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  We all know that swimming is a 'technique' sport and learning stroke technique is an important part of performance. However, if you're training for long distance swimming, there needs to be a balance in your training as many swimmers can get tied up searching for perfect technique at a risk of poor conditioning. I've heard many people tell stories of how their children are members of a local swimming club and they are surprised (to the point of offended) that the swimming club don't appear to do much stroke tuition, they prefer instead to just get them swimming.. a...

We posted this blog a few years ago and had a lot of positive feedback, so we're recycling! It's pretty timely as the open water season is about to start and we've had lots of first timers asking about our regular sessions at 3 Sisters Waterski. When I first learned to swim, I'd be first to the local pool in the morning and as I walked through the changing area, I'd have only one thought in my mind "I hope that space is free by the wall so I can swim up and down without interruption". As I entered the...

  Triathlon and open water swimming are relatively new sports. We've seen a huge number of people taking up open water since lock down and more specifically, there's a huge number of people aged 30+ who have never swam competitively and they are now aiming to improve their front crawl. If you haven't figured this out for yourself yet, if you weren't a club swimmer who learned correct technique as a child, it's incredibly difficult and frustrating as an adult.  Forget excellence, focus on the critical things There is a very traditional model of coaching, which is referred to as...

Open water season will be upon us soon and shortness of breath, potentially leading to panic attacks are one of the most common issues amongst novice swimmers. In this week's blog, we talk about the physiology behind the problem. It's all about the CO2 Your breathing and heart rate are largely controlled by CO2 levels in your blood stream. In simple terms, when you start to exercise, you create CO2, which accumulates in your blood. You have receptors in your bloody system which detect the rise in CO2 and they send a message to your heart and lungs to 'speed...

As open water coaches we are asked "what's the most important thing regarding open water swimming" and the answer is simple. Firstly get a suit which fits you correctly, generally a correct fitting suit feels too tight to most people and as a consequence they get one which is too big. The second most important thing is putting it on correctly, if the suit isn't worn correctly, you are significantly increasing the resistance on your shoulders which very quickly leads to fatigue. People may tell you "it's easier when you swim in a wetsuit" and this is wrong. The resistance of...