đ The Swimming Devil is in the Detail(s)!
đ Practical tips to help improve your Technique, Training and Open Water Skills
TL;DR (In Summary):
new Swim Smooth website launching in October detailing how to join us for some great coaching in 2024/2025
the Swim Smooth Guarantee - how we plan to help improve your Technique, Training and Open Water Skills
todayâs blog is all about the details! Weâve included a brand new video playlist to help you refine your technique (whatever your level or discipline), one to sharpen your open water skills, and a brand new session designed to boost your swim-specific fitness.
A Whole New Look & Feel Coming in October!
Hey swimmers,
We're excited to announce a complete rebuild of the Swim Smooth website - coming your way in October - making it easier for you to access our World Triathlon-endorsed coaching1, including 1-to-1 video analysis, squads, holidays and training camps with our wonderful Swim Smooth Coaches2 around the world.
Thanks for the tremendous interest from the wider coaching community following last week's blog about becoming a Swim Smooth Coach in 2025âif you missed it, add your details here to stay updated. With the recent surge in inquiries, we could surpass our 2030 goal of 200 Swim Smooth Coaches worldwide sooner than we thought!
Exciting times for everyone, whether you're a coach or a swimmer/triathlete!
Your Voice Matters!
In redesigning the site with my webmaster extraordinaire, Yolanda, we've been paying particular attention to ensuring people visiting the site get an immediate understanding of what Swim Smooth is all about. Your feedback, like the google reviews already on the site, is invaluable in shaping this experienceâfeel free to add your thoughts here - it all helps us build a better program for you!
3 Keys: The Swim Smooth Guarantee
As we approach our 20th anniversary, Iâve been reflecting on Swim Smoothâs journey. What started as a simple 3-disc DVD setâcovering Technique, Training, and Open Water Skillsâhas evolved into the interactive and accessible Swim Smooth GURU platform.
Now, all of our content, including videos, Swim Type guides, tutorials, training plans and over 1,000 sessions in your pocket, is available right on your device, providing inspiration and guidance 24/7. Weâve enhanced and transformed everything to be interactive and actionable, making it easier than ever to improve your swimming.
Underpinning all of this is our promiseâwhat we like to call the Swim Smooth Guaranteeâto support you in the three essential areas of swimming success:
Technique: Weâll help you transform your stroke into something you can be proud of, eliminating frustration and improving efficiency.
Fitness: Weâre dedicated to boosting your swim-specific fitness, enabling you to swim long distances effortlessly and without discomfort.
Training Programs: No matter your ability or where you swimâwhether it's the pool, open water, or in triathlonâwe offer expertly designed training programs and coaching to help you excel in any environment, particularly open water, where our methods truly shine.
Todayâs blog offers free, practical advice in each of these key areas, giving you actionable steps to improve your technique, enhance your fitness, and tailor your training to thrive in any swimming scenario.
1. TECHNIQUE - 4 Technique Tips & Tricks:
I've pulled together 7 brand new short videos, each about 5-8 minutes in length, to provide you with some useful nuggets of information depending on whether you're a triathlete, open water swimmer, just getting started, been swimming all your life, just want to do some laps for fitness, participating in Swim:Run events or are a coach.
You can access the full playlist covering 4 tips and tricks for each scenario here and here's a direct link as an example for those of you swimming laps:
2. TRAINING - the Devil is in the Detail(s)
The Devil is in the Detail! Try this weekâs session on the GURU.
Youâve likely heard me rave about our Red Mist Endurance Sessions over the years. However, donât be deceived by the whiteboard above, showing no interval longer than 300m, with most intervals at just 100m. Despite the shorter distances, this is still very much an endurance session. Approach it with caution! While it may seem short and straightforward, the challenge lies in the tight Red Mist Cycle send-offs and the fact that less than 7% of the session uses a pull buoy and paddles.
To do this session at the correct intensity for you, itâs important that you set your CSS (Critical Swim Speed) pace correctly as this is how we calculate the RM Cycles, i.e. âRM 5â. Essentially, the lower the RM Cycle, the less rest youâll get between intervals. If youâre swimming at CSS pace, for every 50m you cover at RM 5, youâll get 5 seconds rest, at RM 2, this would only be 2 seconds rest! Having this unified system ensures that all the swimmers in our squads are experiencing the exact same physiological benefits.
Using the Finis Tempo Trainer PRO (in this case in Mode 2) ensures that we can be way more specific than using the pool clock, where youâd typically round up/down to the nearest 5, 10 or 15 seconds. It helps to really gamify the session too - just make sure you beat that beeper!
And, if the distances look a little too daunting (or you want to do more!), use the intelligent slider to scale the session and then print out the session with your details neatly presented for ease of following.
3. OPEN WATER - How to Structure an Open Water Session:
Please excuse the pandemic-era intro to this final piece of advice, but the guidance on structuring open water sessions is still highly valuableâespecially for coaches aiming to deliver engaging, safe, and effective sessions.
Believe it or not, this video nearly got banned! Despite my goal to provide clear, practical advice to benefit the coaching community, my insurance provider questioned coverage for working with both swimmers and triathletes, almost leading to its removal. Thankfully, after clarifying the situation, the issue was resolved, and the video was saved. I hope you find it helpful!
Have a great week. Your Coach,
Paul