Engaging your brain whilst swimming

One of the things I love about swimming is the ‘brain re-set’. It’s allowing your mind to wonder and drift off. It’s very easily done and beneficial in lots of ways. BUT…you shouldn’t be doing this all of the time. If you enjoy a challenging sea swim, like the odd race, want to improve…go faster and further…then you need to learn to engage your brain whilst swimming. Particularly in a race scenario, there shouldn’t be any points where you stop thinking about what you’re doing.

My old swim coaching used to say ‘‘if you want to get good at fighting, get in a fight!’’. If you want to be a swimmer that can adapt to the conditions and swim to a race plan and/or adapt that race plan mid-race, you need to practice engaging with your brain in training. No good trying it in the middle of a race. You also need to be able to think clearly when you start to get tired…which takes practice.

During either a pool or open water swim there will and should be times where you adapt your stroke technique, stroke rate, kick rate, breathing, sighting (when and where you sight), head and leg position, draft someone… This all needs to be practiced fairly regularly.

Technique - if you swim in the open water, swim with hand paddles for swimrun/Otillo events etc you need to think about the chop. Swimming directly into decent sized chop can be tricky, as it can catch the back of your hands and disrupt your rhythm and stroke. You should practice swimming with straighter arms and giving your hands increased clearance of the water. This also goes for your breathing and which side to breath on. You always want the chop hitting the back of your head.

Kick - whilst your leg kick is far less important in the open water, it’s still useful. Putting in a little ‘kick’ at the end of a race or to stop someone drafting can be a very useful tool. Conserving your kick rate when you start to get tired can also conserve valuable oxygen. Getting your legs a little higher in the water and promoting a quick flutter kick when you’re swimming with the chop can also be a good tactic. These all require practice and they require some thought whilst you swim.

Breathing - reading the conditions and knowing whlich side to breath to, waiting to be at the peak of the swell rather than the trough before you breath can also be a great tactic…that needs thought.

The difference between an average and good performance and an average and good swimmers very often doesn’t come from all those muscles you’ve been training in the pool and gym!

The ability to look back and evaluate a swim and make adjustments before the next is also a key factor in improving performance.

Breathing when learning front crawl

It’s become very obvious over the last 5 years + of running Sea Swim Cornwall that breathing or simply the act of putting your face in the water is quite a big barrier to swimming front crawl for a lot of people. The other issue is that if you haven’t mastered breathing, it makes it incredibly difficult to then work on your leg kick, arm pull, body position etc when you’re still focused on your breathing. Over the last few years we’ve developed a nice little exercise that introduces breathing technique slowly and in a safe and controlled environment.

Step 1 : this can be done in the open water but I think it’s far better done at home. Simply fill the bath up, then sit on your knees and put your face in the water. You’re simply looking to breath out in the water and then bring your face up and out of the water and breath in. These aren’t big breathes, where you’re filling your lungs up. They’re shorter, sharper and quicker breathes. Repeat this for 5-10 minutes until you’r enice and comfortable doing it at quick intervals.

Step 2 : Once you get used to step 1 try and progress to lying flat in the water (on your knees) and breathing to the side…as you would swimming. You’re then looking to having your face in the water for around 2 seconds (breathing out), turn your head to the side and breath in for around 1 second. Keep repeating this for an initial period of around 30 seconds and once you start to get more confident extend the time period to 1 minute +.

Alternative : you can also try this in the open water or with a bucket full of water. Simply stand just deeper than waist depth and lean forward and follow the steps above.

Step 3 : not really a step. Just remember that in the open water the water is a lot colder! Acclimatise to the temperature before trying these breathing exercises. Don’t go straight in and start try them whilst gasping for air and getting used to the cold!

Step 3 : once you’re comfortable with your breathing start to them work on your stroke. Particularly breathing whilst using your arms.

Remember : worth being aware that lots of people that start swimming front crawl in the open water get worried about taking in a mouth full of water. They try to avoid this by over-rotating and bringing their mouth as far away from the water as possible (effectively looking up). This is fine in the very short-term. The problem with doing this long term is that you’re over rotating to achieve this high breathing position. To prevent yourself from rolling too far over and flipping onto your back your leg kick often then become wider (like the stabilisers on a bike). This in turn creates drag and slows you don’t, as well as sapping your energy and preventing you from getting into a rhythm.

Moving forward : it really depends on your lung capacity but you generally want to breath every 2 if your swimming distance. You can breath 3…and you might find that you swim a little straighter doing so. You do this to try and stay in the aerobic energy system for as long as possible…ie. you continue to use Oxygen. If you go into your anaerobic system earlier than you need to, you’ll more than likely find that you get tired and stiff far earlier.

Why learn front crawl (freestyle)

I offered to teach a group doing a water safety course front crawl and they asked me why they would bother? The question slightly surprised me and I didn’t have an immediate answer. For me it’s one of those questions that I never thought I’d be asked and had never really given any thought to the answer….now that I have thought about it, here’s why.

• I think primarily the view underwater is often as spectacular or, in some cases more spectacular than the view above. This year we’ve seen a large number of sand Eel and marine life and the usual stunning Cornish underwater seascapes.

• Cold water does a great job of ‘re-setting’ the brain. Great for your mental health. In warmer water (ie. the summer), swimming with your head in the water, focusing on your breathing, thinking through your technique…does exactly the same. So when the water isn’t cold, you get the same affect.

• Breaststroke gets the job done but can be quite punishing on the knees and joints. Especially as you get older. If you pick up an injury/RSI to your shoulder or knee you may have to give up swimming.

• Swimming front crawl (correctly) puts less strain on the body - particularly with the added buoyancy of salt water.

• Generally speaking, swimming front crawl allows you to cover more distance, quicker, with less energy and resistance (from both the wind and water). Which would allow for more adventurous swims or simply more variety.

• Even if you weren’t to swim front crawl that often. It’s nice to have the option.

• From a safety point of view I also think that swimming faster, with less effort is definitely a good thing.

These are our thought on the topic. Quite honestly, we’re just thrilled that more people are swimming and it’s gained such popularity. However you swim…keep it up!

Review of 2021

2021 above all was very…interesting. Planning was very tricky due to Covid and us basically predicting the restrictions that might be in place. The weather and wind forecasts were all over the place, with a lot of the short term forecasts being far less accurate than usual. We had to cancel our first swim ever on the beach, just before we were going to set off…as the forecast and actual conditions were wholly inaccurate. The wind strength was really strong for long parts of the summer. The water temperature was also really cool until at least the start of June. Cornwall was incredibly busy all year, so we had to factor in parking with a lot of our activity.

That being said…what a great summer of swimming it was!

We appeared in the national press 3 times over the course of the year! The Times, Financial Times and Guardian.

We started the season with quite a few swims around Mousehole Island and a few shorter routes. Mainly for safety reasons, as if you started to get cold you’d have less distance to negotiate on your way in. We have a large list of shorter swims and some stunning swims with really interesting features, so we still offered some beautiful swims. We also offered water safety / rip current awareness courses (for the first time) in the early part of the season, so swimmers could swim safely through the summer. Along with some 30 minute coaching sessions and a coaching programme we ran at the Jubilee Pool.

We ran a number of swimming holidays through the summer. We saw lots of new faces, as well as lots of returning ones. A number of these holidays were private holidays for returning groups. By the end of the summer we also got back to what we do best - a nice social trip, with pubs and cafes featuring…as well as world class swimming of course!

2021 saw us offer a new type of holiday. We held a trip in the middle of the Lizard Peninsula, with people staying in a central campsite. This made for a far more social experience and has proved to be incredibly popular.

NEW SWIMS : We’re always on the look out for new swims. I find it incredible that we still find them 4 years of swimming holiday. This year saw us swim out of Polurrian Cove on a couple of occasions. A stunning, quiet beach, just around the corner from the more popular Poldhu Cove. As well as swimming a route up towards Mullion, we also completed a more challenging 2km route from Polurrian to Poldhu.

The Sea swim Cornwall team completed a glorious swim from Porthleven to Rinsey - a quite spectacular route of around 3 miles. READ ABOUT IT HERE.

We offered a few swims at Kynance Cove this summer and accidentally (always the best way) found a secret new cave, only accessible on a certain tide. We’ll look to offer this swim next summer…occasionally.

Church Cove, on the east side of the Lizard (there are 2!), has been on our hit list for some time. This year gave us the perfect opportunity to finally offer up this swim and it did not disappoint. Words don’t do it justice. You’d be better off clicking on the link above.

A longer swim we’ve considered for some time finally got some attention. Lamorna to Mousehole. Around 4km of what we thought would be rugid, DEEP swimming but it was surprising safer than we imagined. In the right conditions, getting out is fairly straight forward, once you’re round the point at Lamorna. There is also a coastal path you can scramble up to, if needs be. Whilst it is deep in parts, there are also fairly shallow sections the whole way along. Swimming into Mousehole, from the less popular side was also a real pleasure. It’s a swim we’ll more than likely look to offer next year.

Porthchapel - hidden around the corner from Porthcurno was a real treat. There is a little scramble / climb down the rocks onto the beach…but nothing too taxing. It’s a beautiful beach and swim. It’s also a new and different option to swim to from Porthcurno.

The north side of the west of Cornwall is an area we’ve spent some time exploring. Whilst we’re happy with heading to St Ives when a strong southerly wind blows in, it’s nice to have lots of options. We’ve found a few additional swims, although some are a little tricky to get to. We’ll save these for smaller groups and on-off swims.

Praa Sands also hosted a number of swims. Whilst I’ve visited Praa Sands a number of times, I"‘ve never really rated it as a beach. This summer however, changed that. Really enjoyed spending time here. There are a number of very cool cave swims off both ends of the beach and options to swim around to Keneggy and Prussia Cove.

Poldhu Cove better known for it’s surfing has provided us with a few very nice swims this summer. There’s an awesome little channel that you can swim through on the point and you also have the option of swimming around to Church Cove and exploring a few caves.

All-in-all fantastic summer of swimming. We’ve actually learnt a little more about reading the conditions, found some new swims and tweaked a couple of our holidays for 2022.

2022 holiday dates and events are either out or being announced shortly. Holidays requiring just a £50 fee to reserve your spot at this stage. Memebership for regular local swims are also currently available for 2022. You’ll find out about events and holidays first, be offered last minute reduced entry for any spots still available on holidays, as well as receive discounted entry for weekend swims and events. CLICK HERE for more info. Membership just £20.

Swimming Course at the Jubilee Pool

We recently ran a 4 week course at the Jubilee Pool. We looked at water safety and rip currents at the beach, the theory behind breathing, arm pull and recovery, body roll, head position, leg kick….we then ran a practical in the pool. The lady featured in the video had never swum front crawl - this was week 3. Not everyone progressed this quickly but we were really happy with all the progress that the participants made.

We’ll look to run further courses like this one over the summer.

Starting out in open water swimming and front crawl.

With a massive rise in wild swimming, dipping and open water swimming we thought we’d write a little piece on improving your swimming…taking the first few steps from bobbing around in the water, bit of breaststroke or limited front crawl - to swimming front crawl…and increasing your distances.

FACE AND BREATHING : if you’ve just started in the open water, getting your face in is step one. Make sure you wear a swimming cap, you can wear 2 if it’s really cold and a decent pair of goggles. By decent, I don’t mean expensive. Everyone has a different shaped face and not all goggles will suit everyone. Sometimes it’s a case of trial and error. Also, wear ear plugs or something to stop you getting ‘surfers ear’. Best place to start is to simply take a breath, put your face in and slowly expel the air, before bringing your face out and taking another breath. You shouldn’t bring your face out and breath out. The breathing out section should be completed underwater. Repeat. Whilst swimming some people breath in and then expel the water when their face goes in quite quickly, some breath out consistently until their face comes out for another breath…it’s an individual thing.

FRONT CRAWL STROKE : once you’re comfortable breathing in the water, you can then look to put your breathing and stroke together. I’d suggest starting off by focussing on the relationship between your arm strokes and breathing and getting comfortable and efficient with this part of your stroke. In salt water or with the assistance of a wetsuit you’re nice and buoyant. So initially it’s nice and easy to take your leg kick out of the equation. Simply put your ankles together and let your legs float behind you. I say this because it’s almost impossible to focus on your arms, breathing and leg kick at the same time. It’s like trying to ride a unicycle, whilst juggling and having a conversation!

LEGS : Once you feel like you’re making progress and you’re not having to put too much thought into what you’re doing, you might then consider adding leg kick to the mix. Leg kick is one of the most difficult parts. It’s not difficult to kick your legs…it’s having an efficient kick that’s the tricky bit. When coaching 90% of the issue we try and correct are poor leg kicks. Your legs will use a lot of oxygen and if you’re not kicking efficiently you don’t get any propulsion. Which isn’t great. You’ll also be deprived of oxygen, which in turn will slow you down over distance and increases fatigue. The other issue is for runners. Leg kick is all about the flexibility in your ankles. Runners notoriously have stiff ankle and often really struggle with leg kick. Your kick should be short and sharp - with the most important bit being that your ankles should be together, with heels just breaking the surface of the water.

DISTANCE : start with short bursts and get it right over those bursts. Have regular rest intervals. Once you feel like your getting it right over shorter distances start to extend the distances that you’re swimming.

COACHING : the most cost effective way to get coaching would be to follow the advice above and once you’re swimming take yourself to see a coach. If you want to swim in the sea, have an open water swim coaching session. If you want to swim in the pool….a pool session. If you want to do both I’d complete a pool coaching session. Think about the area that’s most important to you.

You can see a coach at the very start. It’ll help but will be a little more expensive.

Your coach should give you drills to take away and practise. It’s also really helpful to know where you’re going wrong as you can then visit Youtube and look at drills to correct the issues and do your own homework. The best place to practise drills is in the pool but you won’t have the buoyancy in the pool, that you typically have in salt water/wearing a wetsuit. The salt water is also more forgiving with your stroke, so some problems won’t be as visible in the salt water, as they would in the pool. A low hip position, for example may be hidden by the buoyancy salt water provides.