Introduction To Open Water Swimming - Level 1 Swim England Workshop

Your first step into the world of open water & triathlon Swimming working to achieve your Swim England Level 1 Open Water Certificate (and shiny badge, we all like a shiny badge.......right)

South West Swim are the leading provider of Open Water Swim, Triathlon Swim & Pool Swim Coaching in the Swindon & Cotswolds area. Our team are fully qualified swim coaches and swim teachers with vast amounts of open water and triathlon experience. We have delivered sessions to all levels of the swimming spectrum, from adult and child learn to swim through to regional, national and world achievers and champions in both swimming and triathlon.

We are proud to offer our fully coached Introduction sessions for the 2023 season and are confident that our introduction sessions are unrivalled in their content and delivery. Our coaches will be with you in / on the water at all times, you will receive pre session materials to prepare you for your first swim. After the session we will send online resources and support to assist your swimming further and continue your development. All our materials and methods are constantly reviewed for best practice and skills and safety relevance.

The Details
This Level 1 workshop will swim your way to your Swim England Level 1 certificate in Open Water Swimming and provide you with the skills and confidence to take to the water by yourself, tackle your first Open Water or Triathlon event, or just educate and improve the swim of the non competitive swimmer looking for that new and exciting challenge. 

This workshop is around 1.5 hours in duration, actual water time will vary depending on the water temperature at the time of the session.

This session will cover

• Safety / Session brief, including venue specific safety
• Putting on your wetsuit - making the dark art of getting rubber on your body as simple as 1-2-3-4
• Safe Entry / Exit of the water
• Acclimatisation and breathing control
• Self Rescue & Emergency actions
• Basic Sighting Action for front crawl swimmers
• Group Swimming Familiarisation / Drafting
• Common start & finish techniques
• 200m Test Swim (part of the Level 1 Certificate sign off process)
• The Syllabus of the Swim England Level 1 Certificate in Open Water Swimming. This is ONLY passed if the swimmer completes all of the content in the course, including online questions (link sent nearer the course date)

You will need

To participate all swimmers will need to be aged 18 or over and bring with them:

• Aged 18 or over (sessions for 11-17 year olds are available on a 1-to-1 basis)
• To be able to swim at lease 200m of any stroke (note; most of the skills based work in this session is front crawl based)
• A Swimsuit
• A Wetsuit (triathlon/swimming suit NOT a tri suit) – optional on SWS coaches written approval in temperatures over 20 degrees plus but recommended for these sessions due to the stop start nature of skills development.
• Goggles
• Bright coloured swim cap (or two), A south West Swim hat is available to purchase at 50% off, contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
• Swimming gloves and booties are optional.
  
• Towel or Changing Robe. We recommend the Ddipp robes, save 10% using our special discount code SWSWIM-10
• A swimming tow float, such as the Swim Secure Tow Float / Dry Bag Range. Don't worry if you don't have your own, we can loan you one for your session or they are available from us to purchase at a discounted rate (5% off). Contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
  
• A drink, hot or cold depending on the weather. Get an exclusive 15% discount from our friends at Precision Fuel and hydration

Want to develop further?

After your Level 1 course we can also offer our Introduction to Race Skills Level 2 course to take your swimming to the next level, working towards the Swim England Level 2 Certificate in Open Water Swimming.

About South West Swim, Our Coaches and Our Delivery

See information in the special instructions below to find out more

This session will be run as a free “give back” session at Lake86 on Sunday 28th May. Swimmers must be able to swim at least 200m front crawl and be aged 18 or over. Our coachig for this session is free of charge but if you are NOT a member of lake86 you MUST book and pay for a sesison at the lake via their website, see https://www.cotswoldwaterparkhire.com . PLEASE CHECK THESE COSTS BEFORE BOOKING A PLACE! Members of lake86 do not need to book a lake session.

This short session will allow the swimmer to gain an understanding of why breathing is important in swimming and will work through different breathing techniques, patterns and exercises to give a foundation of understanding to take away and use in their own sessions.

Find out how to start getting your swim breathing under control.

This session will be held at Lake86

IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF LAKE86 YOU MUST BOOK A SWIM SPOT WITH THEM AND PAY FOR THIS SPOT ONLINE. THIS IS A FREE COACHING SESSION BUT THE SWIMMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN LAKE ENTRY AND THE COST OF THIS. PLEASE BEAR THIS IN MIND BEFORE BOOKING A SPACE.
Members of the lake do not need to book or pay anything further.

You must be aged Age 18 or over to take this session

Guide To Sighting & Swimming Straighter Workshop

This edition of our sighting wirkshop is aimed at participants of the Cotswold Big Swim, Entrants to this event are entitled to an exclusive discount.
If you are not taking part in the big swim you may still join us and sign up for this session.

Learn how to sight effectively and be aware of some key faults in your stroke that may make you swim off course.

South West Swim are the leading provider of Open Water Swim, Triathlon Swim & Pool Swim Coaching in the Swindon & Cotswolds area. Our team are fully qualified swim coaches and swim teachers with vast amounts of open water and triathlon experience. We have delivered sessions to all levels of the swimming spectrum, from adult and child learn to swim through to regional, national and world achievers and champions in both swimming and triathlon.

The Details

This special 75-90 minute session will focus on the key elements of how to swim straight, navigation and sighting technique.

The session will walk (or rather swim) you through the essential concepts of open water sighting. We will start lakeside with a chat and introduction and then head to the water to perform some fun drills and exercises designed to build up your sighting position, technique and timing.

You will also receive a follow up email with content to recap what we have delivered within the session.

This session is limited to 8 swimmers initially so book on quickly.

Joining Criteria: This session will be multi ability with some simple drills and exercises forming the session, plus some swims out on the course at lake86. Please note that you must be able to swim a comfortable 400m front crawl (with the head in the water) for 400m without stopping, in a guide time of no slower than around 2:30mins per 100m.

If you are new to open water swimming we highly recommend you book onto a 1-to-1 session or our introduction to open Water Swimming Level 1 Course. Here we wil better be able to cater for your swimming needs. This workshop is not geared towards swimmers who have not been in the open water before.

You will need

To participate all swimmers will need to be aged 18 or over and bring with them:

• Aged 18 or over (sessions for 11-17 year olds are available on a 1-to-1 basis)
• To be able to swim at lease 400m of front crawl based, in a time of no slower than 2:10mins per 100m.
• A Swimsuit
• A Wetsuit (triathlon/swimming suit NOT a tri suit) – optional on SWS coaches written approval in temperatures over 20 degrees plus but recommended for these sessions due to the stop start nature of skills development.
• Goggles
• Bright coloured swim cap (or two), A south West Swim hat is available to purchase at 50% off, contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
• Swimming gloves and booties are optional.
• Towel or Changing Robe. We recommend the Ddipp robes, save 10% using our special discount code SWSWIM-10
• A swimming tow float, such as the Swim Secure Tow Float / Dry Bag Range. Don't worry if you don't have your own, we can loan you one for your session or they are available from us to purchase at a discounted rate (5% off). Contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
• A drink, hot or cold depending on the weather. Get an exclusive 15% discount from our friends at Precision Fuel and hydration

About South West Swim, Our Coaches and Our Delivery

See information in the special instructions below to find out more

Introduction To Open Water Swimming - Level 1 Swim England Workshop

Your first step into the world of open water & triathlon Swimming working to achieve your Swim England Level 1 Open Water Certificate (and shiny badge, we all like a shiny badge.......right)

South West Swim are the leading provider of Open Water Swim, Triathlon Swim & Pool Swim Coaching in the Swindon & Cotswolds area. Our team are fully qualified swim coaches and swim teachers with vast amounts of open water and triathlon experience. We have delivered sessions to all levels of the swimming spectrum, from adult and child learn to swim through to regional, national and world achievers and champions in both swimming and triathlon.

We are proud to offer our fully coached Introduction sessions for the 2023 season and are confident that our introduction sessions are unrivalled in their content and delivery. Our coaches will be with you in / on the water at all times, you will receive pre session materials to prepare you for your first swim. After the session we will send online resources and support to assist your swimming further and continue your development. All our materials and methods are constantly reviewed for best practice and skills and safety relevance.

The Details
This Level 1 workshop will swim your way to your Swim England Level 1 certificate in Open Water Swimming and provide you with the skills and confidence to take to the water by yourself, tackle your first Open Water or Triathlon event, or just educate and improve the swim of the non competitive swimmer looking for that new and exciting challenge. 

This workshop is around 1.5 hours in duration, actual water time will vary depending on the water temperature at the time of the session.

This session will cover

• Safety / Session brief, including venue specific safety
• Putting on your wetsuit - making the dark art of getting rubber on your body as simple as 1-2-3-4
• Safe Entry / Exit of the water
• Acclimatisation and breathing control
• Self Rescue & Emergency actions
• Basic Sighting Action for front crawl swimmers
• Group Swimming Familiarisation / Drafting
• Common start & finish techniques
• 200m Test Swim (part of the Level 1 Certificate sign off process)
• The Syllabus of the Swim England Level 1 Certificate in Open Water Swimming. This is ONLY passed if the swimmer completes all of the content in the course, including online questions (link sent nearer the course date)

You will need

To participate all swimmers will need to be aged 18 or over and bring with them:

• Aged 18 or over (sessions for 11-17 year olds are available on a 1-to-1 basis)
• To be able to swim at lease 200m of any stroke (note; most of the skills based work in this session is front crawl based)
• A Swimsuit
• A Wetsuit (triathlon/swimming suit NOT a tri suit) – optional on SWS coaches written approval in temperatures over 20 degrees plus but recommended for these sessions due to the stop start nature of skills development.
• Goggles
• Bright coloured swim cap (or two), A south West Swim hat is available to purchase at 50% off, contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
• Swimming gloves and booties are optional.
  
• Towel or Changing Robe. We recommend the Ddipp robes, save 10% using our special discount code SWSWIM-10
• A swimming tow float, such as the Swim Secure Tow Float / Dry Bag Range. Don't worry if you don't have your own, we can loan you one for your session or they are available from us to purchase at a discounted rate (5% off). Contact us before the session to arrange purchase.
  
• A drink, hot or cold depending on the weather. Get an exclusive 15% discount from our friends at Precision Fuel and hydration

Want to develop further?

After your Level 1 course we can also offer our Introduction to Race Skills Level 2 course to take your swimming to the next level, working towards the Swim England Level 2 Certificate in Open Water Swimming.

About South West Swim, Our Coaches and Our Delivery

See information in the special instructions below to find out more