A Fabulous Turn-out For The Christmas Party - Thanks!

Dear Swimmers

Many thanks to those of you who were able to make it along to the Christmas Party on Saturday night - final head-count was 112 over the course of the evening - whoop!

A massive thanks to 9.30am squad swimmer John Elliott for playing Santa - he was brilliant, especially upon arrival looking like he was climbing down the "chimney":

Plenty of fun was had in the Endless Pool, with 6.30am Friday squad swimmer Sean Webb taking line honours by holding 1:08/100m for 1m42s - over 60 seconds clear of his nearest rival! Check out the action here:

https://twitter.com/SwimSmoothPaul/status/810270875014479876

Here are some more action shots!

A big thanks also to Wayne Morris of Protective Services 1 Ltd Pty for providing the doorman for the evening and keeping out any unwanted riffraff - the night went off without a hitch!

See you this week right up to and including Friday 23rd December before we break for the holiday period and return on Tuesday 3rd December at 5.30am.

Cheers

Paul

Saturday's Party - Info & A Rough Schedule of "Events"

Dear Swimmers

I'm getting excited! We're now up to 62 of you officially registered for Saturday night's party at 145 Alfred Road, Mount Claremont, aka "Casa Alfredo"! So that could be anywhere between 50 and 150 people turning up (given partner and kiddlywink invites etc). It's about 10 more than last year FYI. We are going to be having a bouncer (security guard) on the gate who has been kindly "installed" by Wayne-the-Train's security firm, so please ensure you open and login to the app and from the menu button in the top left, select "Squad Sessions" and you should then see the Christmas Party! listed there. Add yourself in if you are coming as we don't want the door man to turn you away! LOL! On a serious note though, we did have an unsavoury member of the community crash the party last year for about an hour or so, so hopefully this allows us to all have a great evening!

Parking:

There is limited parking along Strickland Street and other neighbouring streets. Please park sensibly and be aware of the neighbours of course:

Food / Drink:

We have sourced some limited japanese and thai finger food for the evening as well as alcohol and soft beverages, but given that we're not entirely sure how many people will show, it'd be much appreciated if you could bring a plate (sweet or savoury) and if you wanted to bring your favourite tipple too, all the merrier! We will have the BBQ cranked up if you wanted to throw on a shrimp or steak etc and will have some snags ready for the kids also.

Schedule:

A rough schedule will look like this:

• 5pm Mojito o'clock - join the crew for an early sundowner straight after work
• 6pm - hop in the pool (if you wish and probably with the kids) to have a go in the Endless Pool system - very cool
• 6.30pm - Santa will be making an early visit for the good boys, girls and squad swimmers at the party - will this be you?!
• 7/7.30pm - a few thankyous from us to you for a great year's swimming in the Swim Smooth Perth Squad
• 8pm to 10pm - get your groove on to some funky tunes and have another hop in the Endless Pool to see how long you can swim against it's full force (1:08/100m) - who will be crowned squad champion??

Bring a partner / kids:

As last year we want this to be a great night and would love to meet your other halves and kids, so feel free to bring them along too!

See you there!

Paul

Christmas Squad "Downtime"

Dear Swimmers

Hope you've had a productive week and have all your Christmas shopping done and under the tree? No? Me neither - I usually start on Christmas Eve! LOL!

Just a quick note to say that this year will be our shortest ever lay-off over the Christmas period. We're going to take you right up until and including Friday 23rd December and then have you back in the water on Tuesday 3rd January 2017. Whoop! For those of you who are keen, there's also the Mullaloo Open Water Series event on Tuesday 27th December with distances up to and including 10km to tickle your fancy.

Christmas Party:

I do hope yourself and your partner / kids are able to attend our Squad Christmas Party on Saturday 17th December from 5pm to 10pm at 145 Alfred Road, Mount Claremont. Nibbles and beverages will be provided, but by all means please bring along your favourite tipple and nosh if you like. It would be great to see you there! Please let us know of your intentions to come by simply adding yourself as you would any other session within the app by scrolling to that date and adding yourself in (of course you won't be charged for coming!). So far only 18 people have registered their interest. Last year we had about 52 people register and then final headcount was more like 100+, so please help us to ensure that we've catered properly for your attendance by quickly adding yourself in.

Swim Smooth turns 12 this week!

This week marks 12 years since I created Swim Smooth from the back of our Swim Smooth bus, nicknamed "Sid" - I hope you will join me at any of the various sessions this week to celebrate that fact and to allow me to thank you for your part in making Swim Smooth what it is today!

Many thanks, see you next week!

Paul

It's Christmas Party Time - Round 2!

Dear Swimmers

Following on from last year's very successful and fun Christmas Party at "chez nous" (otherwise known as "our house") - we'd like to cordially invite all squad members (in any of the squads) plus their partners and even nippers, to come along for a fun evening on Saturday 17th December at 5-10pm* to celebrate the year gone by.

*please note change of date from that broadcast on last night's app notification which was Friday 16th December.

As per last year, we will have a selection of soft and alcoholic drinks available and some nibbles as well, but by all means please bring along your favourite tipple and a plate as people brought some amazing concoctions last year! Yum, yum!

Last year we only managed to persuade a handful of nippers to take a dip in the pool, but this year you'll be pleased to know that it'll be heated to a lovely 30ºC and will also feature the challenge of swimming against our new Endless Pool (see video below). This baby can be cranked up to 1:08/100m, so what better way to celebrate a squad Christmas Party than to establish a leaderboard of who can swim the longest against the flume at maximum speed. Whilst this is of course non-compulsory, I'm hoping a few of you will give it a try. I've been shooting a series of video clips for Endless Pools demonstrating how to swim our squad drills in it, so would love for you to give it a whirl!

To view, click the image above or click here

If you would kindly RSVP simply by logging into your app and "booking" a spot in one simple click under the "Squad Sessions" link from the menu on the 16th December (use the calendar button top right to navigate quickly to that), that'd be great and will allow us to get an idea of how many people will be coming for food / drink planning purposes…it could get cosy (at least I'm hoping it will…tumble weed is not my style!). If you don't have the app, just log into your portal at https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/admhome?studioid=247350 and on the "Squad Sessions" tab, scroll to Saturday 17th December and sign-up - it's FREE of course! :-)

There is limited parking along Strickland Street and even down at the pool is just a short 10-minute walk across the park if you prefer that!!

Hope you can make it!

Paul

Free Physio Screening for Swim Smooth Perth Swimmers!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you had a great weekend! Great to be back in Perth, although I'm gutted I missed the warmer weather…it's still a little chilly out there in that wind, hey?

So, here's a very special offer from www.nedlandsphysio.com.au - simply register with them online and book a free 30 minute "muscle-skeletal assessment" to have your swim-specific biomechanics assessed and work out simple strategies for what you can be doing outside of the pool to help improve your swimming and avoid injury.

To take up this fantastic offer, please register before C.O.B Monday 5th December. Spaces are strictly limited to the first 20 applicants, so get in quick!

Swim Smooth Perth is proud to be supported by Perth's leading swim injury and performance physiotherapists with over 40 years combined experience in this field.

Here's the info:

An Awesome 2 Weeks in the US Making Swimming Great in America Again!

Dear Swimmers

I hope you're doing well and have enjoyed your time with coaches Sally and Cyndy in my absence. I will be back on pool deck this Friday for the 5.30am squad, and shall meet some of you down at the Claremont Jetty at 6am for an open water swim on Thursday morning - just a 40hr flight stands between me and that - phew!

We've had a fantastic time with 40 coaches from around the world attending our two 3-day coach education courses in Carlsbad, CA and Cocoa Beach, FL. Former squad swimmer, John Chipponeri, has been a legend coordinating and arranging all the venues on the US side for us - he's going to be an invaluable member of the Swim Smooth team as we look to expand our coaching operations into the US. Exciting times!

All of the coaches and the 20+ swimmers who also attended the courses as "guinea pigs" were always thoroughly interested in what we do in Perth on a day-2-day basis as the "life and source of Swim Smooth" - many of you in fact have celebrity status with these coaches from far-flung reaches of the globe as I use anecdotes from our squad sessions to expand on key ideas. So fret not, despite the massive interest over in the USA for what we do, I will still be very much running the show here in sunny Perth!

Anyway, here are some photos from the course - enjoy and see you poolside Friday morning!

Paul

A short adieu!

Dear Swimmers

I bid you adieu for 2 weeks now as I head over to the US this evening to meet and educate 40 new coaches in California and Florida in the ways of Swim Smooth. I'll be catching up with some of the squad members who've recently left us to return home to the USA and will be sure to say hello to them from you all. It will be a great and busy trip as Adam will also be joining me from the UK.

I leave you again in the very capable coaching hands of Cyndy and Sally:

• Mondays 7am and 9.30am; Wednesdays 5.30am; Thursdays 6.15pm and Friday 9.30am will all be with Coach Sally
• Tuesdays 5.30am, 6.30am and 6.15pm; Wednesdays 9.30am; Fridays 5.30am and 6.30am will all be with Coach Cyndy

…and on that note about moving back to the USA, we will sadly be losing Coach Cyndy in early January as herself and her husband Brent return to Houston, Texas. I'll be personally devastated when Cyndy leaves as not only is she a great coach but she's a beautiful person and someone with whom I feel very lucky to call my friend. So do please make especially good of your time under her tutelage whilst I am away because sadly this will be Cyndy's last stint coaching for me as I whirlwind around the world, bringing Swim Smooth to swimmers far and wide! Cyndy has been busy completing her own Swim Smooth certification process and it is our hope that she will then very much head-up our operations in the USA with fellow squad member (now residing in California and with whom myself and Adam are staying whilst we are over), John Chipponeri - the future of Swim Smooth in the USA will be in very good hands!

I will be back on pool deck on Friday 18th November, but will see some of you down at the river at 5.45/6am on Thursday 17th November for a long river swim per the Rottnest program.

Take care, have fun and remember to Swim Smooth with your lane buddies!

Paul