Open water swimming has grown in recent years, after many people discovered it when swimming pools were closed during lockdown. From this start, a growing group of swimmers are looking to take their regular open water dips to the next level. This may be in improving swimming ability, looking to participate in longer swims or wanting to compete against other swimmers in races. In this blog Coach Denise looks at how you can move effectively from swimming for fun to becoming an accomplished, confident swimmer.

At the start of race season, as thoughts turn to open water swims, one of the key considerations is, just how do you swim comfortably in cold water. In this article Coach Denise uses her extensive experience of swimming in Scotland to look at how best to make the transition from the pool to outside, helping you to have the best swim leg you can.

Most triathlons feature an open water swim, and familiarity with the water really helps on race day. Many triathletes swim in their local lakes, rivers or sea during training season but stop once the water and air temperatures drop. In this article, coach Denise looks at why and how you can swim outside all year round.

In most triathlons, the swim takes place outside, either in a lake, river or the sea. Training in a similar environment makes sure you are fully ready to take on the first leg of the race and gives you a chance to test out all of the race kit, especially your wetsuit. Your wetsuit is likely to be the most expensive item of equipment you have for swimming, and looking after it is crucial. In this article, Coach Denise looks at why it should be cleaned and how to do it.

Often triathletes reach for the open water early season to get ready for their first race. Initially, this dive in may be more about braving the cold than anything that can resemble a decent training session. For time-starved athletes, there may be a questionable benefit of a short swim with travel and preparation/changing time) included. Read on to find out how to make the most of the open water swim sessions.

In this article Coach Alan writes about how the recovery part of your swim stroke can play a significant role in your performance. Swimming is renowned in age group triathlon for often being the difficult ‘one’, the one in which no matter how hard you try it doesn’t seem to get any better. Often this is put down to a lack of ‘correct’ technique, but was it correct technique? In this instance which is correct: a straight arm recovery or a high elbow recovery?

‘It depends’ is often the coach’s default answer but in this article, Coach Alan will try and explain ‘how’ it depends.

With open water swim venues in the UK gearing up to open, shortly followed by indoor swimming pools, it’s finally time to think about getting back in the water! With races planning to run only a few weeks later, how can we prepare ourselves to race in the open water with such a short lead-in? Coach Jon gives us his top race day tips.

We find ourselves able to swim in open water before going back into the pools due to this pandemic. How much we swim will depend on the water temperatures, of course, but how can we prepare for open water swimming? Coach Tim Ansell discusses.