Training over the Easter Weekend...

Dear Swimmers

As promised, please be advised that the following changes to the swimming program at Claremont Pool will take effect this weekend given the public holidays of Easter and ANZAC day. The pool itself will be closed on Good Friday (22nd April) all day and only open from 7am to 6pm on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday - so this pretty much limits all of our normal sessions during that period which is a shame, but not a disaster! 

Our last "normal" session this week will be Wednesday's (20th April) 5.30am and 9.30am sessions and recommencing a week later with Wednesday's (27th April) 5.30am and 9.30am sessions. 

However, don't panic - we have some alternative sessions line up for you in the ocean - please keep reading!

CANCELLED:

• Friday 22nd April 5.30am
• Friday 22nd April 6.30am
• Friday 22nd April 9.30am
• Saturday 23rd April 1.00pm
• Monday 25th April 7.00am
• Monday 25th April 9.30am
• Tuesday 26th April 5.30am
• Tuesday 26th April 6.30am
• Tuesday 26th April 6.30pm

REPLACEMENTS - a weekend of awesome ocean swimming!

• Friday 22nd April 7.00am (meet from 6.45am) = The Good Friday 1.6km handicap "race" (Cottesloe to North Cottesloe and back). This won't be an official "event" but chance for you to come down and bring a mate or two and see how well you're going over the mile distance. Meet on the grass bank north of Indianna Tea Rooms directly in front of the Pylon. No charge. It's likely to be very busy this Friday down at Cottesloe, so caution must be taken to ensure a safe swim. Coffee and muffin at Daisies on Grant / Marmion Street afterwards OR you can do the very special "Glenbo Half Ironman Brick Session" by having your bike ready to do a 40 or 60km loop on your bike and then a 5 or 10km run off the bike. Ride LAP AS - North Marine Parade, Turn North Street, Turn South West Coast Hwy follow onto Curtin ave continuing into Rous Head. Loop around the Lighthouse  back north along Curtin Ave Left into Marine Parade to start completing 1 x 20km lap. (Complete two laps or more/less completing a 1.5hrs ride so we all start running and stay together. Run 5km Indiana carpark South to Vlamignh Look-out Pole and back.
• Saturday 23rd April 7.00am (meet from 6.45am) = long ocean swim at Cottesloe Beach. Loop is out around the pylon, turn left to the groyne and then all the way down to Swanbourne SLSC before returning to the groyne and back in past the pylon. Distance is 5km for a lap. Some may choose to do 2 or even 3 laps...obviously you can shorten your outward bound trip to North Cottesloe (2km complete loop) or Grant Street (3.5km complete loop). If anyone's keen to paddle we'd love to have you along! Meet same place as Friday.
• Sunday 24th April 7.00am (meet from 6.45am) = long ocean swim from Trigg SLSC. Lap is ~5.3km south to the drain and back (total 10.6km). Meet at the Trigg SLSC tower at 6.45am for a 7am start. Again, do as much or as little as you wish. Paddlers would be a real bonus today!! Let me know...
• Monday 25th April 7.00am (meet from 6.45am) = an Hour of Power at Cottesloe Beach! Create a lap between the groyne out to the pylon and straight into the beach (~250m swimming) and run back to the groyne on the beach - how many laps can you do in exactly one hour (more than 12 would be amazing!) Same meeting point as Friday. Followed up with a swim down to North Cottesloe and back as a cool down for those hardy enough to take on this little challenge!
• Tuesday 26th April 7.00am (meet from 6.15am) = Trigg to Cottesloe swim (14km). A long one for those doing the English Channel swim or anyone whose fitness is way up there! Given that this is a straight-line swim, swimmers should meet in the car park at Cottesloe Beach at 6.15am and we'll then arrange to car pool a few cars up to Trigg before swimming / paddling back down to Cottesloe. Time expected is 3.5 to 4hrs. You could of course start this and swim as far as you wish (say 4km?) and then jog / walk the rest on the beach, supporting those still swimming. This is not for the feint hearted! If you fancy this one, please let me know by emailing me back and I'll keep you posted directly on the specifics. Can anyone paddle for us today...could do with two or three paddlers if possible?

There will be no charge for any of these sessions, but a special prize for those who pop down and attempt them all! This could be a really good way to boost your swimming fitness this weekend if you're not planning to be away and at the same time make use of the still very warm ocean temperatures that we're seeing at the moment.

Hopefully see you down at some of these!

Paul

P.S one immediate action we'll be putting into effect as of this Wednesday is to bring in legendary open water 7-time World Champion Shelley Taylor-Smith to run the Wednesday 5.30am session between now and September. I will personally still write the sessions with Shelley conducting and motivating you as you go. One of the main reasons for this change to a Wednesday morning is to actually allow me to swim with you guys as a bit of a novelty and to allow me to train with a squad (as opposed to by myself) leading up to my English Channel Swim in September. I can't wait to be "on the other side" and will obviously be on-hand to continue to run the pre-session stretching and chat etc. I do hope that you'll all continue to enjoy this session if not moreso than you already are doing, and who better to help run this solid endurance session of the week for the next few months than Shelly?!