Look after those shoulders of yours this season!

Dear Swimmers

Wow! Those were some nasty stingers last Saturday at City Beach if you did the event and well done to all those of you who survived it! No easy task!

OK, so this week I have two things for you regarding shoulder injury and management following on from Prue Newnham's physio screening last Saturday at Claremont Pool.

1. Dr Gary Couanis is running a research project for long distance open water swimmers into the effects of training load on shoulder pain. The study involves having three FREE ultrasounds of your shoulders (worth $618) done over the course of the season to monitor the state of your rotator cuff muscles as you prepare for the Rottnest Channel Swim. Details of this project and to get involved can be seen here if you're on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/549253368424635/ and you can contact Gary at swimmer.research@gmail.com - forms can be found here: http://swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/research1.pdf and here: http://swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/research2.pdf
2. Jeremy Nyman from http://woodlandsphysio.com.au/ has created this excellent PDF on what to do about Swimmer's Shoulder if and when it strikes - read it here for some useful preventative stretches: http://swimsmooth.com/pauls_images/SwimmersShoulder.pdf

Have a great day!

Paul

City Beach this weekend and Manhatten Island Marathon Swim (MIMS)

Dear Swimmers

Hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a cracking weekend of open water swimming.

First up, I have some fantastic news in that myself, Wayne Morris, Ceinwen Williams, Paul Downie, Andrew Hunt, Geoff Wilson and Lisa Delaurentis have all been selected to compete in the prestigious 28.5 mile (~46km) Manhatten Island Marathon Swim (or "MIMS" for short) on 8th June 2013 which we are just thrilled about. It is a hugely lengthy application process which even involves having to write an essay about why you want to seek selection. We're now just so stoked to have got in and be seven of about only 30 or 40 swimmers worldwide to be selected for the race. The Rottnest Solo swim on 23rd February 2013 will be a very nicely timed lead-up event to this mammoth swim which will see us circumnavigating the entire "Big Apple". For more info see: http://www.nycswim.org/Event/Event.aspx?event_id=2302&from=faq - can't wait!

Secondly, I am personally swimming the 10km event this weekend at City Beach (starting at 8am and hopefully done by about 10.30am) and have just been informed that we can use a paddler for the event to assist with feeding otherwise it'll be quite a lengthy dog-leg into the beach each time to pick up some nutrition after each 2.5km lap. I realise it is very short notice, but if anyone would be keen to assist and help out with paddling (and have their own paddle) I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers and have a great weekend,

Paul

Thursday 6.30pm sessions

Dear Swimmers

Finally! The weather seems to be back - wahoo! Can't wait for the City Beach open water swim this weekend (enter at http://www.openwaterswimming.com.au) and the Lake Lesch swim on Sunday (enter at http://maidavalemastersswimming.com/2012/10/14/2012-lake-leschenaultia-swim/)

So, the new Thursday 6.30pm session has been going now for 5 weeks and is specifically focused (as per the Wednesday 9.30am session and the Friday 5.30am and 6.30am sessions) to be a threshold development session, i.e. tough with brilliant pacing!

Unfortunately, due to a clash of bookings which the pool hadn't foreseen, we have been allocated the 25m pool for the next few months up to Rotto for this session...

...now, before you groan and moan and think that it won't work as well, let's extol the benefits of this session and also performing it in the 25m format:

1. all our intervals are usually set with the beepers on 25m, so working in a 25m pool is actually better in this regard as you do not have to account for differences in the 50m distance with and without a push-off. For those of you with good turns, this can make a massive difference between the two pools, with the 25m actually working better in this situation. As you should all know now, pacing effectively on these sessions is of paramount importance.
2. and for those of you with not very good turns, what better way to practice them! Twice as many turns as normal!
3. and for those who believe that turns aren't important for open water swimmers and triathletes, they in fact are - use each turn to really emphasise a superb torpedo push-off and your flexibility and general efficiency will thank you for it!
4. we have 5 lanes allocated to us, so rather than having 3 lanes and having 2 sub-groups in two of the lanes which can get messy with differences in speed, this won't occur.
5. the 25m pool is much more shallow than the 50m pool, but all the better for developing a better catch and pull through a-la Rebecca Adlington here: http://www.feelforthewater.com/2012/08/bent-it-like-becky.html and here: http://www.feelforthewater.com/2012/08/bend-it-like-becky-part-2.html - pulling too deep is not an option without touching the bottom!
6. for those with sinky leg syndrome, the shallow water really emphasises your sensation and perception of this and accordingly will allow you to tune that up as per: http://www.swimsmooth.com/swimming-balance.html
7. it's a much more close-contact environment with the coach being of a shorter distance which is very nice for a change of feel with respect to communication 
8. it's simply different and variety is (as they say) the spice of life!
9. all the British elite swimmers do at least one swim per week in a 25m pool and we all know how good they've become in the last 8-12 years...sorry, couldn't resist :-)
10. and if you do feel like it's all just too "Red Mist" for you and not as perfect as you'd like, I'll lend you my new super-dooper rose tinted goggles as used by Nicole this morning to put a positive spin back on the tough endurance set (which she did very well at by the way!).

Nicole, building a bridge and "getting over it" with a pair of rose tinted goggles - well done Nicole - you did great today to turn that around!

So, we still have 6 spots available in this squad - open to the first six people to email me back and request a spot...go!

Cheers

Paul

Saturday 1pm swim this week

Dear Swimmers

Just a quick note to say that this Saturday's open water skills session will take place as normal at the Claremont Pool from 1-2pm despite originally advertising an actual open water session down at Claremont Jetty in the Swan River. Unfortunately I haven't yet secured use of some full water safety support and consequently would prefer to keep the session in the pool this week. Sorry for any disappointment this causes.

We shall look to be in the river on Saturday 24th November - watch this space!

Cheers

Paul

Physio Screening this Saturday

MUSCULO-SKELETAL TESTING:

For those concerned about muscular aches and pains this season, we have secured the services of Prue Newnham from Body Logic Physiotherapy who will come and do 15 minute musculo-skeletal screening testing on Saturday 3rd November between 2pm and 5pm at Claremont Pool. 

Prue will test things like your flexibility and functional strength and recommend a range of exercises to keep you healthy this season, especially for those of you attempting the Rottnest Channel Swim as a Solo. 

There are only 12 spots available for this first session, so please be quick to reserve your spot by emailing me back asap (please flick me a quick email if you've previously expressed an interest) we will publish a list of who's who and who's when once all the spaces have filled. 

Cost is $50.00 per person, payable to Prue Newnham. 

Prue was the Australian Open Water Swimming Team's physiotherapist this last season and also managed Wayne Morris's shoulders in the lead-up to his recent conquering of the English Channel. Highly recommended.

Cheers

Paul

Paul away this weekend...

Dear Swimmers

Hope you're all doing well and are enjoying having the extra couple of coaches on pool deck each session.

I will be away from Thursday 25th October to Monday 29th October (inclusive) taking a short family break down in Gnarabup.

I will leave you in the very capable hands of:

• Thursday 6.30pm (still spaces available in this session) - Brad Hosking, fastest Age Grouper overall at Saturday's Mandurah 70.3 race in a smokin' hot 4:05 finish time!
• Friday 5.35am, 6.35am and 9.30am - Steve Casson (Swim Smooth Certified Coach, UK) & Emma Brunning (Swim Smooth Certified Coach in training, UK)
• Saturday 1.00pm - Steve Casson (Swim Smooth Certified Coach, UK) & Emma Brunning (Swim Smooth Certified Coach in training, UK)
• Monday 7.00am & 9.30am  - Steve Casson (Swim Smooth Certified Coach, UK) & Emma Brunning (Swim Smooth Certified Coach in training, UK)

See you on Tuesday morning at 5.35am!

Cheers

Paul

P.S if you thought us English Channel swimmers were nuts last year, please get behind Aaron with his amazing venture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br8zxuoPopI&feature=youtu.be

Egg and Bacon English Muffins to go!

Dear Swimmers

You may or may not be aware that the kiosk at the pool has reopened at the pool and is being run by a lovely couple called Graham and Barb and their two daughters over the summer months.

If you're like me you're often rushing around after training and trying to get to work and they've asked me to let you know that they will be making 'Egg and Bacon English Muffins to-go' on Tuesday and Friday mornings for $5. These will be ready and waiting for any swimmer when they hop out after 6ish on Fridays and Tuesdays. They will have about a dozen ready each morning for those who are interested.

I have of course sampled the muffins and can attest to their sumptuousness (the egg and bacon pastry pillows are also very yummy!) and the new coffee that they offer is sure to tempt the taste buds of you coffee aficionados!

I have no direct association with Graham and Barb, just hoping that for those of you with hungry post-Fresh & Fruity bellies might like to support them with their new venture at the pool, especially whilst it's still relatively quiet this early on in the season.

Cheers

Paul