A couple of adjustments to squad times - please read!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you're all doing well and enjoyed a really great Australia Day weekend last week!

Owing to a carnival this coming Friday 6th February, the 9.30am session has to be cancelled I'm afraid to say. For anyone who can make it, we'll run a special session down at Cottesloe Beach starting at 9.30am and meeting just before on the grass bank immediately facing the pylon. This will be a 1hr session featuring some fun in/outs and learning to hone your open water skills. It will be a lot of fun! Please indicate by return of email if you will attend this one so that I can have an idea of numbers.

Going into the carnival season, the following sessions will also be affected in this manner:

• Friday 6th March (Beach)
• Friday 20th March (25m pool)
• Friday 27th March (Beach)
• Monday 30th March (Beach)

…I'd actually be really keen to introduce some of you to where I swim at Claremont Jetty (river) at one of these sessions (probably 27th March) but will keep you posted on that.

Pool closure:

Also I have been informed that owing to essential maintenance at Claremont Pool from the 6th to the 20th June, Claremont Pool will have to close for this 2 week period. I am just investigating what we can do as an alternative over this period, but given that it's the start of winter I am sure this will result in being a minimised program - I will keep you posted though.

Paul Away:

As usual I will be delivering my last sessions on Wednesday 25th February and back on pool deck on Wednesday 18th March. This will be due to our annual 2-week UK based coach education courses in conjunction with British Triathlon and also the International Triathlon Union. As usual I will leave you in very good coaching hands!

I will also be away with Michelle and the kids from the 1st to the 12th April (over the Easter break) in New Zealand for a friend's wedding and to run a couple of courses as well. There will be no sessions over the period 3 to 6 April (inclusive) owing to the Easter holidays.

Lastly, I may coincide a coaching trip request from several organisations in Hong Kong in the 6-20 June period in line with the pool closures.

Hope that helps you to keep abreast of all the situations in the next 6 months. 

Have a great weekend!

Paul

Get your entry in for this Australia Day's Sorrento Swim

Dear Swimmers

There will be no swim sessions this coming Monday, 26th January, owing to Australia Day of course. Many of the squad (including myself) will be racing up at Sorrento over various distances from 500m to 10km - hope you can make it - should be a fun morning!! Entries close on Thursday.

Cheers

Paul

Parking at the pool

Dear Swimmers

Please be advised that in these peak periods at the pool, many of you opt to park in the lower car park near the Aspire Gym. Please be warned that the council has now outlined some marking bays down there and anyone caught outside those bays will be ticketed, apparently.

Thanks Lynn H for sharing this with us.

Paul

4 for 3 deal instructions

Dear Swimmers

If you signed up for the 4 for 3 deal as per http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/4-for-3-deal-on-ows-series-races.html please contact Skye Stevens on skye.stevens@wa.swimming.org.au who will ensure that your entry to Sorrento on Australia Day is free.

Many thanks.

Paul

We are back on tomorrow!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and are excited about getting stuck back into your swimming in 2015!

This is just a courtesy email to remind you that we start back in full swing tomorrow (Monday 5th January) with the 7am and 930am technique sessions and hope you can join us. The full program will be back to normal from tomorrow across all sessions in all squads.

It is likely to be a tad quiet in some of the sessions due to the school holidays so please take this opportunity if you're around to come on down and get stuck back in.

If your situation has changed at all for attending squads in 2015 please let me know asap. We now have 331 swimmers patiently sitting on our wait list who are seeking spots so please let me know if anything has changed for you.

Many thanks - I can't wait to get you all cracking again!

Paul

We are back on tomorrow!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and are excited about getting stuck back into your swimming in 2015!

This is just a courtesy email to remind you that we start back in full swing tomorrow (Monday 5th January) with the 7am and 930am technique sessions and hope you can join us. The full program will be back to normal from tomorrow across all sessions in all squads.

It is likely to be a tad quiet in some of the sessions due to the school holidays so please take this opportunity if you're around to come on down and get stuck back in.

If your situation has changed at all for attending squads in 2015 please let me know asap. We now have 331 swimmers patiently sitting on our wait list who are seeking spots so please let me know if anything has changed for you.

Many thanks - I can't wait to get you all cracking again!

Paul

The 12 K's of Christmas!

Dear Swimmers

Firstly, please let me take this opportunity to wish you all a great Christmas and very prosperous New Year! Your support over the last 12 months has been extremely appreciated and I really do hope you've enjoyed every moment of training with the Swim Smooth Perth Squad this year…OK, well, almost every moment - there's been a few blood, sweat and tears shed in some of the harder sessions for sure but I'm sure it's always worth it when you're sat down nursing your post-swim coffee / tea / protein shake afterwards!

Secondly, I wanted to highlight a bit of a plan for anyone seeking to keep their swimming ticking over throughout the holiday season. As mentioned back in August when we outlined the Rottnest Channel Swim program specifically, I am firmly of the belief that you all require (and deserve!) a little down time over the holidays even when training for these big events. 

As I write this, we're still 64 days away from Rottnest and many of you Solo swimmers have already qualified very admirably with your 10km qualifying races at City Beach and Champion Lakes, so it's OK to throttle back a touch just now to give your body a little chance to recover and your mind to refresh and realise why you're doing the event - none of us are racing for sheep stations and one of the most important things is that you get yourself to that start line fighting fit and raring to go with a sparkle in your eye…so be wary of over-cooking it over Christmas when your time would be better spent enjoying some R&R with your families - they'll certainly thank you for it! Don't stop completely of course, but know that the real assault begins again in the final run-in from Monday 5th January onwards!

And if you're not swimming across to Rottnest in 2015, well the coach says you deserve an extra couple of lie-ins this holiday - that's not me going soft, just an appreciation and respect for how you all get up several times each week at the crack of dawn (and often before!) all year long and inspire me with your attendance and commitment!

Here's the (suggested) plan:

• Saturday 20th December - up to 10km open water swim at the Claremont Jetty, start at 5.30am
• Sunday 21st December - up to 10km open water swim at the Claremont Jetty, start at 6.00am (I would recommend one or the other of the 20/21st December - rest on the alternative day)
• Monday 22nd December - squad sessions* 7-8am and 9.30-10.30am = easy technique
• Tuesday 23rd December - squad sessions* 5.30-6.30am / 6.30-7.30am and 6.30-7.30pm = fun, festive session with a little frivolity and a touch of solid work! Last official session(s) of 2014!
• Wednesday 24th December - the (up to) 12k's of Christmas open water swim at the Claremont Jetty, start at 5.30am
• Thursday 25th December - day off
• Friday 26th December - easy 3 or 4k ocean or river swim or follow this session***: https://app.swimsmooth.com/sequence/ks/ckX/session-13-symmetry/
• Saturday 27th December - day off
• Sunday 28th December - day off
• Monday 29th December - easy 2 to 3k ocean or river swim or follow this session***: https://app.swimsmooth.com/sequence/ks/clR/session-20-exhalation-control/
• Tuesday 30th December - moderately intense 3 or 4k ocean or river swim or follow this session: https://app.swimsmooth.com/sequence/cAq/cAv/the-classic-red-mist-set/
• Wednesday 31st December - moderately intense 2 to 5k ocean or river swim or follow this session***: https://app.swimsmooth.com/sequence/tc/chj/session-6-blast-it/
• Thursday 1st January - day off
• Friday 2nd January - easy 3 or 4k ocean or river swim or follow this session***: https://app.swimsmooth.com/sequence/HZ/cbG/session-5-drill-pyramid/
• Saturday 3rd January - the (2nd) (up to) 12k's of Christmas open water swim at the Claremont Jetty, start at 5.30am OR The Cottesloe Classic Mile
• Sunday 4th January - the (2nd) (up to) 2k's of Christmas open water swim at the Claremont Jetty, start at 6.00am (I would recommend one or the other of the 3/4th January - rest on the alternative day)
• Monday 5th January - squad sessions** 7-8am and 9.30-10.30am = easy technique First official session(s) of 2015! All sessions to re-commence as normal, see: http://www.swimsmooth.com/perth_timetable.html

* these squad sessions are open on a priority-basis to all swimmers given the expectancy of lower numbers next week, i.e. priority is given to those who normally attend these sessions. Space may be available for other pre-existing squad participants (from other sessions), but cannot be guaranteed. A max of 8 to 10 swimmers per lane will be permitted for these sessions. By all means pop along and see, but please don't be disappointed if I cannot allow you to swim and you haven't already notified me of your intent to attend as requested a couple of weeks ago. There is a high chance of space being available in the Tuesday 6.30pm especially. Thank you!

** normal squad place allocations will resume from Monday 5th January onwards.

*** these sessions can be accessed by registering for the new Swim Smooth Coaching System web app at https://app.swimsmooth.com - if you do so before tomorrow, the monthly cost is just $13.99 and you are free to unsubscribe at any time - this is a great way to keep your swimming ticking over and even give you a little "homework" for the holidays to improve whilst everyone else is watching Disney Movies! Trust me, you'll love it!

Cheers and have a great one!

Paul