Gin Bar

A very cool Gin bar in Penzance at the minute. That cool in fact, that I can't find any trace of it online. You find the Sea Swim Cornwall logo on the map and you'll find the bar.

Which event is for you?

We run a number of holidays and events throughout the year. We try to be as inclusive as we possibly can but try as we might, not all of our activities will suit all abilities. Here’s a run down of what you’ll need to know.

YEAR ROUND WILD SWIMMER

If you’re less about the Ks and more about your year round swimming days then the Porthleven Food Festival and swimming weekend looks like it’s the trip for you. It’s our favourite food festival of the year. Set in the stunning Porthleven Harbour and attracting around 40,000 people every year, it’s a fantastic weekend. As the water is a little colder we’d recommend this trip to the hardcore year round swimmer. The distances will be a little shorter and we’ll also explore some of the hidden rock and natural pools the west coast of Cornwall has to offer. APRIL 17-19 2020, currently open to small - large group bookings.

MIDDLE-OF-THE-PACKERS TO YOUR MORE COMPETITIVE SWIMMERS

The 10K Big River Day might be the afternoon out you’ve been looking for. It’s a stunning swim up the river Fal in crystal clear waters. You’ll receive a little boost from the incoming tide from St Mawes up to St Just in Roseland…finishing at one of the most stunning harbours we’ve ever seen. At the harbour you’ll have a refreshments break (plenty of fluids and cake) before returning back along the same route with the outgoing tide. *There are swimming speed requirements on this event. Check before booking.

OUR ALL-INCLUSIVE EVENT

We try to be as inclusive as possible with this event but you have to have a realistic chance of swimming 10km over the course of one day…it’s the 10K Magical Mystery Tour. Set up as more of a challenge than a race, you’ll look to swim 10km over 4 swims. The challenge takes place over the course of around 8-10 hours. We also put on a coach to ensure it’s a nice and social event. Swims may include St Michael’s Mount, Porthcurno, Mousehole, Penzance bay, Carbis Bay and St Ives… During the latter stages we also arrange shorter routes for those that may be struggling.

ALL-INCLUSIVE HOLIDAYS

Again, we try and make our holidays as all-inclusive as possible. The reality is that you need to be able to comfortably swim 1-3km in one go. We can make exceptions but you need to call us before booking. These holidays and the swims are based on the conditions of the day. We pick the most enjoyable and safe swims as we can. We are swimming in the sea but you’ll never be expected to swim through surf or rough conditions! This year we’ve lined up all of your holiday dates with local festivals so you have double the reason to attend.

ST IVES FOOD FESTIVAL : set on the beach and including great live entertainment it’s a great holiday

GOLOWAN FESTIVAL : is a massive festival put on each year in Penzance. They shut the towns roads down and turn the who thing into a pedestrian-bar. There are precessions and live music and dance throughout the whole weekend, as well as craft fayres and food stalls.

DESIGN YOUR OWN

If any of the above doesn’t suit simply contact us and design your own trip or swim. We offer open water coaching and bespoke swims, days and holidays.

Straight Line Swimming

The second some of us get out of the pool, into the open water and no longer have a thick black line to follow we struggle. There is a definite art to swimming ‘fairly’ straight. We’ll try our best in the following few points to get you on the right path.

• BREATHE BOTH WAYS. If you were to breathe to your left every time, when your head comes up to breathe you roll your body that extra few inches. This means that you extend your right arm forward that extra inch or two. If you’re right handed you’re extending your dominant hand forward an extra inch or two. Doesn’t sound like much but that extra inch or two over and over again starts to make a difference and you generally start to via to the right. It’s like rowing a boat with one oar that’s slightly longer than the other.

• SIGHTING : You’ve probably read a million and one articles about sighting. I won’t bore you further…other than to say, you don’t have to sight forward. I had a recent discussion with a swimmer about swimming into the sun. You can sight to the side, and use the beach or river bank provided it’s relatively straight. You can also use the depth your swimming in to a certain extent - provided you know the water and know the consistency of the bank / sea bed.

• RUDDER SWIMMING (AKA THE ‘HEAD RUDDER’). I tend to drift the opposite way to the way I breath. To counter this I breath every 2 for 3 cycles, then every 3 for 1 cycle and every 2 again for 3 cycles…and repeat. This keeps me straight. Experiment a little with your breathing and see if it has an influence.

• SIGHTING FREQUENCY. Everyone is different. Again, experiment a little and see what works for you.

• DRAFTING. Draft off of someone’s feet and you don’t have to sight. Just make sure they’re swimming in a straight line!

Best of luck.

World Record Body Surfing attempt

A lack of swell meant that we had to call off attempt no 1 in June!

So….attempt number 2 will be happening at Towan Beach on Oct 5th, plan B Fistral if small surf. We’ll carry out a little coaching session for any newbies from 11. We’ll then have a safety talk at around 11.45-11.50 and look to have our first attempt at 12.

Rules are the following :

None of the body surfers are allowed any buoyant device other than swim fins and handplanes.

1. No body surfer is permitted to be pulled into the wave by a water craft.

2. The wave can be natural or created by a boat. If the wave is man-made it must be created by a single boat.

3. The duration of the surf is a minimum of 5 seconds. Any riders who fail to meet that minimum time must be discounted from the record total.

Slightly odd rules but basically don’t bring a wetsuit (although you can wear one in the coaching session from 11) but you can bring a hand plane and swim fins! Definitely bring swim fins if you own some.

The current World Record is only 25…so very beatable.

Straight after the world record attempt(s) we will hold an unofficial body surfing Cornish Champs, based purely on distance on the wave.

More details to follow…

Are you a pushy parent?

This has been around for decades. It happened when I was a child (I’m now 37)….but seems to be getting worse. Possibly down to the popularity of social media and people’s need to broadcast every achievement (be it their own or children’s) online…I’m not sure. Definitely getting worse though!

Children in all sports develop and improve at different speeds. They hit long plateaus where they don’t improve and then all of a sudden they improve rapidly…with what looks like no rhyme or reason. The classic example is the big kid at school. A child suddenly grows (a lot) and dominates on the rugby field, for example. They’re faster, stronger and heavier than the other kids. They run though them…the problem here though is that it’s too easy. They don’t put the time in to learn and perfect vital skills because they don’t need to. Over time all the other kids grow just as big and strong and fast and the child prodigy is left behind and often then put off the sport, as for the first time they find it quite difficult and no longer have the same degree of success.

Time and time again I see parents hassling coaches to put their child up into the next group or squad. ‘’….all their friends have moved up and my daughter/son hasn’t…it’s not fair…they’re good enough to move…’’. Worst case scenario and again this happens quite frequently, is that the disgruntled parent joins the committee and tries to influence the club’s direction from the inside. From my experience this only hurts the whole swimming club…and whilst parents and children move on, stop swimming, move clubs etc the club continues to suffer long term because of misguided parents making decisions for all the wrong reasons.

The problem with promoting a child too early (in swimming particularly) is the following. If they haven’t mastered all of the strokes or a particular stroke, as they go up through the squads/levels they won’t get the time or attention to improve the stroke later on. If your child has a problem with a particular stroke and they’re promoted too early they may never swim that stroke correctly. Where you think you’re helping your child, your actions are actually having the opposite effect.

The other issue is that all children progress at their own speed. I was hopeless at Butterfly until I was 12-13 years old and made the slightest adjustment to my stroke and went on to be county champion and represent Cornwall swimming butterfly. Whilst I had early success in backstroke, from around the age of 14 I never got any better and it became one of my worst strokes. The fact is that your child doesn’t need to be the best swimmer at the club to become the best swimmer at the club. Nor do they need to be in the best squad. What they need is to develop at their own pace and ensure that technically they’re good enough to move up the ladder. Progress to the next squad isn’t necessarily down to speed (they might simply be quick because they’re stronger than everyone else). Technique is fair more important.

ARE YOU MAKING THE BEST DECISIONS FOR YOUR CHILDREN?

If you find yourself a little angry or upset. Frustrated at your swimming club / sports club’s decision not to pick or promote you or your child, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself, or some actions you might want to take.

1.       This isn’t an easy question to ask but you have to…and be brutally honest. Is part of your frustration at your child’s non-selection or position in a team down to your own ego? Are you angry that other children of the same age are moving up whilst your child has not.

2.       Has your child simply hit a bit of a plateau and is this the reason they’re not improving…Are they in the middle of a growth spurt and perhaps they’re tired. Or simply playing too many sports…

3.       Are you putting too much pressure on your child? Are the goals they have their own or yours?

4.       Do they lack motivation or are they distracted? In which case it might be an idea to ease off the training and allow them to start to enjoy swimming again.  

5.       If you’re not happy with your child’s progress perhaps you should have an open and honest chat with the coach. Find out what your child has to do to continue to progress.

6.       If you seriously think your child is being held back by a bad coach or bias of some kind then look at the cold hard facts. Is it because the squads ahead of them are overpopulated? Is there an issue at the club ie. a lack of boys or girls that progress. Are other parents in the same boat? Is there actually a problem or do you simply want there to be one as it’s suits your situation?

7.       Could your child’s lack of motivation be overcome by a side-ways move. Perhaps taking up waterpolo, open water swimming, surf lifesaving might ignite their interest.

In around 30 years of swimming in squads I’ve seen some fantastic coaches driven out of clubs by parents and poorly run, misguided committees. Swim coaches, especially in smaller clubs, are often poorly paid positions and often the coach takes the position because of their love of the sport, volunteering hours of their time for free. Not in every case but in a lot of cases they’re not shown half the appreciation and respect they deserve. There is a national shortage of swim coaches. Are you putting unnecessary pressure on a coach you should be praising?

Sometimes work is a real drag!

Working on a Sunday! Whatever next. This Sunday we decided to conduct a little recce and find a new beach that we’d heard about. Bit of a scramble down the valley, through what was described as the ‘jungle’ but if I can do it in flip-flops with a 14kg toddler strapped to my back….I’m sure most can.

With smaller groups and 1-2-1s we like to get off the beaten track and find secret, tucked-away beaches that you’d never find by yourself. This is one of those beaches. Had the whole beach to ourself, in Cornwall in August…with the sun out!

Photos courtesy of www.saltwaterimages.co.uk

This little beauty can be found (or not) in the Zennor area.

2018s Promo Video

It seems only yesterday I was editing this all togther. What a great year of open water swimming.

Leg Kick

Coaching a number of people that have come to swimming in their 20s, 30s and 40s leg kick can be a real issue. Generally in the pool you kick to keep your body flat in the water and avoid drag. Personally I also get my rhythm when swimming from my legs. However, for most their leg kick is almost counter-productive. Your legs represent massive muscle groups and consume a lot more Oxygen than your arms, providing 10-15% extra propulsion (if you have a great leg kick). Even with a great leg kick it’s questionable whether or not to kick hard during a swim. Over a sprint, yes. Over middle to long distance, probably not.

So do you stop concentrating on your leg kick. Absolutely not!

Whilst a good kick only improves a swim marginally, if at all. A bad kick can sap a swimmer of energy, prevent the body from rolling correctly (which in turn effects the pull and your reach), have a negative impact on your body position and create masses of drag. Incorporating leg kick into a swimming session also allows your upper body some recovery time whilst still working the lungs and core and notching up the k’s.

So where to go from here?

Firstly, to improve your leg kick you need to know whether there’s anything wrong with it. My suggestion would be to either get some professional coaching, or if you’re on a budget get a friend to film your leg kick during a session. Speak to the lifeguards before attempting any kind of filming in a public session! It might be possible to get some footage during quieter public sessions.

Secondly, websites like YouTube are a valuable resource. If you’re not sure on any topics watch some videos. Make sure you watch a few and get a general consensus. Just because someone has made a video (or written an article) doesn’t mean they know what they’re talking about.

Thirdly, if you’re only interest is open water swimming and you have a terrible leg kick and you pool swim in the winter purely to keep fit simply stick a pull-buoy in and forget about your legs. When you swim in salt water simply put your ankles together, don’t kick and let the salt water and your wetsuit do the work…it’s only going to create drag and use up Oxygen and energy, whilst potentially effecting your body position.

Other Issues

Your legs should rotate around with your body. This is where lots of people have issues. The maximum width your feet achieve should be consistent. Often when people breathe the distance between their feet increases (and they ‘scissor’). This creates lots of drag. Have a look at the link and see how the subjects leg rotate around with the rest of her body - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hNRgzWXzFA

Runners tend to have stiff ankles and leg kick is all about flexible ankles and really ‘whipping’ those feet on the down stroke. Look up ankle stretches on the net and think about swim fins, to get a little more out of your ankle. It is still important however, to do part of the session without the fins.

To eliminate any rogue kicks or an increase in the distance between your feet, when you breathe for instance try this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEHdsb89yO0

Core – Any issues you have may not actually be created by your kick and may come about as the result of poor core strength or you simply not engaging with your core. Not using the core whilst freestyle swimming can lower the feet in the water, which in turn creates more drag and lifts the head position. For core drills try - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY1kqFkKC60

You can also work on your core out of the pool - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrz67cH_P8o

Always

Try and kick with a straight leg. This isn’t achievable but that isn’t the point. You need to keep your legs as straight as possible.

Kick from the hip. Your Calf muscle can’t generate anywhere near as much power as your glutes, quads and hamstrings!

Just break the surface of the water with your heel. If you find yourself kicking air you’re simply wasting energy. If your heels aren’t breaking the surface of the water your feet are too deep in the water.

…and lastly, mix your leg kick drills up. If you’re not a great kicker don’t bury your head in the sand, do more leg kick not less!

To see how it’s done check out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CSFmJrLJLA

Lane Etiquette

As swimming gains in popularity and as it’s January and any kind of training facility is fit to burst after Christmas, I thought’s I’d do a little piece on the rules of the road.

 I regularly swim in public sessions and as a former County swimmer and reasonably fit guy, I’m still fairly quick and find myself having to (very carefully) swim around people in the lane. This said I rarely have any issues in public sessions. When I do it always seems to be with men in the 40s. A couple of years ago I gave a guy in this age group a good half length head start and proceeded to swim backstroke up the lane, catching him at the flags and head butting him up the backside. A few lengths later he started an argument with me which ended up with him threatening to fight me outside. “For your sake I hope you fight better than you swim” was my  response. So First up…

1.         Leave your ego at home. It doesn’t matter that you’ve swam in the fast lane for “20 years”. Pick the lane that suits your speed. If you’re being lapped on the regular basis move down a lane. If you’re constantly catching people up go into the fast lane.

2.         Swim the right way around the lane. If you don’t there’s a good chance you’ll smack someone on the hand.

3.         COMMUNICATION. I had a great session sharing a lane with a lady in her 60s a few weeks ago. I simply told her to keep swimming and I’d give her a little tap on the toes when I was overtaking. Problem solved.

4.         Look at the timetable. I’m self employed and it’s quite easy for me but I know the pool will be really busy at lunchtime and it’s a waste of my time. There are sessions during the week at 3pm during the school run that are completely dead. That’s where you’ll see me churning out the lengths!

5.         Common Sense. As previously stated, if you’re too fast/slow move lanes. If someone is catching you up don’t hit the wall and push off in front of them….stop at the wall and let them overtake. If you’re resting at the shallow end move to the side so people can continue to turn…

Those are my top 5. I think it all really comes down to manners and common sense. Everyone pays the same entry fee and no one has more of a right to a lane than anyone else. Like I said before don’t be afraid to have a chat with the rest of the lane when you get in.

Happy Swimming.

Thinking about the Isles Of Scilly Otillo?

Team Sea Swim Cornwall (myself and business partner) competed in the Isles Of Scilly Otillo in 2017. A 40km run-swim-run-swim-run…event around 3 of the islands. Whilst Joe has competed in a number of distance, endurance events I come from a background of specialising in short distance pool swimming and waterpolo, so this was my first endurance event, at the ripe old age of 35.

We finished in 7th place in the mens category, which we were both very pleased with. Especially as there were times in the race I wasn’t sure if I’d finish at all. We really wanted cool, windy, choppy conditions during the event and got the flattest, calmest, hottest day we could have imagined. I don’t do heat!

Below I’ll list my observations from the race and hopefully some of you will find this info useful if you’re thinking of entering.

·             Racers & finishers. In this event you seemed to have pairs that went hard and really pushed for a great time. You also had teams that went to make the finish and enjoy the experience. If you fall into the ‘Finishers’ category just make sure you swim hard. Most of the people that drop out do so because of the cold.

·             Feed Stations. Learn the course. Running the back of St Martin was hell. I had moments where I overheated and started seeing black spots. So make sure you really fuel up at the appropriate feed stations.

·             Food. The Lemon Drizzle cake was awesome. Don’t miss out! At one point I ate some Liquorice and nearly spewed. Be carefully what you eat.

·             The Course. I spent a lot of time run training on shingle and sand in preparation for the race. If the course remains the same, there is very little shingle and sand! Mainly coastal paths. There are also some very steep inclines so train accordingly.

·             Tactics. Figure out your tactics and train accordingly. We never tethered and didn’t want to but I’m a swimmer and Joe is a runner. On reflection it could have been really useful. You can always take a tether and wrap it around your waste. I’d rather have it and not use it than the other way around.

·             Swim fins vs hand paddles. We went with fins thinking it would be choppy. It wasn’t. Could be an idea to take both and call it on the day.

·             Pacing. There will be moments where you’re close to death (very dramatic), learn to take it easy during these sections, maybe wait for the next feed station. Work as a team because at some point you’ll both struggle.

·             Googles. I bought a new pair of goggles for the event. Tried them out once in the pool beforehand. They didn’t fog for the entire race. I also took a spare pair and stuck them in the pocket of my wetsuit.

·             Wetsuit. We’re lucky enough to live near the Snugg Wetsuit shop and factory. I love Snugg wetsuits, always been a fan. The SwimRun suit they make is however, on another level! I rarely wear my long Snugg suit now as the SwimRun suit is so comfortable….it basically doesn’t feel like you’re wearing a wetsuit at all. If you don’t live in Cornwall they do have a measurement guide online and they often attend trade shows where you can get measured up.

·             Sprint Event. I never realised until the Sunday that there’s a 20km sprint event! For those of you not too keen on the 40 or so km on the Saturday.

·             Transitions. There are plenty of them. Make sure you know what you’re doing and you’ve spent time practising.

Any specific question feel free to get in touch.

SWIMMING – STARTING OUT & STROKE TECHNIQUE

Swam as a child and took a decade or two off? Or perhaps you’ve done a little swimming in the past and now want to take it a little more seriously…

If you’ve decided to start taking swimming seriously here are our tips to getting your stroke on track.

1.        Consult the professionals. Get a coach to check you out. If this is a little pricey for you don’t despair! Get hold of an underwater camera (beg, borrow, steal…don’t steal though!). Get lots of footage from different angles of your stroke including leg kick, arms (above and below the water), breathing/head position, body roll and your catch. Then go and find a slow-mo video (Youtube perhaps) and compare. Online videos are a great resource.

2.        Once you know what needs improving look up relevant videos of drills that you can then go out and practise. Even if you were top have the World’s best stroke you should still incorporate stroke technique drills into your swim session.

3.        Simplify your drills/practise. I read somewhere recently that it’s impossible to multi-task. The brain can switch froim one task to another very quickly but can’t process the two at the same time. With this in mind break up your drills into just kick (with or without kick float), rotation and breathing drills, arm and catch drills (using pull buoy) etc. Trying to swim drills focusing on your legs and arms at the same time is a waste of time.

4.        Use training aids. Pull buoys, kick boards, hand paddles are all good, during parts of the session. Don’t get carries away and constantly use them. If you’re a novice and struggle with keeping your legs nice nd high in the water, get more buoyancy for drills. Get yourself a buoyance belt. * We particularly like Finis products.

5.        Don’t underestimate core strength. If you drag your feet a little it could be because of a high head position but it can also be down to poor core stability or your inability to engage with your core whilst swimming. It’s incredibly difficult to coach a swimmer to use their core. Look up some good core stability exercises, both in the pool and on dry land.

6.        Attend a squad. You don’t necessarily have to join a big swimming club. If you have a look around you may find a swim fit group or social swimming squad or just regularly that swim at the same time each week. Swimming with friends is a lot more fun and challenging.

7.        Structure your session. Swimming 80 lengths in an hour once or twice  week gets really boring. Start : with a warm up. Put in stroke technique drills early and finish the warm up with some pace. Main Set : your main effort and should contain most the your distance. Legs/Stroke Tech : if you’re bad at legs don’t just ignore the problem…it won’t go away! Leg sessions or stroke tech also allows the body some recovery after the main set. Sprints : stick in some 25/50m sprints. Swim Down : easy couple of hundred to loosen up.

8.        Use the clock. It makes the swim more interesting, gives you instant feedback on your progress, makes you train harder… Get used to what times you should be swimming sets of 100, 200 etc in.

If you really want to see improvements in your swimming – Swim! At least 2 sessions per week, every week. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t instantly improve. Quite often you will hit plateaus and feel like you’re getting nowhere…just keep going and you will see improvements. Remember to use the clock. It’s the easiest way of tracking your progress.

Sea Swim Cornwall on goggles

As a competitive swimmer in my youth myself and one of my best mates used to swear by (until they discontinued the model) the Swedish Master style goggles Speedo used to make for £2.50 a go. You’d have to assemble them yourself, threading the elastic through a small eye on the outside of the goggles, pushing a piece of string and nose protector through a second eye on the inside and carefully tying the string, you’d also have to stick the foam on yourself…. Brings back great memories.

Personally I believe goggles have got worse over the last decade. The elastic that comes with modern day goggles has definitely deteriorated! Whether this is down to the manufacturers cutting costs and buying low grade elastic…I don’t know. It seems to be a similar story with the eye moulds and seal. How hard is it to produce a goggle that doesn’t fog? Goggles have been around for decades and it still seems near impossible to get hold of a pair that don’t fog after a few weeks!  In today’s market you can find goggles priced at £60+. Now personally I think you have more money than sense paying this kind of cash for goggles. So we’ve decided to put together a little article so that you can avoid some common pit falls.

Elastic : always seems to be the first casualty. I invest in goggle bungees. They last for years, are easy to adjust, cheap and never let you down. They do create a touch more drag than your usual elastic but are perfect for training and open water swimming.

Goggle Fit : this is a biggy. You don’t want to shell out loads of money on goggles to find that they don’t suit the shape of your face and leak. Here’s the trick – don’t put the elastic on and press the goggles onto your eye sockets (thumbs pushing on the underside, index finger on the top of the goggle), slowly tilt the bottom of the goggle up and forward. If they’re a good fit you’ll feel the suction and they’ll suck your eye balls slightly forward, if a bad fit they’ll come forward without any resistance. You obviously have to find a shop that don’t mind you taking the goggles out of the packet. Alternatively, carefully remove the stickers on the inside of the goggles, try them for a few lengths, dry them off, put the stickers back and take them back and exchange…if they don’t suit obviously.

Recommendations : everyone has a different shape to their face so listening to recommendations from friends doesn’t always work.

Anti-fog : rarely works for long. Washing your goggles with soapy water, various sprays etc can stop your goggles from fogging (once the anti-fog coating stops working). Just be sure to give them a good rinse after using spray.

Openwater Events : if you have a big event coming up and you’re worried about fogging simply buy a new pair of goggles. Try them out for a few lengths prior to your event (make sure they work) and then let them dry naturally. I recently completed an Otillo that involved 10km of swimming and my new goggles were perfect the whole way round. Don’t leave it to chance.

Old faithful : if you find a pair of goggles that you get on with stick with them.

Photochromatic goggles : react to light and cost the Earth. Personally I’d just get a pair of goggles for indoor and outdoor use. They’ll last you twice as long too.

Value for money : chlorine breaks down the material on most goggles and some may only last 4-6 months. Personally I’m a massive fan of the Swedish Master goggles. If you combine these with bungee elastic they’ll last years and cost you under £15 (ignoring my previous point about avoiding personal recommendations!). They have no foam or rubber on the frame…don’t let that fall you. They’re much more comfortable than they look.

Common Sense : think about what you need. If you’re open water swimming get a tint to your lens…you don’t want to be blinded on sunny days. A blue tint works well in the pool and outdoors. If you buy a fancy pair of goggles with built in elastic, be aware that once the elastic brakes they’re useless to you. Don’t be swayed by terms like ‘panoramic lens design’ or ‘peripheral vision’ – you’re buying goggles, not a new car! Streamlining isn’t really a priority in open water… 

Although goggles may only cost a few quid and be a fairly cheap expense do your research. Goggles can be the difference between a stunning swim or a very annoying one. Make sure you also always have a spare. Good swimming!

General Race Advice for semi-serious entrants - Aquathlon

Now obviously the start of each race varies depending on which particular race we’re talking about. So I’ll do my best. 

For swim / or short run into a swim start to the race: I’ve watched a lot of ‘short run into a swim’ style  starts to races. One thing that has always amazed me is the large number of entrants that dilly-and-dally at the start of a race. They take a gentle stroll into the water, slowly wading out, fixing their goggles for the fourth time before slowly lurching forward into the water… For me, whether you’re looking to win the race, it’s your first race, you’re trying to beat last years time…it doesn’t matter, get into the water first. Be aggressive with your start. This is why : 

* You can bust a gut to make up or put 30-40-50 seconds between you and the next swimmer. So why let that swimmer get a 10-15 second head start on you into the water? 

* If you lead out you can avoid the carnage of the mid-pack start. You can then alter your swim a little later, getting into a comfortable rhythm and look to start drafting etc. Even if you’re a little slower you’ll have plenty of people passing you that you can then use to draft. 

* The earlier you leave the water the better. If you have competitors/rivals that are still swimming whilst you’re running brilliant. You can run a lot faster than you can swim and you’ll start to increase the distance between you and them. 

Starting in the water : have a ‘race-start plan’. Think about starting at the edge/side of the pack, start quickly to avoid the carnage in the middle, you may need to factor the conditions in…

Transitions : As boring as it is practising the old transitions it’s worth going over a couple of times. There’s nothing worse than putting in the swim of your life and then wasting 30 seconds in the transition area because you weren’t well rehearsed. 

The Course : make sure you know the course. If there is a bottle neck on a narrow path at the start, for example you’ll know to start out quickly and avoid getting stuck behind someone slow. How long is the race? Is it worth taking a few seconds in transition for a drink, are you going to take energy gels with you? 

Conditions : Factor in the conditions on the day. Have a think about where the wind will be blowing you during the swim, with a tail wind you may want to kick a little higher in the water and harder, if you’re swimming in the sea find out what the tide is doing, are you running off-road in muddy or wet conditions. Lots of things to consider.

Gear : fairly obvious but have tried-and -tested goggles, running shoes etc.Make sure you’ve trained using all the equipment you’ll wear during the race. It’s always worth having spare goggles on hand. Nothing worse than your goggles snapping just before the start of the race! 

Common Sense : try the race course (if this is possible) before the race. If you can’t try and get hold of someone who has or have a chat with the race organisers and get plenty of info from them. Our event (the Crantock Biathlon) for example, has soft sand at the start of the run. It’s much better to run this section bare foot and then put your trainers on. Simple little pieces of information like this can save you time. 

Best of luck with the coming season.