Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Quick reminder....

Dear Swimmers

Just a quick reminder for those of you who normally swim at 5.30am on a Wednesday morning to be through the gate and ready to roll ASAP tomorrow (and until mid March) as we need to be clear of the lanes by 7am for one of the schools. For those wishing to complete any remainder of the session, lanes 1-4 will be open for the public afterwards (as will the 25m pool) but if we get a little jiggle on at the start this shouldn't be an issue!

This amendment will please the Swingers in the group no end who like to get on with it, but will put the fire up the Smooths who like the 8-10 mins of deep contemplation that we normally have (and which I purposefully use to get you a bit anxious to simulate race conditions).

So set the alarm 10 mins earlier and be ready for a solid set right off the bat - perfect!

Paul

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Squad Session Availability and 121 Video Analysis Availability

Dear Swimmers

Happy Australia Day weekend - hope you're having a fabulous one! Saw this on Twitter and thought it was pretty funny / apt:


As we start to get towards the end of the school summer holidays, I am anticipating a few faces to pop back out of the woodwork at the weekly squad sessions…I've been holding out on advertising available space to our (incredible!) 348 person wait-list (!!) but am hoping that those of you whom have been absent for December / January and wish to return in earnest to contact me as soon as possible so that I can allocate spots elsewhere if necessary. If you've been swimming with the squad for a while, I will always try to honour your spot during times of absence, but equally need you to let me know about extended periods away too - thanks!

As an update on the sessions that have been quiet / busy during this period we have:

  • Monday 7-8am (typically FULL, but can drop low on long weekends)
  • Monday 9.30-10.30am (FULL)
  • Tuesday 5.30-6.30am (FULL in lanes 1 & 2 but ~5-8 places AVAILABLE for those swimming with a CSS of 1:34/100m and faster)
  • Tuesday 6.30-7.30am (FULL)
  • Tuesday 6.30-7.30pm (AVAILABLE space for 6-8 swimmers across a range of speeds)
  • Wednesday 5.30-7am (FULL)
  • Wednesday 9.30-10.30am (FULL)
  • Thursday 6.30-7.30pm (AVAILABLE space for 6-8 swimmers across a range of speeds)
  • Friday 5.30-6.30am (FULL in lanes 1, 2 & 3 but ~2-3 places AVAILABLE for those swimming with a CSS of 1:24/100m and faster)
  • Friday 6.30-7.30am (FULL in lanes 2, 3 & 4 but ~3-4 places AVAILABLE for those swimming with a CSS of 2:00/100m or slower)
  • Friday 9.30-10.30am (FULL in lanes 1 & 2 but ~4 places AVAILABLE for those swimming with a CSS of 1:40/100m and faster)
  • Saturday 1-2pm (AVAILABLE space for ~6-8 swimmers across a range of speeds)

So if you've been away recently and plan to return, please give me a heads-up so as to manage our availability to the best of my ability. Your help and support of this in light of the flexible nature of the PAYG system is always much appreciated :-)

I plan to advertise available spaces on Saturday 1st February if I haven't heard from you by then.

Also, owing to a re-scheduling of a UK coaching trip, I now have the following 121 spots available:

1. Monday 24th March at 8.10am
2. Tuesday 25th March at 7.45am
3. Wednesday 26th March at 7.45am
4. Friday 28th March at 7.45am
5. Friday 28th March at 11am
6. Wednesday 2nd April at 8am
7. Friday 4th April at 7.45am
8. Friday 11th April at 11am
9. Tuesday 29th April at 9.30am
10. Wednesday 7th May at 8am
11. Tuesday 13th May at 9.30am
12. Wednesday 14th May at 8am
13. Monday 19th May at 8.10am
14. Tuesday 20th May at 7.45am
15. Tuesday 20th May at 9.30am
16. Wednesday 21st May at 8am
17. Monday 26th May at 8.10am

This is the first time in a while that I've had some availability within a 5-month waiting period, so please act quickly to lock in a spot for yourself or a friend during this period. Cost is $189 and full details are here: http://www.swimsmooth.com/perth_videoanalysis.html#pay - simply email me with your name, email and contact phone number explicitly stating ONLY THE DATES YOU CANNOT MAKE and I will allocate you the closest spot based on demand / response - first come, best dressed and all that. 

Equally, if you're already booked in for April and May and want an earlier session, email me as per the above.

Lastly, for your reference, I will be away (tentatively) during the following periods this year:

  1. Thursday 27th February to Wednesday 19th March (UK - Coaching)
  2. Friday 18th April to Monday 21st April (Augusta - Easter)
  3. Tuesday 27th May to Tuesday 3rd June (UK - Coaching)
  4. Wednesday 17th September to Wednesday 22nd October (Hawaii / California - Coaching & Hawaii Ironman with HUUB wetsuits)

Cheers

Paul


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Australia Day weekend

Dear Swimmers

Hope you're staying cool. I'm feeling the heat on pool deck for sure!

A quick heads up this weekend:

1. There will be NO Saturday 1-2pm squad session

2. Mondays 7am and 930am sessions will both be ON as usual

3. Given a new booking on a Wednesday morning at 7-8am (till mid March) we will aim to be in and "on" as soon as we get through the doors at 5.30am. Please be ready for this. Personally I like the 8-10mins of loose stretching and milling around as I feel it builds anticipation akin to a race situation especially with (usually) no formal warm-up, just in and "on" straight away. Maybe you can do this outside the gates instead ;-)

Cheers

Paul

Ps the Sorrento 10k race is on this Saturday. Get down and support your peers doing the Rotto solo if you can!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Friday, January 3, 2014

Happy New Year! We kick start things again on Monday!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you all had a great Christmas and here's wishing you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Above you'll see a brain teaser from a Christmas cracker we opened here on New Year's Day - answers on a postcard please...it's quite fun!

We've had a brilliant time over in the UK and have split our little holiday into 3 parts: the first was spent in East Yorkshire with my Dad for Christmas itself, the second in beautiful Whitby, North Yorkshire with my best mates and their young families and the last here in North Wales with my Mum for New Year's. We will be leaving on Sunday and arriving back in Perth late on Monday afternoon before hitting the pool deck again for 5:30am on Tuesday morning.

The 7am and 9:30am squad sessions will actually be back up and running on Monday 6th January with Sally at the helm.

Unfortunately I cant yet share any of the beautiful photos that I've managed to take over here of the wonderful winter landscapes we've seen as I've been a good boy and left my main computer at home, taking the opportunity to have 2 full weeks properly off work - and what a wonderful regenerative process that has been, especially for my back which just continues to get better and better! Needless to say, I'm very happy about that!

Anyway, wishing you all a great New Year and I can't wait to get back on pool deck to help you all with your 2014 swimming aspirations. See you on Tuesday!

Paul