Swimming at Porthcothan Beach

We don’t do a great deal of swimming at Porthcothan, which is a shame as it’s a stunning part of Cornwall and not always that busy. It did feature on one of our charity swims and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Porthcothan is quite a narrow, fairly long beach, that starts to open up as the tide goes out. Due to the shape of the beach, we’d advise you to be very careful swimming there on an outgoing tide…particularly if there is some swell running. We’d also advise you not to be too adventurous with an outgoing tide and swim around either headland. There are a number of small islands and rock formations and you can get some strong currents and tidal movement.

Porthcothan is lifeguarded for a number of months over the summer, there is a beach cafe and reasonable parking.

Polurrian Swimming

Polurrian Beach is a real stunner on the Lizard Peninsula. It has limited parking or you park up at Poldhu and walk a good mile on the coast path. Whilst this might put some people off, it ensures the beach is never that busy.

Now, the beach can pick up swell. So you have been warned. Typically, not a lot of swell over the summer months and at the time of writing, it is lifeguarded over the 6 peak weeks of the summer. You’d generally want to avoid swell or wind of any strength from the west. I’d also be very careful swimming there, particularly near the headlands on an outgoing tide, particularly a spring tide.

Summer Swim Project 2022

At the start of 2022 we took a number of applications from swimmers looking to start swimming front crawl ie. they had no previous experience of front crawl swimming. We ended up selecting 2 swimmers. Both female, aged between 30-40 years. Over a series of 6 sessions head coach Tom went through a number of different sessions, teaching different elements of the stroke, setting ‘homework’ and supervising a couple of mid-distance swims. We then charted the swimmers progress over the summer.

The aim of the documentary is to highlight how much progress can be made with swimming, particularly in the sea (with the additional buoyancy), over a relatively short space of time.

The sessions (roughly), started with breathing, going onto look at body position and leg kick, then arm pull and catch and some time and sessions to then put it all together…

Sea Swim Cornwall's Safer Swimming Guide - Whipsiderry

We swam two route here, as part of our 2020 Charity swim. If you get the conditions right and plan this swim it should be perfectly safe. Don’t turn up and simply try and swim it! At certain stages of the tide, particularly with a large outgoing tide you get a lot of water movement. If you are going to attempt it, follow the safety advice on the guide and be careful.

Rotator Cuff and swimming

Due to the low impact involved with swimming, provided you have reasonable technique, swimming should be an activity that you can do into your old age. There are very few issues that could prevent longevity in the sport.

That said you still need to be proactive and take some preventative measures to ensure you can keep going. One of the issues that might prevent you from swimming into your later years is the dreaded rotator cuff injury.

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons surrounding the shoulder joint. There are many reasons why you might develop a problem with your rotator cuff. Best practice is to keep the area nice and strong and be a little pro-active. Adding a stretches and exercises into your weekly training program could be a great start.

*As with all exercises, they may not suit absolutely everyone. If you experience pain with a certain exercise, stop immediately and speak to a professional.

We’ve added a few below.

The first 2 minutes of the video work on an already sore shoulder. From 2 minutes onwards we’re into the rotator cuff specific exercises and strengthening.

Christmas presents for swimmers...

Swimming holidays, events and coaching will always be what we’re most passionate about. However, we really enjoy designing products for open water and wild swimmers. We started by designing open water swimming greetings card and primarily gifts for swimmers that would fit in an envelope with a swimming greetings card. This was a little limiting though, so we diversified and added additional gifts for swimmers and a number of products that would suit the swimming community. The majority of our swimming products are £30 or under, a large portion of the products are designed by us and aimed at both open water swimming and wild swimmers.

Originally we felt that there was a lack of greetings cards aimed at swimmers, so we designed and had some produced. We then added some beautiful coastal themed 2s and 3d greetings cards. CHECK OUT GREETINGS CARDS.

We offer a number of swimming products and gifts that fit perfectly with a greetings card, whether it be Christmas, a birthday or simply a pick-me-up. Greetings card sized gifts include Cornwall and swimming-themed stickers, swimming themed pocket mirrors, stunning pictured based fridge magnets of Cornwall, as well as photo based bookmarks of Cornwall and Sea Swim Cornwall vouchers for our fantastic swims and swimming activities.

In addition to the ‘smaller’ gifts we have a number of larger items, ideal for swimmers. We sell our very own towelling robes - making them as affordable as possible.

…as well as tidal clocks, making it nice and easy to plan your swim. Wild Swimming Oil specifically designed for open water users that are exposed to the elements.

Finally, we offer books, swimming goggles, wild swimming themed tote and swimming bags, as well as our spectacular in-house designed swimming caps and Sea Swim Cornwall branded t-shirts.

…and how could I forget the highly visible Ulu Tow Floats!?

Idiots Guide to swim training in the pool

I hear the following statement all the time and it really frustrates me : ‘‘pool training is so boring”. Having grown up training in the pool and found open water swimming a little later, I love both. Typically when I hear the above statement my automated response (as I hear this a lot) is to ask how the person trains in the pool. Nearly 100% of the people I ask tell me that they jump in, swim 80 lengths (a set number of length depending on the individual) and get out. My second automated response is to say “no wonder you’re bored!” and/or find swimming in the pool boring! Following a black line for 30-40 minutes straight would be mind numbing. It’s like finding a dull, featureless and very long road and running 10 miles on it frequently…rather than finding new and exciting routes, or running cross-country. What needs to happen here, is that you need to mix up your training.

Even if you’re only interested in open water swimming, the pool can’t be ignored and definitely shouldn’t. Benefits of pool swimming include :

• CONSISTENCY : regardless of the weather, swimming conditions, pollution levels (factors that might prevent you from swimming open water), you can keep up your swimming fitness. This includes the cold. Whilst you may enjoy cold water swimming, the limit it puts on the distance you swim (particularly mid-winter) has an impact on your fitness and overall swimming technique and performance.

• INTENSITY : doesn’t matter how hard you try, it’s difficult to replicate the intensity you experience in the pool…completing a structured session (not simply swimming your 80 lengths!). Quite often people swim a comfortable distance at a comfortable pace when in the open water. It’s then difficult to swim anything but.

• TECHNIQUE : external factors like chop, the cold, additional buoyancy etc can make swimming drills quite tricky.

• BUOYANCY : (if) you wear a wetsuit or swim in the sea you’ll have additional buoyancy. This obviously makes it easier to swim as you don’t support your weight in the water. This can affect your body position, engagement with your core stability, leg kick…lots of factors. Long-term it can make you a lazy swimmer.

• SWIMMING : My partner goes crazy about this next point. Swimming isn’t just front crawl…or for some of you - breaststroke. There are 4 strokes…often the open water doesn’t cater for 2-3 of them.

• RSI : If swimming is your only form of physical exercise, or at least the main one…and you only ever swim one stroke you can over use….and then under-use (as a consequence) various muscles in your body and cause yourself an injury in the long-term.

In regards to speed and improving your pace over distance, this is how pool swim sessions work : let’s say that you generally and regularly swim 1km. You swim that km at a ‘comfortable pace’ and generally finish the swim in 20 minutes. So that’s 2 minutes per 100m. You can break this up in the pool and swim 10 x 100m (total of 1km) on a ‘set time’ that allows around 20 seconds rest…so 2.10, maybe 2.15 (so every 2 minutes 10 seconds that goes by on the clock, you start a new 100m). Now, you should be swimming each 100 on say 1 minute 50 seconds, getting around 15-20 seconds rest. In this scenario, over time you start getting used to swimming at a 1 min 50 second pace. Your body gets used to it. You can then transfer this into the open water. Whilst you don’t have those same rest gaps in the open water (like you do in the pool), you should still be able to hold say….a 1 minute 55 second pace, thus improving your ‘comfortable pace’ and bringing that 1km time down to 19 minutes and 10 seconds. Over time you may also start to reduce your ‘set time’ and work on pushing out quicker 100s. This way of training is also fantastic at teaching you how to pace yourself. There’s no point in starting the 100s swimming a 1 minute 40 second 100m, as you won’t make the latter 100 times (the ‘set time’) and fail to finish the 10 x 100s. This all leads me onto another advantage of pool swimming. Using the clock! The biggest rivalry I’ve ever had in swimming has been against this old foe (and friend!). When you use the clock during sessions there’s no hiding. It is always the clearest indicator of improvement and effort. If you don’t already swim against the clock, it’s well worth starting up a relationship asap.

HOW TO CHANGE UP YOUR POOL SWIMMING

Firstly, structure a session. Don’t simply swim your standard number of length. This sounds complicated but it really isn’t. You could simply divide you session up. Let’s take the 80 length swimmer. So…80 lengths is around 2000m / 2km or 40 lengths is 1000m / 1km - we’ll look at both.

So we’d start with a warm up. Idea being to warm the body and muscles up and get ready for harder swimming. I also like to add a few drills into the warm up. That way you’re warming up and practising your technique. *f/c is front crawl / you can find the drills below on youtube.

WARM UP :

2km swimmers : 100m f/c fist, 100 f/c catch up, 100 back, 100 f/c @ 80% (1 min rest before main set)

1km swimmers : 50m f/c fist, 50 f/c catch up, 50 back, 50 f/c @ 80% (1 min rest before main set)

Main set would be the main body of work, distance and effort during the session. The bulk of the session is typically front crawl but it’s also important to mix your strokes up.

MAIN SET :

2km swimmers : 4 x 200m as 150 f/c @ around 75% effort, with the last 50 choice of stroke @ 75%. 30 secs rest

1km swimmers : 6 x 75m as 50 f/c @ around 75% effort, with the last 25 choice of stroke @ 75%. 20 secs rest

(1 mins rest before kick session)

KICK : we’ll now do a leg kick session, with a kick board (kick float). This allows the upper body a rest, whilst still working the lungs, core and legs.

2km swimmers : 12 x 25m kick. First 6 f/c kick with board, last 6 back without board. 10 secs rest intervals

1km swimmers : 6 x 25m kick. First 3 f/c kick with board, last 3 back without board. 10 secs rest intervals

Sprints are your chance to increase the intensity and work on your speed. It’s less about endurance and technique and more about swimming faster, building lactic tolerance and putting your muscles and lungs under pressure.

SPRINTS :

2km swimmers : 6 x 50 alternating f/c and choice @ 90%. Going off a ‘set-time’ that should allow you between 30-40 secs rest between each

1km swimmers : 8 x 25 alternating f/c and choice @ 90%. Going off a ‘set-time’ that should allow you between 20-30 secs rest between each

The swim down allows you to stretch out and work out any lactic acid in the body, flood your system with a bit of oxygen.

SWIM DOWN :

2km swimmers : 100 f/c catch up, 100 single arm f/c

1km swimmers : 50 f/c catch up, 50 easy back

ARTICLE CONT…

I’ll also simply add that sessions are always more enjoyable when you swim with people, particularly people of roughly the same speed and ability and that short breaks in your session always make the session more socially enjoyable.
Best of luck swimming in the pool! If you want some session ideas sign up to our free newsletter. Simply wait for the pop-up sign up form to appear.

Swim the Lizard Peninsula

The more time I spend in the Lizard Peninsula, is the more time that I want to spend there. It’s a beautiful and very diverse area and offers a number of swims that are simply world class. Being a peninsula you can generally get in a swim, regardless of the conditions.

LIZARD POINT : you get a lot of water movement through this area and we’d advise that you don’t swim in this area.

CHURCH COVE/GUNWALLOE : a beautiful and undeveloped area, managed by the National Trust. Sandy beach and ample parking. There are also peak season lifeguards. You’d want to avoid westerly winds of any sort of strength and keep an eye on swell. You can check the surf report for Poldhu on Magic Seaweed.

POLDHU COVE : a sandy beach facing west. Can often get surf. When threre isn’t surf it offers lovely swims. It is a lifeguarded beach in the summer season. There are also some nice rock features to swim around, when there’s no swell. Best swimming north towards Church Cove. It is quite remote and we’d recommend not swimming alone. Poldhu has a beach cafe…that is pretty much open all year.

POLURRIAN COVE : very remote, requires a walk or has very limited parking at Polurrian. Generally very quiet. Epic swims in this area. Again, it’s remote…so don’t swim by yourself and take appropriate safety measures. Great swimming to the left of the beach (south). You could swim across to Mullion Harbour and back (approx 2km). Best swum on an incoming tide. Lifeguarded over the peak weeks of the summer. Absolutely no facilities there whatsoever.

MULLION : swims available from the harbour. Again, I’d look at swimming there from mid tide, on an incoming tide. I’d avoid an outgoing tide as you can get some big water movement towards Mullion island. Common theme here….quite remote, don’t swim by yourself and take appropriate safety precautions.

KYNANCE COVE : a biggie! World class swims and lots of different routes. It can ‘pull’ around Asparagus Island with an outgoing tide, especially with a spring tide…so be careful. This area is not lifeguarded at any stage of the year. The swim around Asparagus Island, the big rock to the north of the beach is stunning. You also have other routes available, that are fairly obvious when you’re there. Again, best swimming with an incoming, neap tide. Avoid wind coming in from the west and swell coming in from any westerly direction. National Trust managed. Big car park and toilet in the car park and at the beach cafe.

HOUSEL BAY : Looks stunning. I’ve never actually paid it a visit! Will do this winter. Apparently it’s quite tricky to access.

CHURCH COVE : the other one. There are two! Stunning. Simply stunning. Limited parking, breathtaking walk through the village to this tiny harbour. You can swim at low tide but it’s tricky to enter and exit the water. Best entering at mid-tide and getting out before high tide. Delightful lifeboat station to the south…not far. Clear water, sand and seaweed bottomed swim north. Very remote and little chance of anyone seeing you if you got into any bother. Take a friend or two if swimming. World Class swim in the right conditions. Avoid wind from the east and swell from the south.

CADGWITH : This will sound silly but swell of 2m+ from any direction will get in here and it’ll be rough. Wow though. So good for swimming. The Devil’s Frying Pan swim, a massive arch in the cliffs, cave swims and general outstanding beauty. Decent parking facilities, toilets and local shop and pub. Swim from the south cove, not the north. The north is full of fishing boats!

KENNACKS SANDS : sandy beach swims. Fairly quiet beach, lifeguarded for most of the season. Clear water, generally safe conditions and a couple of swimming options.

COVERACK : one of the safest places in the Lizard to swim (in the right conditions!). Clear water, sheltered bay…it faces ENE, a direction the wind fairly blows in from. Be careful swimming anywhere near the small fishing harbour.

PORTHOUSTOCK/PORTHALLOW : pebble beaches facing ENE. Very often these areas are sheltered and offer some very safe swimming conditions in most conditions.

GILLAN CREEK : just to the north of the Lizard. Some of my favourite swims in this area. If you time the tide you can swim up the estuary, be careful however. Half way up the river are a couple of felled trees that just poke out of the water. You’d swim the river just before high tide. If you stay in the creek and don’t swim up the river, avoid the middle of the creek (lots of boats) and swim with an incoming tide.

For 2023 we’ve stuck with our winning long weekend formula. Offering a long weekend of swimming in this stunning area Sept 1-3.

The Devil's Chimney Cave Swim

We’re fairly certain this cave doesn’t have an official name, so we’ve named it the ‘Devil’s Chimney’. There’s a small, dark opening that could easily be missed and has been at least once by us! From the outside it looks very unimpressive, simply a small dark opening under a large rock. When you swim into the cave it’s quite narrow, it’s dull and not particularly impressive. Once you get into the cave, that’s where the magic. There’s what we like to describe as a chimney that allows light to flood in and suddenly this dark cave is transformed into this bright, rather spectacular space. The light seems to bounce off the seabed and illuminate the whole cave. One swimmer on the last swim we did here summed it up perfectly. We arrived at the cave and she said “is this it!?”. Once she’d gone the whole way through her entire facial expression had changed and she said “…can we do it again!?”.

Before I’m inundated with exact location requests I’ll point out that to get to the cave you need the right conditions and tides. If you don’t do your research you could get in trouble. I won’t be handing out location info in a hurry.

Our Top 10 Cafes for 2022

I’ll use the term cafe loosely. Some of these options aren’t strictly cafes. Eateries that serve food and/or snacks would be more on the money. Most are based in the areas that we operate in…before I get lots of useful suggestions from people. We’ve relied on first hand experiences at these establishments for this blog post.

In no particular order, here are our top 10 :

• Roskilly’s Farm, Lizard Peninsula. As well as having dozens of delightful ice cream flavours and options, you also have a deli and shop, beautiful walks through the grounds, epic wood fired Pizzas and a great menu. Coffee there is fairly standard. Roskilly’s is also surrounded by world class swims. Highly recommend spending a day in the Lizard before a visit.

• Gusto, Newquay. Great food, at reasonable prices. I haven’t actually visited here for about a year but I guarantee if I pop back in the food will be the same high standard. Really good meat and vege options.

• Stones Bakery, Falmouth. If I’m in Falmouth I’ll always make the effort to pop in. Top quality baked goods, great cakes, good coffee and good food, including pizza. Fantastic little cafe too.

• Be Kind Coffee Van, Hayle. You’ll find it at the back of the ASDA car park. It obviously doesn’t sound that glamorous but it’s easy and convenient parking, on the quay….so although you are essentially at the back of a car park, you have some nice views. The couple that run it are lovely and friendly, serves great coffee and some good snacks, including a great facon bagel.

• Newlyn Art Gallery. Some (only a few!) good things did come out of the Covid lockdowns and pandemic. One of those things was the creation of Newlyn Art Galleries outdoor coffee shop. They’ve created an outdoor, enclosed and sheltered cafe area, which includes deckchairs on the adjacent lawn with sea views across Mount’s Bay. They have a selection of toasties and sell great coffee.

• Ellie’s Soul Food Kitchen. Position just before the car park at Kynance, with parking! Really friendly staff and a beautiful outdoor area lie in wait. I also love the idea of a swim at Kynance followed by a coffee and snack. They do Saturday night street food…worth checking their Facebook page as this is seasonal.

• Nauti But Ice, Porthleven. Small cafe in Porthleven, over looking the harbour. Great for storm watching in the summer and chilling out at the harbour in the summer. They offer a good standard of cake, good coffee and great ice cream. Porthleven is also a brilliant town to visit and offers great swimming, in the right conditions.

• The Fat Apple, Porthallow, Lizard Peninsula. The service isn’t always that seamless but it still makes it into the top 10…which speaks volumes for the food. It’s reasonably priced food and they always go the extra mile. Cake is served with beautifully presented, chopped up fruit on top, big sandwiches with very tasty salads… Good stuff. They also have a number of canopies in the gardens, so you can sit comfortably outside in any conditions. Porthallow is usually very safe for swimming, in most conditions. Coffee is served in a cafeteria…so might not completely be your cup of tea if you’re into your coffee.

• Uneeka, Truro. Not that often that we venture inland. When we do…Uneeka is usually on our radar. Lovely little cafe with good everything! Honourable mentions to 108 Coffee House and Pollen, both can be found on Kenwyn St, Truro.

OUR BEST VALUE SWIM HOLIDAY TO DATE

We're running two of our standard (world class!), self-drive swimming holidays in West Cornwall. We're suggesting that you stay at the Lizard View Campsite, just outside of Helston. The campsite is situated in the quiet, rural countryside, with distant views of Poldhu Beach and the Lizard. We picked this campsite after a number of site visits, for it's stunning location, value for money and it's perfect position. In terms of driving time you're:

15-20 mins away from Falmouth - and swims like Swanpool, Gyllyngvase Beach, Maenporth...

15-20 mins away from the Helford - and a number of glorious swimming options 

15-20 mins away from north/central Lizard Peninsula - and world class swims like Kynance Cove, Church Cove, Cadgwith, Polurrian...

15 mins to the south coast of West Cornwall - epic swims like Prussia Cove, Porthleven, 3 Bears Caves...

20 mins to St Michael's Mount and Penzance

15-20 mins to Hayle and St Ives - swims like Carbis Bay, St Ives 'Island', swims to Porthminster... 

* We typically pick an area where we can offer 2 swims and reduce driving time. The first swim of the day is generally timed to avoid traffic and allows us to park up for the day and not have to worry about the potential issue of parking. We'll then choose a great local option for lunch.

For us, this is the perfect location to base a swimming holiday. For 2023 we're offering recession busting deals! There is no requirement to book at the campsite and you can make alternative arrangements but this is where we'll typically meet pre/post-swim and it offers a really friendly, social element to the holiday. 

We’re offering 2 dates, a weekend and midweek option. The weekend date (June 16-18 2023) is priced at £188 (with a reduced entry price for members) or £125 for our midweek dates (June 13-15 2023).

To book the Lizard View Campsite simply call them direct and make your booking. A 10x10m pitch is £20 per night and will comfortably fit a large tent and up to 4 people. Call Simon on 07572306708. Book a pitch and then book onto our holiday.

This was by far our most popular swimming holiday in 2022, having sold out 8 months before the holiday date and also notching up a decent waiting list.

NEW WILD SWIMMING EVENT!

Sun 10 Jul 2022 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

We’re a little shy on short, less serious wild swimming this year. So we created a epic event!

We're putting on 3 delightful wild swims, over the course of the day. You can walk at a leisurely pace but some of the path is slightly off road and uneven. If you're not good on your feet we'd advise you not to attend. You'll need some good walking shoes/boots. We'd recommend a tow float, purely as there are boats in the river (although they shouldn't be anywhere near us) but they are not a requirement. 

Park up at the Bosveal Car Park (National Trust) TR11 5JR and then head down to Grebe Beach...basically walk to the far end of the car park and approx 150m through a small wooded area, you'll then join the road on a big bend to the right. Don't follow the bend and head off down a track to the left...which takes you to Grebe. 

9am - swim off of Grebe Beach, around the corner towards Trebah Beach and back. A leisurely swim, past the stunning Durgan Village of approx 500 - 1500m (we'll split the water safety team if needed and offer 2 different distance routes). 

10am - We'll supply cake, you bring a flask (we'd also suggest you bring a packed lunch, snacks and a drink). 

10.30-11am - approx 1200m walk to the Helford Ferry, which we'll have pre-purchased. Ferry can take 12 people at a time. 

11.15am-ish - walk across to Bosahan Cove, through a beautiful ancient woodland. We'll then swim a circular route, back towards the ferry and sailing club. 

12.00pm - Again, approx 500-1500m at a leisurely pace. 

13.00pm - walk across to Gillan Creek 

14.15pm - circular swim at Gillan Creek, just before high tide (high tide being 14.57). 

15.15pm(ish) - walk back to the ferry and cross

16.30pm(ish) - well offer a quick wild dip at Trebah Beach for any sweaty bodies.  

...back to the cars....or pub. 

Learning front crawl in the sea

This year we’ve taken 3 people that don’t currently swim front crawl and we’re meeting them once a fortnight for swimming lessons. With each session they’ll have ‘homework’ to take away with them. The aim is to teach them to swim front crawl (or freestyle as it’s also known), over the course of the summer. We’ll then make a short documentary and release it at the end of the summer, charting their progress.

The idea is really to show exactly how straight forward it is to learn front crawl, particularly in the sea…where you have additional buoyancy. They may not (they won’t) be expert swimmers by the end of the summer but they’ll certainly make big steps forward. We’ll also set targets and goals throughout the summer and carry out some exciting swims, as they progress.

We’ll add to this article and video throughout the summer (particularly video footage), as we go.

SESSION 1 : really a meet-and-greet. We also set them some homework based on breathing. The idea being that you practise front crawl breathing in a controlled and safe environment at home, so that when it comes to swimming in the sea you’re ready and confident. It makes it far easier to think about your arm pull or leg kick, when you don’t have to think about your breathing.

SESSION 2 : We looked at what I call the ‘neutral’ position or ‘streamlined’ position in the water. A position where you lie stretched out in the sea and let the water hold your weight. From there, you then add the arm action and breathing. A poor leg kick is one of the main elements preventing a lot of people from achieving a good body roll. It’s also too much for the brain to focus on…simultaneously thinking about pulling and kicking, so we leave the leg kick ‘til much later.

New Event / Weekend / Holiday / Epic series of swims...

Here at Sea Swim Cornwall we love a tweak! Each year we’ll offer one holiday that’s a little bit different from our standard format holidays. Mainly just to see if it works, has a good up-take, see if we’ve previously ‘missed a trick’… and also so our clients have a variety of options. This year we used a campsite in the Lizard as a base. Somewhere for everyone to stay, in a central location, that offered good value for money and has a bar! Get the social side of things working…as it had slacked off somewhat (Covid!). We upped the participant numbers and actually reduced the price for this holiday and we’ve never sold a holiday faster!

Now, we’ve looked around for a similar ‘base’ campsite in the Penzance area and found a great site. Very affordable (£5 per adult, per night at the time of writing), flat ground, right in the middle of west Cornwall…5 minute drive to places like St Ives, Hayle, Penzance, Marazion… We were originally looking to promote this holiday for 2023 but we liked the campsite and set up so much we’re going to run it this year - Sept 9-11, 2022. We’re putting on 5 swims : 1 x swim Friday evening, 2 x swims on Saturday, 2 x swims on Sunday. You can book as many or as few swims as you’d like. £30 per swim (members receive a discounted entry). If this holiday proves popular we’ll add additional swims. You don’t have to stay at the campsite, locals don’t have to camp at all…

You initially book a date and time slot. A few days prior to the swim we’ll look at a reliable, short range forecast and pick the swim that best suits the days conditions - both for your enjoyment and safety. You could also book the entire week and contact us about booking some private swims, swim coaching etc prior to the weekend.

For more info and booking click the button below :

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Safe Swimming Guide - Porthallow

A short swimming guide to swimming at Porthallow on the Lizard. This is a swim that offers safe swims in most conditions and it also offers a great day out. A popular spot with divers for it’s crystal clear water.

Safe Swimming Guide - Church Cove

This is right up there with some of the best swimming in Cornwall. I’m not sure I need to say any more than that!

Selection of safe Swimming Guides

If you’re looking for swim-spiration for the 2022 summer here it is! I’ve selected a few safe swimming guides.

Poor hip position

Hip position is an incredibly important part of swimming front crawl. If you drop your hips too low in the water it can force your head into a higher position and you have increased drag…as well as a reduced efficiency when it comes to your leg kick. This unfavourable position may also have the knock on effect of making it more difficult to rotate the body correctly.

The solution to a low hip position can be incredibly easy or not so. It really depends on the swimmer. Typically the quicker and more experienced the swimmer, the easier (in theory) it might be to correct.

The main thing to remember is that although you should be fairly relaxed when swimming, you still need a degree of tension running through your core, as well as your toes pointed and legs straight. We often say that your legs are fairly redundant in open water swimming and some of our clients barely kick at all (in the open water). That said, you still need your legs straight, toes pointed and feet together. You can’t simply forget about your legs.

FIRST : if you’re in the pool or fresh water (without a wetsuit) grab in kick float and hold the float with your hands, at the very back end of the float ie. only your hands are in contact with the float, not the whole of your forearm. You simply then want to carry out some leg kick, with your face in the water. You can do this with just goggles but it works better if you use a snorkel. Water level should be half way across your ears, with your bum just sticking out of the water and your heels just breaking the surface of the water.

If you’re in salt water / wearing a wetsuit, lie on your front in the water, face down. Have your arms full extended, stretching out in front of you, with your legs straight and toes pointed and together (feet touching). In a very streamlined position. Allow the water to hold your weight….and hold it for 10 seconds. This is the position you should be swimming in. Have a conscious think about how this position feels and where your body is in the water. If you’re swimming and your body position differs from this - stop, float yourself in the water (as described above) and then start swimming again. Stop as often as necessary.

Raising your hips in the water (provided you need to) can be as easy as simply thinking about it and consciously doing it! It’s not that easy however, for most. Here are some drills that might help :

DRILLS :

1. complete a series of 25m swims, on your back, arms out in front (flat on the water), swimming flat across the surface of the water. Your going to do fly kick on your back. It’s good to do these with swim fins. Start with shorter distances and build up. You should find this works the abs and core.

2. Kick board (face in the water), with snorkel…as described above.

3. Vertical kick efforts (as often featured in our newsletter). CLICK HERE for video.

4. Work the arms. You can use pull buoys as part of training and can also use a pull buoy with your ankles strapped together with a swimming band.

5. As well as distance, include shorter sprints into your training.

Our Safety Record

We come from a swimming and lifeguarding background, here at Sea Swim Cornwall. For us, good lifeguarding is all about being pro-active and preventing people from getting in a situation where they need to be assisted or rescued. This is the approach we adopt with our swimming holidays and activities. On occasion we will do the odd ‘rough’ swim but it will be with a group of swimmers that we know and we’re always very transparent about the conditions you’ll be swimming in…particularly if they’re going to be less than ideal.

We do offer set location swims but these do come with the risk of being cancelled or re-arranged, as if the conditions are not safe we will cancel. The majority of our swims (and the swims that we publish on our social media) are arranged at short-notice, having looked at the short-range forecast. They are selected based on the quality and beauty of the swim itself but primarily they’re based on the conditions. For both your safety and enjoyment.

Since 2015 (at the time of writing) we've never had to rescue a customer. In that time we've assisted 2 swimmers over approx 200-300m of slightly choppy water...before they continued swimming. Off the top of my head we've had 1 swimmers since 2015 injure themselves (rolled their ankle on dry land).

We totally appreciate that some people get a little anxious at the thought of sea swimming, especially if they’ve never swum any kind of distance in the sea. We can assure you that all of our swims are thoroughly risk assessed and selection is based on the appropriate conditions.

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.