Why Tremorvu Campsite near Helston?

This year we’ve based a holiday from Tremorvu Campsite (although there’s no requirement to stay here, if you like your creature comforts). We’ve held holidays here in the past and we’ve only ever received great feedback. Well kept, quiet, great value for money and….more importantly, it’s a short drive to everywhere (…everywhere you’d want to swim!).

As my sketch of a spider demonstrates… There are a lot of options! With the longer drives, we’d pick two swims in close proximity, to minimise driving.

5-10 minutes : 3 Different cave swims and lovely beaches/coves, like Prussia Cove.

10-15 minutes : St Michael’s Mount, Marazion, Porthleven, Perranuthnoe

15 - 20 mins : Church Cove, Poldhu Beach

20-30 mins : Carbis Bay, Porthkidney, Mousehole

30-45 mins : Kynance Cove, Coverack, the Helford / Durgan Village / Grebe Beach

We typically offer dining options in Penzance. With this holiday and it’s location, we have easily accessible additional options, like Porthleven or Praa Sands.

*at the time of writing Tremorvu didn’t quite have all of their pitches published on their website. If this is still the case email them and they’ll handle your booking.

tremorvu@hotmail.co.uk

Informal Safe Swimming Talks

We’ve designed an informal safety talk for beginner swimmers, new open water swimmers or anyone interested in safer swimming. We’ll pick a comfortable coffee shop and take you through the theory. This option is available through the winter and spring months. Simply get in touch to book. We’ll go through :

• planning your swim and looking at the conditions online. Go through the tides, tide sizes and types, wind direction and strength, swell…where to swim in which conditions

• we’ll then go through additional checks at the swim and what to look out for

• how to stay visible in the water and alert rescue services, if required

• general safe swimming practises

• worth bringing a pen and paper to take notes

The course is carried out by Tom, from Sea Swim Cornwall. Tom was a professional lifeguard for a total of 11 seasons, covering every beach in the Newquay/Restormel area, as well as a number of beaches in the Penwith area and Manly Beach, in Australia. He’s also been in charge of water safety for Sea Swim Cornwall for 8 years.

Course cost is £20 (includes a coffee) for a one-on-one, £35 for a 2-person group or £40 for a 3-person group.

For Booking - CLICK HERE

WRITE YOUR OWN POOL SWIM SESSION

It’s January!!! I love swimming in the lead up to Christmas, the pools are always empty. I don’t like swimming in January…but it’s the start of the year and lots of people have over indulged during the festive period and are now ‘back on it’. It is a great time to start the years fitness regime.

So I’m quickly going to look at how to write your own session. A guide to the basics. I write a weekly session for our newsletter and this is a good place to start, as it will give you a few ideas and you can look at the structure of a session. I’ll also give you some ideas below.

You should always tailor a session to your needs but just watch out that you don’t get lazy and repeat yourself too much. This is where a touch of boredom will come into the sessions and you may start to lose motivation.

TAILOR THE SESSION

Simply avoid anything that sets off injury problems, anything that doesn’t work for you, causes pain. Distances should be tailored to your needs. Make sure you also mix distances up a little. Generally, a more intense session should cover less overall distance, a less intense session should cover a greater distance overall. You have any slight injuries or you’re following a hard running session or gym session you can include more leg work or pull out the pull buoy…

The distances of each session and/or intensity may also vary depending on what you’re training for, or towards. If you’re training towards a specific event, you’re training should obviously trail off and lose intensity towards the ‘big event’, with a tapering period directly before the race.

MIX UP YOUR STROKES

The aim of your pool swimming might be to swim front crawl in the open water. Whilst that’s your aim, it’s still really important to mix up your strokes. To work lots of different muscle groups (particularly backstroke). Imagine going to the gym and only ever working your arms and chest. Whilst your arms and chest are nice and strong, your shoulders, back, abs, legs etc and comparatively quite weak. Eventually you’ll start to have problems as your back (for example), can’t take the heavy loads that your chest and arms can. Swimming only front crawl or the vast majority of your sessions front crawl can lead to injury problems.

TIME IN THE WATER

Might be dictated by the public session availability, other people in the lane, work commitments, family commitments… Try and sit down each work, figure out when you can swim and then base the swim session around those factors. You can also look at other types of training and when you may need some recovery time. A less intense pool session could well follow a hard gym session, for example. You may also cover a shorter, sprint set when you only have 45 minutes available in the pool (a lunch time swim or something similar).

SWIM STRUCTURE

WARM UP - always start with a warm up. I like including drills at the start of the warm up, two birds, one stone. You’ll need to increase the intensity towards the end of the warm up, so start with drills and then move on. Idea of the warm up, like any other sport is to warm the muscles and get the body ready for action. This can be done as one long distance, broken up into a ’set’ where you’ll gradually increase the intensity…

MAIN SET - generally the main effort and is the section of the session that covers the most distance. The main set can be broken up into two parts, with a ‘rest’ section in the middle.

REST PERIODS - generally depends on the set your doing and the purpose of the set. If you’re doing ‘quality’ work and hard efforts you may give yourself a bit more rest. If your aim is to produce lactic acid and improve your lactic tolerance, you will give yourself a shorter rest period.

Going off a ‘set-time’ ie. if you swim 100m in a session at around 1 min 40 seconds, you could swim 10 x 100m on 2 minutes, so if you swim a 1.40 you’ll have 20 secs rest before going again, 1.35 you’ll have 25 secs rest and so on. This is a really good habit to get into as you can’t slack off and it’s easier to chart your progress. If you simply give yourself 20 secs rest after each effort, you generally have no idea what time you’ve just swum and you can slack off if you fancy. Swimming off set-times also teaches you how to pace yourself. If you did swim 10 x 100m (and we’ll stick with the previous example) and you swam the first one on 1.20 and had 40 secs rest, by the last one you’ll struggle to make the 2 mins, as you’ve gone out too fast. Far better to consistently swim 1.35-40’s and complete the whole set. It’s really important to get used to using the clock.

LEG KICK - you may not like leg kick or enjoy it as part of a session but it’s an important part of a good swim session. It obviously improves the leg kick, technique and strength/stamina. If used correctly and well timed, a leg kick set can break up your session. Allow you to get some oxygen to the lungs and allow the arms to recover, whilst continuing to work hard. If you really want to work hard and avoid too much socialising (in a group setting), try vertical kick sets.

ISOLATE BODY PARTS - sometimes important to isolate the legs, arms, lungs, core… Include arms only sets and distances, leg kick sets, hypoxic work. These can be done as a separate set or included as part of the main set.

SPRINT SET - generally a anaerobic shorter set of sprints. This will generally come after the main set (as the body and muscles are warm and can take the higher work load on the muscles) but this set could also come before the main set.

COOL DOWN

Stretch it out, work out any lactic acid from the body…you’ll feel better for it in the morning. Again, I like to work in the odd drill. Saves time if you have any time restrictions.

EXAMPLE SESSION

WARM UP - 100 Single arm fc (front crawl), 100 Catch Up fc, 100 back, 50 fc fist (fist is a fc drill).

MAIN SET - 12 x 100 fc as…10 x 100 fc on 1.45, last 2 x 100 back stroke on 2 mins. *mix up your strokes

KICK - 6 x 50 fc leg kick, with float. 20 secs rest *allows upper body rest before sprints

SPRINTS 18 x 25 sprints, 5-6 secs rest after each. First 10 fc, last 8 choice. *Builds lactic acid and speed

100 easy back *mini-cool down

ARMS - 2 x 100 arms only, with pull buoy and hand paddles *isolate body parts/elements

COOL DOWN - 150 easy back/breaststroke

*The above is a fairly straight forward session. Remember to tailor the session. You could for example, tweak the main set rest period and reduce 3 x 100 (so 9 x 100 in total), if the overall distance or the session was too much. Alternatively, you could add and cover 16 x 100…

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE, YOU MAY ALSO FIND OUR ‘IDIOTS GUIDE TO POOL SWIMMING’ USEFUL - CLICK HERE

Swimming Days Out

If you’re planning on broadening your horizons and taking on a new swim or two in the summer, it might well be worth planning a series of swims over the course of a morning, afternoon or entire day… If you’re going to make the effort to drive to a new area, you may as well do it properly!

Here are a few of Sea Swim Cornwall’s suggestions for some multi-swimming days out. Please bear in mind that you’ll need to check the forecast and ensure the conditions are safe to swim in. We’d always suggest swimming on an incoming tide, preferably neap tides and check the wind direction and strength. Under 20kmph is good and try and avoid a moderate to strong onshore wind. *More info on safe swimming, check out our ‘reading the conditions’ blog post - CLICK HERE.

LIZARD PENINSULA - a number of options here.

You could simply visit Kynance Cove and take on a few swims. Loads of options. Bear in mind that it isn’t lifeguarded. Best swimming on a low tide, with the tide coming in…and swim with company.

Porthallow, Porthoustock and Kennack Sands. Some really interesting swims, with really interesting old industrial features. Other than Kennack, these areas are generally quite quiet…even in summer.

Another option might be Gunwalloe Fishing Cove, followed by Church Cove and Poldhu. Church Cove is lifeguarded in peak summer weeks, Poldhu lifeguarded through the main summer season.

WORTH CHECKING OUT… Roskilly’s for ice cream and great food, also a great option with kids.

PENZANCE - again, a few options. You could look at Porthcurno, Porthchapel (be careful on the way down, a slight bit of bum-shuffling, climbing involved) and Lamorna Cove. Best to attempt either side of the main summer season as parking can be challenging.

Perranuthnoe is another option. Starting on Perranuthnoe Beach, you can then head east and you’ll find another couple of tracks leading to additional launching beaches. Obviously you are a little off the beaten track, so be careful when swimming.

WORTH CHECKING OUT - Pickle on the prom, Tremenheere Kitchen or the Beach Cafe (Perranuthnoe).

ST AUSTELL - Lovely short walk and options, simply look at Porthpean, Duporth and Charlestown. Best to finish at Charlestown on a high tide. You can park at Porthpean. Beautiful stretch of coast and if you avoid an easterly wind, normally very protected.

ST IVES - Porthkidney, Carbis Bay and Porthminster. Best during dry conditions, as part of the coastal path can get quite muddy. You can park at Carbis Bay and walk to the end of Headland Rd to access Porthkidney, follow the same route back to Carbis Bay and take the coastal path to Porthminster. Approx 2-2.5 miles of walking. Best heading for Porthkidney just before a high tide.

*You could also try Porthminster, Porthgwidden and Bamaluz Beach. Get the train into St Ives from either Carbis Bay or St Erth.

WORTH CHECKING OUT - Ocean Sports Centre on Carbis Bay.

ROSELAND - Porthcurnick Beach, followed by a short walk over to Portscatho and the swimming pontoon. You could then walk over to Porthbean or take on a much longer walk or drive over to either Pendower / Carne Beach.

WORTH CHECKING OUT - The Hidden Hut (although I felt like the prices were a tad high on the last visit but still worth a visit!).

Beach Rater - St Ives Town

Rather than producing individual blog posts, I thought I’d include all of the beaches under the one article.

Whilst I have your attention…other than Carbis Bay, all of the beaches in St Ives are difficult to access. There’s limited parking in summer and (more recently) winter months. The best option is generally getting to St Ives early morning or parking up at Carbis and walking in or getting the train from either St Erth Station or Carbis Bay.

Beach Rater - Long Rock

This is very much a high tide swimming destination. Any other state of the tide and it’s simply too shallow. Great day out when you have a high tide afternoon and when the conditions are favourable ie. not blowing in from the south at any strength.

The beach is typically really quiet…so if you can get the conditions, you can have a section of beach all to yourself.

Beach Rater - Praa Sands

Another beach in our guide that doesn’t look that enticing. However, a lower rating is based on the fact that the beach regularly gets surf and doesn’t always suit safe/enjoyable swimming. In the right conditions there are a number of glorious swims available, including quite an exciting cave swim and swims featuring rock features.

Beach Rater - Trevaunance

Whilst I haven’t rated it particularly highly, this is because it’s a beach better known for surfing, than swimming and the conditions aren’t always favourable.

In the right conditions however, the beach offers some glorious swims! You have caves that can be swum through, stacks to swim around…there is a wealth of swimming options.

Swims for people with limited mobility

I had an email about accessible swimming today and thought I’d write a blog post about it and highlight some of the more accessible swims near us. Please bear in mind however, that with granite cliffs, sand, country roads…there aren’t a huge amount of truly accessible swims.

In and around Penzance :

Penzance Harbour - swim at the back of the harbour, off Abbey Slip. Best avoid the main section of the harbour. Limited parking at Abbey Slip . There is a small section of road for blue badge holders…as well as the main council car park on the harbour. Slip drops into the harbour at mid-to-high tide.

Battery Rocks and the slipway to the west of the Jubilee Pool - Battery Rocks has a paved path running down to the entry point, entry via steps with hand rails. A good 300m walk, if you can park in close proximity. Blue Badge holders can park right next to the slipway and you can access the water within 2 hours of a high tide. Avoid moderate to strong southerly wind.

Jubilee Pool - not quite the sea but it’s salt water. Have hoists and accessible aquatic wheelchair. Car park is about 50m away from the lido but is small.

Around Penzance area :

Mousehole Harbour : can swim in the harbour at high tide. Make sure you check the SAS sewage alerts in the winter. You can park nice and close but either have to negotiate steps or a slipway on the steeper side. You can park nice and close to the south beach but I wouldn’t advise drive through the village! You could drive around the back of the village and approach from the rear side and park next to the south beach.

Lamorna - slightly further out of the way but you can park next to the beach…although avoid peak parking times in the summer! At mid-to-high tide, 40m walk into the water, via a rundown slipway and small section of sand.

Sennen Cove - you can park right next to the harbour. Again, near high tide, in calm conditions.

Long Rock - avoid low tide, as it’s a very flat beach and long walk. At high tide you can use the very reasonably priced car park and potentially walk 10-20m into the sea at high tide. You access the beach through a gently sloping slipway. Avoid moderate to strong southerly wind.

Marazion - if you park in either main car park across from the Mount, there are 2 slipways onto the beach and a short walk across the sand. Particularly true of the smaller short stay car park.

Praa Sands - best in calm conditions. Park in Maggie’s Patch car park. Short walk along an accessible road and then a short walk across the beach, at high tide. Longer at mid or low tide.

St Ives area swims :

Carbis Bay - you can park on the beach but the car park is likely to cost you £10-20 and you still have to walk across the sandy beach.

Porthgwidden Beach - if you can park in the ‘Island’ car park, you have a 50-100m walk to the beach and then a walk across a small beach.

The Lizard Peninsula :

Kennack Sands - Car park right on the beach. At high tide there’s a short walk across the beach. Lifeguarded during the summer.

Porthallow - park on the beach itself and a short 20m walk to the sea. The only issue being that it’s a pebble beach. So not an entirely straight forward walk.

Gillan Creek - park at the car park in St Anthony-in-Meneage. There is then a short 30m walk to the water, at high tide. If you swim at mid-to-low tide, you’ll have to negotiate a rocky beach.

Trevassack Lake - I’m cheating a little. Fully accessible site. Has all the equipment you could ask for. Limited opening hours, so do your research.

Falmouth area :

Maenporth Beach - parking on the back of the dunes. Walk across the beach. Be careful, although calm and shletered, you can get strong currents…particularly on spring tides. Avoid a moderate to strong easterly.

Swanpool - similar to Maenporth…just a slightly longer walk. Avoid a moderate to strong easterly.

Gyllyngvase Beach - can never get the spelling of this one right! Quite a flat beach but parking can be an issue. Road access right up to the back of the beach. Avoid a moderate to strong easterly.

Roseland Pen :

Porthcurnick Beach - If you avoid the car park and get there at a reasonable hour…there’s a road right down to the beach. You can turn around at the bottom of the road and get dropped off. Again, plan to swim at high tide. Avoid a moderate to strong easterly.

In & around north Cornwall :

Porthreath - you can park right on the beach but you’ll have to negotiate the sand. Lifeguarded beach in the summer months.

Newquay Harbour - if you can park in the very small car park, there an easy and short walk into the harbour around high tide.

Porth Beach - it’s unclear whether you can still park on the beach but if you drive down to the sea front, past Gwenna Tea Rooms you can park on double yellows during the winter months / blub badge holders. On a spring high tide there’s a short walk across the beach and into the sea.

T-Shirt Sale

We have some end of line tees and some of ‘last seasons’ stock we’d like to clear before a big re-stock of new t-shirts and designs.

I LOVE COLD WATER SHOCK TEE :

One of Tom’s favourite designs. Great contrast between the text/logo and dark blue. Printed on a 100% ringspun cotton t-shirt. Originally £16.99 - Now £11.99 inc P&P. CLICK HERE

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WILD SWIMMER 365 TEE :

This has been a popular t-shirt and we only have size 18-20 left. 100% Organic cotton t-shirt. Originally £16.99 - Now £9.99 inc p&p. CLICK HERE

WETSUITS ARE FOR WIMPS :

Our tongue in cheek ‘Wetsuits Are For Wimps’ t-shirts. T-shirts are 100% ringspun cotton. Originally £16.99 - Now £10.99 inc. p&p. CLICK HERE

REAL ATHLETES HAVE BEARDS TEE :

Tom’s always been intimidated by endurance athletes with beards…they’re either that good they don’t care about the drag or they’re too busy to shave (too busy training!). 100% ringspun combed cotton. Originally £16.99 - Now £9.99 inc. p&p. CLICK HERE

OLD MAN STRENGTH TEE :

It’s a real phenomenon! Ideal for a Christmas gift. Limited stock remaining. Originally £16.99 - Now £7.99! inc p&p. CLICK HERE

Full Moon Swim in the Lizard

2023 saw us take on a new swim. A night time, full moon swim. We picked Trevassack Lake, as it has high walls for shelter, great facilities and uninterrupted views of the moon and stars.

We offered 2 groups, at 6.30 and 7.30pm. The 6.30pm group had far more ambient light and witnessed the moon rising over the far cliffs and into the night sky. The later group experienced ‘proper’ dark and the moon and stars high in the sky.

The forecast was quite harsh, with 35kmph winds, with the odd wind gust. We picked the lake as it offers great protection from the wind and it delivered. We made slight adjustments to our original plan and used the west side of the lake and cliffs as protection from the wind. The swimmers experienced little to no chop at all. The water was also 15.5 degrees. It was warmer in the water than out!

Both groups then popped over to the onsite cafe and had a hot vegetable stew and hot drink (the water safety team opted for the hot chocolate!).

We had great feedback from the groups and will look to create a bigger and better event for next year.

*What the video doesn’t show is how stunning the moon looked. Rising on the east side (to the left).

GUIDE TO 2024

We still have a couple of events in the pipeline, so this may not be a complete list…depending on when you’re reading this. We also offer shorter notice swims (based on the tides) throughout the year and will often create small group swims around individual bookings.

MAY 25 - starting in slightly cooler water but the weather has been great in May for the last few years and these are shorter swims…so water temp isn’t a problem. This is a shorter distance ‘slow swimming day out’, multi-swim (non)-event. Number currently restricted to 24 and some head-up breaststroke is expected…encouraged even! These are leisurely swims, on a social day out. West Cornwall is our back yard and we know it better than any other area in Cornwall. Loads of opportunity for great beach swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. TICKETS / MORE INFO - CLICK HERE.

JUNE 8 - a little adventure in north Cornwall. The North Cornwall 5K Day. Quite simply, open to anyone that can swim….5k (not in one go)! All abilities welcome, provided you can cover the distance over 3 swims. So approx 1.7km per swim (x3). We have a delightful back-up plan in case of swell or undesirable wind. Limited number on the event, avoiding mass starts and tight turns around buoys… MORE INFO - CLICK HERE

JUNE 18-20 - a ‘slow swimming’ midweek holiday based around west Cornwall, the Lizard and Helford. As there is a huge area to choose swims from, this holiday can offer some absolute beauties! We have suggested a centrally located campsite but you can stay where you like. We have multiple members of staff on safety on these holidays, so pace and distance is very flexible. Loads of potential for a mix of beach and river swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. MORE INFO - CLICK HERE

JUNE 25-27 - our standard pace midweek, west Cornwall holiday. By standard pace you’d be looking at the middle lane of a public swimming session (from fastest to slowest)…provided you can cover the distance we really aren’t that bothered. This holiday offers longer distances, of around 1.5-2km per swim. We have ample team members on water safety and we can split the group, if needs be. Again, we know west Cornwall very well. Great potential for lots of beach swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JUNE 29 - Our 10K Day swimming event. 4 swims, over 1 day, totalling 10km. This event will be based in the St Mawes - Roseland area. Numbers on this event are limited to 50. Although some are welcome to race the routes, it is really more of a challenge, than an event. We’ve stripped back the t-shirts and freebees normally associated with this sort of event and simply kept the price down. Great opportunity for beach and river swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 2-4 - slow swimming midweek holiday, based around the Penzance area. Like the other slow swim holidays, we’ll pick nice flat and safe routes over a shorter distance (250m -1km). We’ll try and keep this one centred around Penzance, if the conditions allow. Some amazing beaches in the area for fantastic swims. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 5-7 - Standard weekend swimming holiday, based in St Ives / Penzance. By standard pace you’d be looking at the middle lane of a public swimming session (from fastest to slowest)…provided you can cover the distance we really aren’t that bothered. This holiday offers longer distances, of around 1.5-2km per swim. We’ll try to include some delightful swims, in the St Ives area…as well as some around Penzance. All swims will be launching from beautiful beaches. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY 12-14 - slow-to-medium pace swimming holiday, in St Austell. This is a flexible speed/distance holiday that allows the participants to explore St Austell Bay. Swimmers have to be able to cover around 500m per swim at their own pace. We’ll have multiple personnel on water safety, so we can subdivide into smaller groups. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

JULY - AUG - we have a selection of one-off swims throughout July and Aug (pace requirements included on the link)…as well as additional dates to come. CLICK HERE for calendar.

SEPT 6-8 - easily one of our most popular weekend swimming holidays. We restrict numbers (15) on this one and it’s a slightly more intimate holiday. The Lizard Peninsula has dozens of fabulous swims on offer, including both beach and river options and the water is a great temp this time of year. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

SEPT 27-29 - Our most affordable swimming holiday. Set on the weekend, in the St Mawes / Roseland area. At the end of Sept the water is nice and warm. The holiday is set in an area that offers great protection from the wind and you have dozen and dozens of river and sea swimming options. Previous footage - CLICK HERE. More info - CLICK HERE.

Slow Swimming Holiday - Case Study, 2023

2023 was the first year that we offered ‘slow swimming’ holidays and they were extremely popular. One of the holidays fully booked and had a waiting list of 18 people! So obviously, we’ve added lots of additional ‘slow swimming’ activities to our annual calendar.

In this blog post we’ll take a look at two of these hol’s and talk you through all the details. I thought this would be particularly relevant and of interest to anyone that’s never been on a swimming holiday, worries about their pace in regards to group swimming and anyone that simply wants more info. We’ll look at distances, locations, access, staffing, pace…

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HOLIDAY 1 : a midweek ‘slow swimming’ holiday, based in west Cornwall, June 13-15. Price £129. Group size was 24, with 3 on water safety (43 seasons of beach lifeguarding/water safety experience between us)…as the forecast was perfect. If it had been slightly more challenging, we would have had 4 on water safety. We’d suggested staying at Tremorvu Campsite but obviously you could have stayed wherever you like.

Swim 1 - Perranuthnoe. Tues, at 3.45pm. Not that well known by tourists but a beautiful beach, with a stunning beach side cafe. After parking, the group strolled up the coastal path on a 500m walk and then down the track to a very quiet, secluded beach. With 3 members of staff on water safety the group soon split up with around 8 people doing a supervised shorter route (approx 400-500m), a number of these swimmers did head-up breaststroke. The other group went on to complete around 1.7km. Both groups swam around a great circular cave route, the ‘distance’ group then went on to navigate some very interesting channels, cut into some flat rock.

Swim 2 - Porthcurno. Weds, at 9.45am. Straight walk from the car park and down the beach, around 400m. On this swim we had a better idea of the group and offered 2 options. Around 10 of the swimmers chose the shorter route out to the Minack Theatre, for a ‘seaside’ view and back to the beach (approx 400m). The second group headed over to Logan Rock and back, around 1.8km, although a few turned back early (approx 1.4km). This for many, was followed by the ‘essentials’…coffee and cake at the cafe, some had lunch.

Swim 3 - Nanjizal. Weds, around 3.30pm. This swim is an absolute beauty that we rarely offer, as the conditions have to be perfect. It’s a straight forward coastal path and a good 20-25 minute walk to the beach, from the car. Here, we swam through ‘Zawn Pyg’ or the ‘Song of the Sea’ cave. Absolutely stunning, world class swim. The route through the cave is around 400-500m. Some of the swimmers enjoyed it so much that they did it twice. A number of the group also swam across the bay…so totalled around 1.3km.

Dinner - we had a delightful and social group dinner at 45 Queen St on the Weds evening.

Swim 4 - 3 Bears Caves Swim. Thurs, 10am. Access to this swim is a little trickier. A 400m walk down a fairly steep coastal path and then a careful bum shuffle down some rocks at the bottom, which all the group comfortably managed. We then had a great swim into 3 caves. All of the group completed the swim at their own pace, around 800m. Some then added some distance, with a swim across the beach - total 1.4km.

Swim 5 - Porthleven. Thurs, at around 2.30pm. A few of the group opted out, as they were tired but came down and did some sun bathing on the quay. Some also jumped off the harbour wall! A leisurely swim out from the harbour, around the reef and back in, on a slack tide. Very easy access along the quay/road. Swim distance approx 1-1.4km. A few waited until the water safety team were back and swam a much shorter route in the harbour.

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TOTALS - walking of around 9km and swimming of around 3km-7.5km depending on which route you opted for. Some swam head-up breaststroke, some front crawl and some completed a mixture of the two. One swimmer also opted out of 2 swims…so swam around 1.5-2km.

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HOLIDAY 2 - St Mawes / Roseland Peninsula weekend ‘slow-to-medium pace’ swimming holiday. Sept 29 - Oct 1. Price £119 (only 4 swims on this weekend, standard is 5). Group size - 15. 3 on water safety (approx 43 seasons of beach lifeguarding/water safety experience between us). Over the weekend we had sun, a little wind and overcast conditions. We’d suggested staying at Treloan Campsite but participants were free to make their own arrangements.

Swim 1 - St Just-in-Roseland tidal pool / harbour. This is a stunning swim, that requires the right sized tide. We picked one of the biggest tides of the year and put on a swim, that included part of the sunset. 200m walk to the entry point. Swim length was 400 - 1.5km depending on the swim. A few head-up breaststrokers turned back early, with a member of the team.

Swim 2 - St Anthony’s Lighthouse. This required some work on our part, as the forecast changed. We spoke to the group and they were all happy to walk approx 3km to a breathtaking beach, around the corner from St Anthony’s Lighthouse. There we swam approx 1-1.5km up the Percuil River. A few swimmers swam and chatted their way around 400m of the route. Again, we split the water safety team and covered all of the swimmers.

Swim 3 - Porthcurnick. We stopped at the Hidden Hut at Porthcurnick for lunch. A great spot for refreshments. The wind had picked up (as predicted) and made the second swim slightly challenging. After careful planning we all walked over to Portscatho and used the headland for shelter. Whilst it was nice and sheltered in the bay, it got slightly rougher towards the point, which some swimmers quite enjoyed. Half the group stayed in the bay and some swam out to the point. Most of the swimmers climbed onto the swimming pontoon and jumped/dived off. Swim distance 400m - 1km. 500m worth of walking.

Swim 4 - St Mawes Beach. A straight forward swim up the Percuil River, from the beach in St Mawes. After a 200m walk from the car park, you pop down the stairs and you’re on the beach. We swam up the river. Some of the group opted for a 500m swim, while others pushed on and covered around 1.5km. We all ended up in Da Bara Cafe straight after!

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TOTALS - around 8km of walking, with 1.9km - 6km of swimming activity. Some swam head-up breaststroke and chatted (a lot!), some front crawl and some completed a mixture of the two.

West Cornwall Swimming Holidays

Like most of our activity we pick west Cornwall because you have options for swims in all conditions. Whether it be high wind or swell…or both. West Cornwall provides shelter from almost all conditions and we can put on safe and sheltered (and obviously enjoyable!) swims. In the last 9 years, we’ve only ever put on 2 (stunning) lake swim, as we couldn’t find a good option and we’ve never cancelled a swimming holiday.

West Cornwall is the ideal location for a swimming holiday, as it has coast facing pretty much every point on a compass! You have large granite cliffs in areas, offering shelter. Although it’s a little further out, you also have additional options on the Helford River and Lizard Peninsula. You also have some of the following options for swimming :

St Michael’s Mount

Porthcurno

Mousehole harbour & island

Praa Sands

3 Bears Caves Swim

Carbis Bay

Porthminster Beach

Porthkidney Beach

Lamorna Cove

Perranuthnoe

We offer both standard pace and slow swimming holidays in west Cornwall. Standard pace holidays generally average at approx 2-2 1/2 minutes per 100m or 20-25 minutes per km. We have multiple members of water safety on these holidays, so there’s no issue with the group splitting up…you certainly shouldn’t be too concerned about your pace, provided you can cover the distances. Slow swimming holidays offers shorter distances for head-up breaststrokers, all the way through to slower front crawl swimmers.

For all of our activity - CLICK HERE

St Mawes Swimming

2023 was a very popular year for Sea Swim Cornwall…so popular in fact, that by July we decided at the last minute to put on an additional swimming holiday in Sept. As we hadn’t done a lot of swimming in the St Mawes / Roseland area…this was the obvious choice.

St Mawes is an ideal location for swimming holidays, as you have multiple sheltered rivers to choose from, as well as coastline facing in every direction. As well as the wind and conditions, the tide also dictates where you might swim…meaning every swimming holiday is different.

This is St Just-in-Roseland and the tidal pool. Great way to start a holiday!

Full Moon Swim

It’s 2023 and we’re currently gearing up for our first full moon swim. We’ve picked a stunning lake on the Lizard Peninsula, for a number of reasons.

• consistent conditions. We’ve swum in the lake in 60-70kmph winds, with minimal impact on the water conditions.

• Delightful nearby cafe, changing and toilet facilities.

• Contained area, easy to plan water safety and monitor swimmers.

• The Lizard is renowned for stargazing…with minimal local light pollution.

We’re offering two swimming groups, limited to 24 swimmers. Swimming will then be followed by a hot meal and drink, in the cafe…and a good old social.

Sea Swim Cornwall have been trying to set up a night swim / full moon swim for a number of years and have been unsuccessful…for various reasons. So we’re really excited to get this off the ground!

Pasty Politics

I’m not entirely sure why I’m delving into the world of the Cornish pasty. No good can come of this! I’ll probably receive hate mail. However, I’m going in…I’m going to do it…

Now we’ve been talking pasties all summer. At work, on the radio at work, driving to work, on the phone…there has been a lot of Pasty politics talk. He’s what we came up with this sumer.

We all feel that lots of pasty makers start well and produce a great pasty. The problems start when they take that popularity and expand…sometimes a little too quickly. Employing lots of additional staff and moving towards mass manufacture. At this stage there always seems to be a drop in quality.

We’ve also discussed in great length, the challenge presented by a molten hot pasty. It’s almost impossibly to leave a pasty to cool down ‘naturally’. You’ll snap a piece of crust off, nibble a hole to allow the steam to pour out…a riskier tactic is to bite a section off and hold it in your open mouth to cool…but it is almost impossible to leave it alone, once purchased.

Firstly, big shout to St Agnes Bakery. Their sausage rolls are so good that I never get round to the pasties. If the pasties are as good….oh wow. Secondly, Lavenders Deli in Penzance town, outstanding Scotch Eggs. They do a marmalade and red onion Scotch Egg that is to die for. Again, I never get round to buying a pasty. Both quality establishments however.

We’ll start with Rowes and Warrens. Both have been around for quite some time. They’re both popular bakers and have businesses dotted across the whole of Cornwall. We felt that Rowes fillings come out on top and Warrens produce the better pastry. Both are consistent but we felt both were nothing to write home about. They represent good value but don’t stand up against some of the smaller producers.

Another business that seems to be growing quite quickly, is the Cornish Oven Bakery. They offer both short crust and flaky pastry options. General consensus is that they are quality! Good size, great flavour, consistent…the option of the flaky or shortcrust adds a whole new dimension. We’re all just hoping the quality doesn’t start to drop, if they continue to grow.

Philps Pasties - a couple of my staff are from Hayle…so maybe a little biased. Philps are a funny one. At their best they’re right up there. Especially their meat pasties. The problem we all have is that you seem to have good batches and bad batches. The last couple of pasties I’ve had from them have been quite anaemic (and I haven’t been back for a good 6 months), Matthew however, tells me that recent batches have been very, very good.

Gear Farm pasties - Gweek area. One of the best pasty producers in the county. Fantastic pastry and a great filling. Good size too. Ticks all of the boxes.

Lavenders Cornish Pasties - I live just around the corner from an outlet, so have had plenty of pasties from these guys. They’re not bad. I’ve had better pastry and I’ve had better fillings. They are very consistent and reasonably priced. Not a bad choice.

Ann’s Pasties - we personally preferred Ann’s to Lavenders. Much of the above (Lavenders) holds true, just a little better.

Morris Pasties - some slight variations on the traditional flavours, without going OTT. Again, very consistent and very nice. Can’t really go wrong.

St Buryan Farm Shop - we had some customers visit on Saturday and the veg was a little raw…but everyone is entitled to a bad day. They generally produce very good and consistent pasties, especially the meat ones…being a butchers and all. My one visit yielded quality produce and again, word on the street is that it’s a quality establishment.

Brays n Kays - Newquay based producer. We haven’t personally had the pleasure but I’m hearing good things.

Mary’s Pasties - again, great reports from a number of sources. Will report back from personal experience asap.

Trevilley’s Farm Shop, Newquay. I’m hoping their not a one-hit wonder but one of my staff has not stopped talking about their pasties….and he’s only visited the shop once! Pastry, meat, the juice, veges…it’s all good! Worth the visit.

We’ll add a few more businesses and a short docu-style video to the article.

Annual Lizard Peninsula Swimming Holiday

One of our highlights every year is the Lizard Peninsula swimming holiday. We always hold it on the first weekend of September. The water is still warm and the crowds have thinned out. We’ve held this holiday for the last four years and each one has been absolutely stunning!

This year we really had to work. We had a southwest swell that rules out the west coast and easterly winds…so our experience really came into play, during the planning for this trip. Despite challenging conditions, we put on 5 delightful swims, in flat and enjoyable conditions.

Swim 1 - Kennack Sands following a route north, along the coastline, using the cliffs for shelter. Clear water, plenty of marine life and a great swim to start everyone off.

Swim 2 - Coverack, another nice and sheltered swim. We swam up and checked out the harbour before again, swimming north and keeping out of the wind. From there we took advantage of the location and popped into Roskilly’s. Epic pizza and ice cream…

Swim 3 - Durgan on the Helford river. Stunning morning swim, in pan flat conditions. Swimming from Durgan over to Trebah, then back across to Durgan to Grebe Beach. Beautiful scenery and weather. From there we visited the very unique and beautiful Potager Gardens for lunch.

Swim 4 - Parbean Beach. Takes some effort to get to but we had a very nice swim towards the mouth of the estuary / end of the headland and back. A new route for us.

Swim 5 - Church Cove / Gunwalloe. A proper sea swim…as we had snuck in a few river routes. Great morning for it and as it was swim 5, we picked a route that allowed a half way exit.

Safe to say that everyone had a fantastic weekend, including the staff! Bring on 2024.

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.

10K Day 2023 - 10km Swimming Event

Another year, another 10K Day! Starting to feel like it’s slightly cursed, as we had the same howling westerly winds…but I think the fact that it went ahead (when at least Cornish events running on the same day over the past 2 years have been cancelled) says volumes about the concept we’ve devised.

Rather than specifying a set location, we look at an entire area. We’ll check out the forecast 2-3 days before the event date and then contact the entrants with an exact meeting point and time. That way we can offer the safest and most enjoyable conditions possible. The 10km of swimming is also split up into 3-4 swims and is run as a challenge, rather than an event. This way, you can avoid mass starts, congested turns around buoys and some of the general rough and tumble that can come with similar events. It also allows the entrants the opportunity to check out lots of different areas and experience a number of swims. With lots of the entrants coming from out-of-county, the chances of a cancellation are also minimised. In the event of a cancellation (and unlike a few other event organisers), we’ll offer a refund.

2023 saw us take on 4 swims. We had planned on holding the event in west Cornwall but strong westerly winds forced us over to the Lizard Peninsulas east coast. With 2 delightful swims at Porthallow (one slightly challenging), one sheltered and shorter swim at Porthoustock (in crystal clear waters) and the finale at Coverack. A 3.5km swim in delightful conditions.