Have you been closed off from the Open Water? Do you class yourself as a fair-weather swimmer and avoid winter dipping? Here are a few tips to ensuring that you and your kit are ready for the warmer temperatures. The temperature will not feel the same as what you last remembered it to be –...
As Covid restrictions are starting to ease, I was wondering what peoples thoughts are on competitions opening back up? I think it’s good that we’re now allowed to get back to some relative normality, I do have my reservations on what type of ‘restrictions’ are put in place while events are taking place… Are we...
The feeling of the chlorine smell coming out of my pores is like the best cologne you could ever had. After two weeks of being back in the water, I have already noticed where my weaknesses will come from. Recent shoulder surgery left me with a relatively weak rotator cuff and part of my collarbone...
The glorious 12th…..! Tomorrow is a huge day 🏊🏼♂️🚴🏼♂️🏋🏼♀️ Our sacred pools and gyms reopen 🙌🏼 but does that mean we need to go and ‘smash out a session’? Absolutely not. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” I accept we’re all looking forward to being back in our home from homes, but we need to...
Lockdown 3.0 As we’re well in to the third (hopefully the last) national lockdown, I begin to wonder – what’s it going to be like when we’re allowed out? No doubt about it, there will be naturally anxious thoughts and feelings about what will be the “new normal” – a phrase I hate to use,...
So, as our Government have outlined the restrictions for the second lockdown and subsequently the rules for the tier system in England – I begin to wonder how non-sensical the reasonings are for swimmers. In a swimming pool-based environment, pool operators and swimming clubs have and ARE working tirelessly to ensure the safety of all...
In these uncertain times, everyone has been out of the water for a prolonged period time which can cause a lot of unsettling feelings around being in the water. Not only how will we feel being back in the water but how will our stroke feel? Will we have ‘forgotten’ how to swim, will the...
As we approach that time, that moment when we are allowed to return to our ‘happy place’ a total cacophony of emotions begins to run through my mind, my body, my soul. Is it happiness? Is it worry? Is it a thought of knowing about how much I have missed being in the water and...
A week in and the UK has been (rightly so) put into a lock down by the Prime Minister, meaning that no unnecessary journeys / activities are allowed, we’re only allowed out once a day to exercise e.g. run / cycle on our own or with members of our household, make essential trips to do...
In these uncertain times ahead, many of you have been asking “What can I do as I can’t get to the pool!”, the simple answer is to adapt and overcome. Swimmers need to realise that being a swimmer has huge advantages in developing aerobic fitness across other sports. Many swimmers (certainly not me) can become...
