate fact from fiction please.  Is there approach better than others?  I would like to learn the crawl stroke correctly but so far, even with much effort, it is a terribly hard stroke for me.  I just can't get all the things coordinated and I rapidly lose my breathe/wind and get tired out and frustrated with it.  
Are there any other resources you'd recommend on learning the crawl besides Total Immersion Swimming.  If you think that Total Immersion Swimming is the best for me then I can arrange some classes with them in the future.  I just don't know who to learn from for this hard stroke for me.  Thank you.
Sincerely.

Answer
Michael,
Total Immersion has its routes in science.  It came on the scene as a result of studying the efficiency of swimmers.  Terry Laughlin has done a great job at parsing this out to the masses.  As for this being the best way to learn the strokes, I can't say that.  I do think that TI is a great tool to augment any swimming education at ANY level.

My best advice is to try it out.  If you can afford the lessons, it can't hurt.  I have known people who swear by the techniques.  However, sometimes it's information overload for people.  You will learn the fundamentals of swimming in  new way.  However, you will have a great coach with you the entire way.

I have not personally taken any TI classes.  I have hears many great things about it though.  Be aware though that any good swim coach or instructor may instinctively utilize many of the same techniques.

I hope that this sheds a little light on the subject.  Since I haven't been through the class, I can't answer with 100% accuracy.  I will say that it can't hurt though.  Any time in the water is time well spent.
Eric