New Year swim-solution

Happy new year swimmers!

We will be focusing the month of January on fitness and skill development. Coaches will be focusing on specific skills to improve overall technique. We will also be pushing swimmers to up  weekly mileage so that overall fitness is improved.

Swimmers will be encouraged to enter completions this year with a big focus on Paris, GLLAM and Nationals, although we are going to try and enter many more competitions over the year.

Look forward to seeing you all poolside,
Michelle
Head Coach

Nationals approaching

Hi swimmers,

Firstly congratulations to all the very busy swimmers at the weekend. lots of bling and Partying in Berlin, lots of fun in Brighton and lots of PB's for our Para swimmers.

This sets us up nicely into the taper leading to nationals in just under 2 weeks time! 

if you have not done so yet please can you let David know if you are attending this event. We do not need to arrange permits for you but it is always good for the coach to know who will be there!

As we are now entering our final taper of the year what can you expect?

• A little more rest during the set
• A few more HVO and short sprints
• A bit more technical drills and sculling
• Feeling a little heavy in the water for a few days
• Feeling faster as we head towards the end of the taper
•  and finally coaches picking up on all your mistakes........

During taper please make sure we are practicing touching with 2 HANDS when swimming FLY and BREAST.

Make sure when you do back to back turns we count through the flags and do  not turn too soon on our front to then have to swim F/C

Make sure to tumble turn and try and get good underwater transitions in.

and lastly please do finish at the wall....

Thanks 

Michelle
Head Coach

Drill it slow, swim it hard

Over the next two weeks we will continue with endurance and work on technical skills, please try and swim on different nights of the week ( I know sometimes this is not always feasible) but that way you will get a good overall workout.

As a matter of rule:

Monday's are generally fast hard work outs. 
Tuesday's are longer sets working on fitness and endurance. 
Wednesday's is a mixture of all types of sets. 
Thursday at Oasis is fast hard lactate sets. 
Thursday at London Bridge (start 13th October) will be distance sets, these sets are for open water swimmers, triathletes and those who like to swim  long distance. 
Friday due to the length of the set you will get a good overall fitness session that will be challenging. 
Saturdays are sprinting, fitness sessions. These are more technical sets and no matter what lane you swim in or whether you go to LAC or QM your coaches will challenge you on swimming technically correct and beautiful so may end up doing lots of drills.

Remember all sets should be challenging, the sets are meant to help you all improve fitness and technical aspects of your swimming.

Warm ups - do not start these too fast!  Warm up is meant to gradually get you ready for the hard work that will follow.

Drills - slow down when doing drills, think about what you are doing and what aspect of the stroke you are working on. If the coach lets you choose the drill don't always pick the easiest drill - CATCH UP!

Main set - this is when you do need to work hard and push yourself, yes it will hurt but as you get fitter the sets will become easier!

Swim downs - again this is when you get to swim slow bring the heart rate down and prepare to finish the set. Swim down is important and so many times i see swimmers getting out before the end of the swim down. The SD is part of the set and should be swan to the end.

Entries to nationals closes on the 30th of September at midday. if you are thinking of going and are not sure what to swim or what times to enter please do speak to any of the coaches. We will be sending the wonderful Nathan for the weekend to support you all at the event! If you have entered and want to swim relays please let Andrew Benson know as he is sorting out relays and if you have entered can you please let David Deporta Mendez know.

have a good couple of weeks of swimming 

Michelle
Head Coach

Endurance week

Hi all

I hope you had a great August and got to enjoy the sun with a number of sessions being cancelled at ULU. Now we are all back from holidays (those of us who managed to be away) or just carrying on as normal!

We have some intense work to do! with just over 9 weeks to go till nationals in Sheffield in October! The focus for the next 6 weeks will be aerobic endurance ( getting you all up to full fitness) working on good technique and ensuring that we work on turns, transitions and touching with two hands in fly and breast.

For this week we will be working on endurance so lots of distance lots of skill development and starting to get our fitness back (those of you who have had a break) and for those of you who did not this type of training will just get you fitter.

For all of you this week I would like you to set yourself a goal of trying not to stop during the main set or go to the loo during the main set! As well as touching with two hands onFly and breast turns.

I hope that many of you will sign up to take part in Nationals and look forward to seeing you all pool side.

Michelle
Head Coach

Backstroke body position

Hello swimmers, 

It's really good to see so many of you swimming over the summer and to see that sessions are still quite full. I would like to remind you all that you please remember which lane you are assigned to and check which nights you have sessions. I have had a number of swimmers turn up on the wrong nights. Sets are set according to the standard of swimmers and if a swimmer is in the wrong lane /  impeding the lane, it wouldn't be fair for others or the coaches. So please be considerate.

If you're trying too hard to keep up, realistically you will not be achieving the objectives of the set because you're swimming in the wrong energy zone.

For this week we would be looking into stroke technique in backstroke. Coaches would like to see nice body position ( this weeks focus) follow this link for some good body position advice:

Basic Backstroke Body Position And How To Swim With Correct Technique

A good drill is to put a pull buoy on your forehead and try swim a length with out dropping the pull buoy. To make it more difficult try using a plastic cup or a finger paddle.

Well done to all our open water swimmers at Henley Bridge to Bridge 14km / London Tri and congratulations to Geraldine Treacher who swam 26.5km across Lake Zurich over the weekend! 

Also excellent team work for the Orcas who were competing in the waterloo tournament in Amsterdam at EuroPride.

Lastly, please do sign in when you arrive on pool side! If you have not seen the list taker then ask the coach if they have the list to sign in. Please do not just get into the pool, we need to know who is in the pool (for safety/ insurance etc).

Thanks all and enjoy some sunny swimming,

Michelle
Head Coach

August for endurance

Hello swimmers, 

For august we will be doing endurance and lots of skill work.

Fridays and Sundays at LAC is a perfect opportunity to use fins and paddles but please check with the coach they are happy for you to do so. These can be bought from a good sports shop,  swim shop or any online shop that sells swim wear. You do not need to purchase expensive equipment. 

Swimmers please note that not all sessions will be fully covered during August many of the Coaches and Teachers are away! So no abusing of the coaches who are there please! 

Our next big target is nationals in October in Sheffield please speak to any of the coaches if you would like to swim but not sure of what times you should enter. Please do speak to some of our more experienced swimmers about where to stay what to expect and where you can party!  
   
Have a good summer and next blog will be in a couple of weeks in the mean time as Dory would say' just keep swimming' 

Michelle
Head Coach

Race tuning

This week we will be fine tuning our skills for the Middlesex County Championship on 24 July.

Turns and starts are on the agenda this week and fast quick swimming.

We will still do some focus on skills. 

Can I remind all swimmers that when leaving the pool you tell the coach especially during the session.

Focus for swimmers this week:

Set yourself a training goal, this can be anything from tumble turning through out the set to doing drills correctly or even a time goal. Write this down before the session and then after the session see if you have achieved this ...

This will help you focus on something in each session.

Have a good week of swimming.

Michelle
Head Coach

Good luck for EuroGames!

It was lovely to see the whole club from swimming to water polo to synchro, women and men getting together for Pride, I hope you all enjoyed yourself.  

This week we see a number of swimmers head off to Euro games and we wish them the best of luck.

 In terms if swimming we are focusing on developing speed, working on Technical elements of your stroke. 

Swimmers, remember when doing drill you need to slow down and think about what the drill is doing for your stroke.

Entries are still open for middlesex till the 8 th of July, if you want to swim in a relay please let David know ASAP as we need to register the relays before the closing date.

Happy swimming!

Michelle
Head Coach 

The HVO week

Hi Swimmers,

Momentum is picking up leading into the Middlesex County Championship and entry forms are fast disappearing!  Don't fret if you did not get one, you can download it here.

You will all have noticed that Alex and Nathan have put up some videos on Facebook, do have a look, learn and think about what is being said. 

For those that swam on Saturday and were filmed I am sure you found that useful. We will do more of that in the coming weeks. This is a useful way to understand what it is you are doing in the water and what it is we want you to do! 

For this week much the same as last week in terms of sessions but we will also be doing more HVO work. You may ask what HVO is, follow this link to our page that will give you an idea what HVO, Aerobic, Lactate Sets etc are.

A reminder that you all need to do a combination of all these sets to be a better/ faster swimmer.
Good luck to the cold water swimmers competing tomorrow night at Tooting Bec Lido! and well done to the Water Polo team who competed at the tournament on Sunday. 

Have a good week of swimming,
Michelle
Head Coach