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

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

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!

A quick reminder about the Swim Thru Perth next Sunday...

Entries are due to close very soon for this great event: http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/swim-thru-perth-entries-are-open.html

Get yours in quick!

Paul

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

Quick one about kit...

Dear Swimmers

Just a quick one as I sit here at the departure lounge waiting for our flight to the UK - it was lovely seeing some of you this morning at the 530am and 930am sessions and I hope you enjoyed the longer Christmas Cracker Session at 530am. My back us feeling so much better already it's just incredible! And yes, I will still take it steady of course whilst I am away!

A number of swimmers this morning noted that someone had maybe mistakenly walked off with their gear, namely Amanda's pull buoy and paddles, Anka's tempo trainer and Aaron's fins. I don't think this was the same person in all cases but if you are able to do a quick check of your gear that'd be great please. Interestingly all these items were marked up with their owner's names / details.

A good solution when there is so much kit on the pool deck is to look at getting a mesh kit bag where possible to help keep everything together. I personally love mine for this reason. Something for your Christmas stockings perhaps from your loved ones??

Also, generally the number of fins and pull buoys that we have for squad use has really dwindled just recently and if I could kindly ask you to remember to always return any kit you use after use, that'd be very much appreciated. My theory is that some of the public outside of the squad are possibly mistaking our gear as being available for public use so if you ever see this happening please offer a kind reminder that it is only for squad use.

Thanks for your help with any / all of the above, but if you do have some of Anka's, Amanda's or Aaron's gear by mistake please pop it down on Friday morning with Sally to swap things over. Thanks!

Dull, wet and windy England here we come!

Paul

Bon voyage to Emma!

Dear Swimmers

All being well I will see a few of you on pool deck tomorrow (Wednesday 18th December) before I jet off to the UK for Christmas. My back operation has been a complete success and I'm feeling much happier about things going forwards now - yippee!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to formally thank Emma for all her help and support over the last 2+ months with the squads and helping to train our new wave of coaches etc - she's been great to have around and sharing her wisdom and experience. She's a bit gutted that she won't be here for Rotto this year but has asked that I get those of you on FaceBook to stay in touch with her at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Active-Blu/250954134993134?ref=hl or if you're ever over in the UK next (UK) summer, drop her a line through http://www.activeblu.co.uk/ and see what's she's up to.

Cheers and if I don't see you before, have a great Christmas.

P.S some of you have been asking what best to do over the official Christmas break after the 1-2pm session on Saturday 21st December and when we re-start on Monday 6th January and my honest answer is to allow yourself a little bit of time-out…even those of you doing the Rottnest Duo / Solo swims. If you've been following our Rotto program at http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/its-here-our-2014-rottnest-channel-swim.html you'll know that I baked in two steadier weeks over this period (as I always do) so as to almost cut the program in half to allow you to re-energise / re-focus for the final push to the start of the event. I believe this is always very important, always have. That's not to say you shouldn't do anything of course, but now would be a great time to get a little bit of open water practice done safely (in the river or ocean) and to do some steadier technique sets in the pool. Don't go overboard, enjoy the time with your families and if you want one simple session to do each week whilst I'm gone, I always find the Goldie Locks set a great one to keep a bit of fitness going:

• 4 x 100
• 1 x 200
• 4 x 100
• 1 x 300
• 4 x 100
• 1 x 400

…all at CSS pace, all with 1 beep recovery between each set.

Of course the "Red Mist" set is another favourite: http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/red-mist.html and if you're down at 5.30am I have an excellent Christmas Cracker Set for you https://twitter.com/SwimSmoothPaul/status/412901233607716864/photo/1/large

…anyway, a few things to chose from and keep you busy there, but make sure you have a fun time and if you're feeling a little tired / jaded don't use this as a opportune time to cram more in, listen to your body, use the extra time for some R&R - your body (and family) will thank you for it!

Cheers (again!)

Paul