Weekly Open Water Sea Swim Squad  - available summer season (Saturday 22nd May to end of October 2022)

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Locations at: ​Hayling Island from the Inn on the Beach pub Beachlands

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Structured weekly open water sea swim coached sessions focussing on open water skills and drills, fitness and front crawl technique for Triathletes, Open water swimmers  and Master's swimmers on Saturday mornings from 09.00 to 10.00 am. Intermediate group pace range 1:30-2:30 per 100 metres.

 

You should be able to swim 1000 metres in sub 24 minutes or 1500 metres in under 36 minutes in open water.

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REASONS TO ATTEND:

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• Participants will improve their stamina, endurance and speed for front crawl

• Learn new open water skills and drills, tips and techniques in each session

• Build confidence in open water swimming from understanding the tides, currents, drift and how to overcome them

• Develop your open water skill set with weekly open water drills including sighting, navigation, drafting (when permitted), beach entry and exit techniques and many more to develop you into a rounded open water swimmer!

• Open Water Group sessions can really help when it comes to staying motivated to achieve your fitness goals

• The team dynamic will have you truly trying your best, which means you'll get more out of the experience, get fitter faster and reach new Pb’s

• Above all, you'll have great fun!

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You can join at any time throughout the course if there is availability. Please do get in touch to enquire if there is space by emailing Nick on speedyswimming@gmail.com.    

 

WHAT TO EXPECT:

 

Each session lasts for one hour and will include 5-10 minute warm up, 45-50 minutes of weekly paced interval training, according to your fitness level and 5 minute cool down with stretches. 

 

Each week there will be a different focus on a 4 week rolling cycle. Participants will build and improve cardio vascular fitness, lung capacity, muscular endurance, building to threshold sets by early spring. The group will focus on technique, as well as improve distance per stroke, with drills for the 10 phases of front crawl.

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The aim will be to improve your strength, speed, pacing awareness, lactate tolerance, anaerobic threshold and open water skills over the months so you are ready to go into the racing season firing on all cylinders at your specific race pace. 

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How do you know if our Open water Sea swim squad sessions are right for you?

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These sessions are for intermediate swimmers who can swim in the speed range of 1:30 minutes to 2:30 minutes pace per 100 metres.

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We require you to demonstrate being able to swim at least 2-400 metres continuous front crawl in open water in the above pace range before booking on the course. (Garmin or Strava files are acceptable).

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Examples of the types of swim sessions and technique drills we will ask you to do include:

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• Interval based swim sessions

• Using stroke counting for distance

• Improving and understanding stroke rate for sea swimming

• Entry and exit techniques from and into the beach,

• Understanding currents, tides and drift and how to use them better

• Sighting and navigation in the sea (quite different to a lake)

• Drafting (when allowed re covid-19)

• Mass start techniques and options for events (when allowed re covid-19)

• Wading and dolphining for running into the sea prior to swimming and beach exits

• Kicking and the 6 reasons it's needed for sea swimming

• Improving all elements of sea swimming skills and drills and techniques

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All of these would be in a progressive plan week on week developing your sea swimming skill set.

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You will need a bright coloured swim cap, and a tow float to join each week. Our open water swimming rules will be sent out prior to joining the squad with our Covid-19 safety briefing.

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Technique drills focus will include the following:

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• Drills to improve your streamlining and reduce your resistance in the water

• Swimming faster without a loss of technique

• Improving your feel for the water with an enhanced catch and pull phase

• Improved kicking technique

• A higher body position

• Improved stroke rate and rotation

• Achieving a more balanced swim stroke

 

GROUP FITNESS:

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Our Speedy Swim groups offer a social way to build your fitness. Our friendly coaching will ensure you feel part of the group and in a matter of minutes you’ll be having fun with everyone else as you learn new techniques and tips for triathlon and masters swimming.

 

Places are limited to 10 swimmers per session, to ensure you receive the highest possible level of coaching available by our Speedy Swim coach.

 

WHAT TO BRING:

 

Please bring your own wetsuit, tow float, waterproof car key holder, swim kit, water bottle, swim cap and goggles.

 

Recommended swim kit list to bring along:

 

If you need any of the above swim kit before starting your session you can order via Race Zone 3 online. We have managed to negotiate a 15% off discount code for Zone 3 for all our Speedy Swimming customers. This applies across the board for all their products.

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To view Zone3’s full range of wetsuits to hire or purchase as well as other tips and advice articles and videos visit below:

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Click the link below to activate your 15% off discount code:

 

http://zone3minisite.refr.cc/speedyswimming

 

We do not offer refunds if you are unable to attend for a particular week. Please see terms and conditions for more info. 

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The Sea swim squad is run on a monthly membership option. We would require you to have a 1-hour open water sea swim lesson prior to joining the squad to assess your skill level, technique and swim ability. The Squad is for swimmers in the range of swim pace from 1:30 - 2:30 per 100m on a consistent range from 400-1000 metres.

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(We are planning on opening up other paced open water groups in the near future). Non-wetsuit swimming is optional if you have been channel swimming. Wetsuits recommended as the sea is colder than open water swimming lakes.

 

Contact Nick de Meyer for more information on 07958635142 or email speedyswimming@gmail.com

 

SQUAD SESSION TESTIMONIALS:

 

"I met Malik at the Jubilee swim yesterday and we both had good swims. The temp and flow were good and I was very pleased with my result of 2H54. Last time I did it in 2015 I did 3H36. I'm sure that most of this improvement is because of the tweaks you have made to my stroke during the Speedy Swimming Squad Sessions. So thanks a lot and keep it up." Hywel "I had reached a plateau in my swimming and my PB for 1,500 had stuck at 30 minutes for 6 years. After 4 of Nick's group sessions at Guildford lido I raced an Olympic distance triathlon and swam 28.04! I will definitely be signing up for the next set of lessons." Amanda

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"As well as being great fun, I picked up some top tips from Nick, my favourite of which was the 3/4 catch up. Thanks to this, and other top tips including rotation, thinking more about the catch and pull phases. Nick was really quite good at explaining all the technical jargon. I recently came in as the fastest old lady swimmer at the Dock 2 Dock, and 2nd fastest crazy lady without a wetsuit.

#somewhatsurprised #wellchuffed