The winds influence on swimming conditions

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This morning I made a video looking at how the wind will impact on your swim and it's influence on choppy conditions. We cover the basics and some slightly more technical stuff. We use Long Rock Beach as an example. *What I don’t mention is that if the wind gets really strong it tend to have a habit of bouncing off surfaces, bending round headlands and cliffs...the rules go out the window a little.

I use the example in the video of Long Rock Beach but the principles can be used at any beach. Be aware that there are more factors to consider than just the wind. We don’t go over tides, rips, rivers, estuaries, weather patterns etc in this video.

If you’re unsure how to view the wind direction or how to look it up online, click below and read our blog post on exactly that.

Open water swimmers first aid course

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We’ve been offering water safety, swim planning and rip current awareness courses for a few years now and they’ve been really well received. So, we’ve added this course to a half day of training, which also includes :

  • First aid training

  • CPR

  • intro to using a defib

  • Choking (adult, child and baby)

  • towing techniques

  • short practical in sheltered, shallow water

  • We also spend a lot of time looking at hypothermia

  • heart attacks / cardiac problems and other medical conditions…

Group swimming has never been more popular and we’ve specifically looked at issues that might crop up with swimming in groups. So, we’ve included :

  • towing techniques, in case you have to tow someone to the shore. As an individual or as a group

  • Choking, specifically including child and baby…as lots of swimmers are parents and grandparents

  • There are a number of ‘mature’ swimmers in the water, so we’ve focused on conditions like fainting, heart issues (attacks, angina…), using defibs...

  • Swimming year round is popular so we’ve included hypothermia, cold water shock, after drop etc.

  • Pro-actively planning a swim and looking at the conditions.

The training is available through our website, with individual places and private group booking options.