Open water swim coaching

My coaching technique

My open-water swim coaching is all about helping you find your unique rhythm in the water. Imagine gliding effortlessly, using your breath and core strength to keep you buoyant and balanced. Not only is swimming fantastic for your physical health, but it’s also a wonderful way to boost your mental well-being, especially in the great outdoors.

For me, every breath is a new adventure, as varied and beautiful as the ocean's waves. Drawing from my background as a yoga teacher and freediver, I use various pranayama techniques to help you connect with your nervous system, essential for a serene state of mind in open water. Whether it’s the chill of the water, its depth, the unknown beneath, or the simple act of submerging your face, we all need to overcome our hurdles. But with the right breathing techniques and a prepared mindset, we can overcome these barriers.

Once you're comfortable, we’ll focus on harmonizing your movement and breathing. It's not just about swimming; it's about swimming efficiently and gracefully.

I am deeply passionate about coaching you to become confident and at ease in the water. Let’s embark on this journey together, where every stroke is a step towards confidence and tranquility.

The benefits of open-water swimming

WELLBEING - Most open water swimmers do it for the mental health benefits, a casual swim with friends followed by a coffee, or maybe it’s a cardio workout for the week, whichever the reason, Swimming outdoors helps regulate and boost sleep patterns, an increase in the swimmer’s happiness due to stimulating hormones and the thyroid, thus helping to regulate the swimmer’s weight, body temperature, muscle strength, and mental health.

HEALTH - As with yoga and other activities, cold water and open water swimming can make other systems of your body more efficient and more effective, improving your body’s defensive response to damage and therefore potentially reducing your risk of cancer, neurological disorders, and chronic respiratory disease. It can also help to improve the management of asthma and Type 2 Diabetes. Training in colder water reduces the potential for over-production of certain hormones, this contributes to impaired immunity, in effect making your body more robust and resistant to infection.

THERAPEUTICS - Swimming is a therapeutic exercise that doesn’t have any impact on your joints, your weight is held by the water. Swimming is a great way to avoid damage to existing injuries which also helps the healing process. Swimming helps with lower back pain, joint and tendon issues, and over-stretched muscles.

MUSCULAR BODY - swimming is one of the few sports that works all your muscles, no matter whether you’re swimming slowly or at full speed, you still will work the same muscles. The inner core muscles keep your body in a floating position, your upper body, shoulders, arms, and legs for propulsion, and your hands and feet to steer. When swimming correctly you will find that you may ache the next day after your swim.

HEART & LUNGS - By breathing slowly and correctly, taking that natural pause on the inhale, and hold your breath underwater as you glide, you build up your oxygen tolerance, this then has an effect on the whole body as well as your mental state of mind. By building your oxygen tolerance you strengthen your diaphragm muscle, expanding your intercostal muscles as well as gaining the lung capacity to take deeper slower breaths.

*Trained in open water swim coaching through STA

*Trained free diver with Blue chitta and Apnea Total