Learn various skills and knowledge useful for Open Water swimmers
The summer and autumn of 2019 and winter of 2019/2020 have been unusual at the Guillamene cove. Not for the weather or for the sea but because we had a higher number of safety incidents than previously. There were a number of serious incidents that I am aware of that required intervention of inshore rescue…
Some concepts or acts can be so fundamental to a communal activity that the members of that community can forget that they once may not have known of the concept, let alone the meaning as the activity becomes second nature. These acts, which we might call unconscious assumptions, are not ignored, but accepted, language grows…
For some years, my New Year’s post for those taking up swimming for exercise or weight management has been one of the site’s most popular and has gone viral on a number of occasions. But like with my Christmas Swim post, I wanted to change it up this year. Like so much of what I’ve written,…
Around the world, 2018 has been a hot summer. I predicted early on before the heat wave that 2018 would see a lot of jellyfish, and so it transpired. I also predict that we will see early and more noticeable Sea Lice in swimmers this year, beginning possibly as early as the first week of…
“How long are you typically here (in Ireland) for?“, I asked as I chatted with the US customs agent at US Border Control in Dublin Airport in late April. I stared up at the official photo of the current US President on the wall. While the agent gave me the usual interrogation about my reason for traveling,…
We claim victory. Or survival. We swim out into Bone Cold water, and we claim it. Metaphorically speaking, we mark the nadir of winter at the end of February out in the water, bleeding our skin colour into the icy greyblackgreen, exchanging heat for some ludicrous sense of playing a game with the ocean, that…
Swimming was important to me, at an age when maybe some of us are past learning these things, in discovering how much we are all capable of, if we just commit ourselves. Ultimately, everything else I’ve learned and try to share is mechanics, or more easily comprehensible knowledge. There are no secrets in swimming, no secret to…
At Christmas time, many people who would never consider getting in cold water will be thinking of a Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day dip. If you are wondering WHY you might or should do it, apart from; taking part in a local tradition in many places; having a hot punch at the…
This post begins a new series here on Loneswimmer.com. There are certain patterns that I’ve seen repeated over the years. There are certain experiences that recur, certain thoughts that reappear, coming anew each year. Though previously experienced, all feel fresh each time, only deepened by the growing realisation that what were once first-time or rare…
The Simple Rule of Rough Water Exits I’m going to continue by reiterating the most important point from Part One. The first, easiest and more common way of dealing with rough water exits is to not get into the water unless the water is calm. It’s an option many novices fail to consider and they often…
Introduction I haven’t previously tackled the subject of water exits specifically, though I have covered it in general terms in a number of articles. Especially those articles which try to condense the basics of open water swimming considerations for beginners and irregular swimmers, such as beginners or triathletes I haven’t written about exits because anyone…
The local pool and gym is taking part in Operation Transformation in January. So there will be six weeks of hell in the pool, as most will not succeed. and will have given up by mid February. This is the same as almost every pool and gym in the world, it will just be exacerbated…
Our eponymous hero first appeared in the letters column of H2Open magazine back in 2012, subsequent to Simon Griffith, (editor of H2Open) posting a link to the one of the articles I’d written about pool lane swimming etiquette. Bob was not happy. Bob was very not happy. I was an elitist. I was…a lane hog.…
Swimmers love to eat, quite a lot, and to talk about how they eat almost as much. Yet there is little discussion of food on this site. The last time I wrote a recipe here was some years ago with the Swimmer’s Smoothie, which I still heartily recommend for those many people who struggle with early morning…
If open water swimming was as simple or simplistic as is sometimes portrayed I’d long have ceased writing. Olympic or professional open water swimmers who distil the skills associated with open water swimming to a mere “learn to sight, swim straight” have over-looked all the other skills they may have learned along the way. Similarly, amateur marathon…
As is known by its millions of practitioners worldwide, swimming is a sport that many can and do pursue for an entire lifetime. It is accommodating of a wide range of skills and personal motivations. Swimmers report a range of physical benefits from better flexibility and balance to cardio-respiratory health and improved immune systems.…
This third and final part follows: Part One on Oceans. Part Two on Lakes and Rivers. I was at the top of the 1000 foot high Cliffs of Moher with the wind was blowing Force 11. I noticed that unsurprisingly most people were unable to move easily. It had never previously occurred to me that somehow over years…
This is the second of a three-part series covering the features and hazards of open water swimming locations, the first of which covered the ocean.The Ocean is sufficiently complex and changeable to require its own article. I had intended in this second part to cover the remaining locations but the article was simply too long. Part Three will cover…
Open water is open water, right? Well, yes and no. Sure, water itself is only water, whether fresh, salt water or brackish, and if you can swim, then theoretically you may think that’s all you need to know. Unfortunately, too many beginner and intermediate open water swimmers don’t think about the various conditions and hazards…
Following my review of Brilliant Swim’s PaceWatch, it seemed an appropriate time to do an introduction to the Pace Clock commonly seen in most pools. Along with my guide to the different types and uses of swimming googles and the perennially popular understanding lane swimming etiquette, these articles are intended (mostly) for newer and developing swimmers. While LoneSwimmer.com…
I just have to start this with a disclaimer: I’m not really a kayaker. I have spent maybe eight hours total escorting swimmers on a kayaker and my total kayaking time is only about twenty hours as I write this. I’ve done so little kayaking that I can estimate the total time spent. However I am a…
Three or four years ago I wrote a post about swimming a new location, and the steps I take to do so safely. However as primarily an ocean open water swimmer it focused specifically on my thoughts when swimming a new coastal location in a high tidal range area. As every regular reader may have…
Amongst the omissions or subjects I have yet to tackle, one of the more obvious has been relatively little coverage of environmental issues. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, they say. I’ve tackled many open water swimming subjects here, sometimes because I didn’t know enough to be daunted, or because I thought that while my knowledge…
In the autumn of 2014 I picked up an injury when I got a Grade 3 ankle sprain. I couldn’t swim much due to lingering chest infection (and didn’t want to either, as open water swimming season was ending). However years of ingrained habit made me swim anyway. I thought some kicking might help rehabilitate my ankle but I found a…
A regular blog reader (hi Gabriel!) left a comment wherein they mentioned wind against sea. My first reaction was that I knew right then that Gabriel was an experienced open water swimmer. My second reaction was to kick myself for not mentioning wind against sea previously. Wind against sea is a condition that most open water swimmers (who…
LoneSwimmer 