Category Archives: Swimming Tips

Open Water Swimming Skills Course

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Over the past year or so I have been asked a few times whether or not I could provide pointers, give assistance or advice to fellow open water swimmers and enthusiasts. I had a race-free weekend lined up and wanted to try and do something a little different. With only a few days notice, I decided I would host a open water swimming skills course at Silvermine Dam on Saturday. The dam is situated up on Ou Kaapse Weg, the mountain pass between Constantia and Noordhoek, a fantastic dam to swim in. The water, albeit black in colour, is clean, fresh, warm and allows for a great 300m swim across in each direction. A great training environment for beginners all the way up to experienced open water swimmers.

Unfortunately there was a truck that overturned on the pass 30 minutes prior to the start of the session. This resulted in major traffic problems due to the road closure and forced people to turn around and head home. The few that stuck around and managed to get to the dam enjoyed a great session. The response was great and it seems that all of the participants learnt many new tricks. This will hopefully allow them to feel more confident next time they head out into the open water for a swim.

We covered some of the following areas:

  • The start
  • Sighting techniques
  • Breathing techniques
  • Pacing
  • Swimming in a pack
  • Nutrition and feeding
  • Rounding Buoys
  • Salt Water versus fresh water swimming
  • And more

Keep an eye out for the next skills course as I plan to do this again in the near future.

Ann

Ann – nice long strokes

Kerry

Kerry – great technique

Open Water Sighting

Open Water Sighting

Richard - High Elbow

Richard – High Elbow

Richard - Sighting

Richard – Sighting

Splash

Open Water Swimming Skills Course

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Over the last few months I have had numerous requests to host an Open Water Swimming Skills session for both Open Water Swimmers and Triathletes. I have been privelaged enough to have attended a host of Open Water clinics myself and I feel it is time for me to share a couple of the tips and secrets I have learned over the last few years.

The plan is to cover a few crucial areas of Open Water Swimming, providing tips that will hopefully save you time and energy whilst you are out there in the water.

Open Water Swimming Tips

Open Water Swimming Tips

Feel free to contact me on the details above in order to book your place.

Where: Silvermine Dam (at the top of Ou Kaapse Weg)

When: Saturday 16 March 2013

Time: 14h00 Start

 

Open Water Swimming Tips: Sighting

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For many swimmers venturing out into the open water for the first time, there are many open water swimming techniques that play a huge role in the success of your swim.
As part of my own open water skills development over the years, I’ve been exposed to open water swimming clinics hosted by Swimming South Africa and learnt some hard fought lessons in races.
I have often been requested to share my knowledge with other swimmers and as a result I will be doing this in two ways. Firstly, I have chosen a few topics and will provide some insight based on my experiences in open water swimming and share a few secrets which may help you swim faster or more comfortably. In this series of posts I will cover various aspects of open water swimming by writing about a single topic at a time. It is difficult to put all practical skills onto paper and because of this I will also be hosting open water swimming clinics at the start of our South African summer, covering these topics and more, in person.

This week I take a look at Open Water Swimming Sighting Techniques.

Sighting In The Open Water

Open Water Sighting

One of the most important things in open water swimming is knowing where you are and where you are going at all times. Taking an extra second to spot the right direction could save you a few seconds or even minutes by swimming the more direct route. Swimming off-course can waste a lot of time.

Continue reading →

Swimming Tips: What Not To Do

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Guest post written by the Head Coach of Vineyard Swimming Club Rondebosch, Brendon Pienaar. For more information you can contact him at brendonpienaar(at)gmail.com.

Ok guys and girls, in the last ten years the open water swimming world and triathlon scene have become extremely popular. All of a sudden people entering the world of Triathlon need to be able to swim in a dam or the ocean and make their way through an open water swim. The problem is that they are going to the nearest swim coach and getting whatever advice or swimming tips that they can get, not always the best advice. I have been heavily involved with triathlon and open water swimming coaching for the last five years and this is some of the rubbish advice I am trying to eliminate! Here are some of the mistakes triathletes and open water swimmers make. Continue reading →