6x Ironman World Champion Dave Scott On Stroke Technique

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations: Mallorca Camps Full information July & Oct New Forest Clinics August Full information here Prague Kids Swim Camps Enjoy Prague this August whilst your kids improve their swimming! Full information here New Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Loughborough SS Squad Full information here Richmond & Wimbledon Sunday Workshops Full information here Acton UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante September 2013 Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

If you're a triathlete you'll know Dave Scott as a six time winner of the Hawaii Ironman World Champs and a legend of the sport. Dave is now a highly successful swim and triathlon coach based in Boulder Colorado, working with prominent professional and age group athletes.

On our road trip across America, Paul Newsome met up with Dave and they took a little time to discuss stroke technique on camera for you, including what stroke style you should be aiming for, what works best for triathletes without a swimming background and some of Dave's experiences of trying to shake Mark Allen off his toes in races! Watch the clip here:

A big thanks to Dave and Jane for hosting us for a few days in Boulder and putting us through some hard sets in the pool too! You can find out more about Dave's coaching at: www.davescottinc.com

Finis Neptune Waterproof MP3 Player

We've also just received a good stock of the new Finis Neptune MP3 player from Finis. We tested the new model a few weeks ago and were blown away by the sound quality. This is a brilliant player taking the old SwiMP3 model and redesigning it from scratch, including a new speaker technology which makes all the difference to sound quality and a new easy to use screen based interface.

For more information and to order see our swim shop: www.swimsmooth.com/finis-neptune.html

Swim Smooth!

Using SOAP To Improve Your Swimming!

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations: Mallorca Camps Full information July & Oct Chamonix June Workshops & Open Water Skills Full information here New Forest Clinics August Full information here Prague Kids Swim Camps Enjoy Prague this August whilst your kids improve their swimming! Full information here New Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Loughborough SS Squad Full information here Richmond & Wimbledon Sunday Workshops Full information here Acton UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Alicante, Spain June Clinics Full information: here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante September 2013 Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

If you're a triathlete or open water swimmer reading this blog you'll know by now that your open water skills are critical to your race performances. It doesn't matter how efficient you are in the pool if you are uncomfortable drafting or zig zag off course in open water.

Let's look at a drill sequence developed by SS Coach Steve Casson which you can follow with a friend in the pool to help you become comfortable swimming close to other swimmers.

Open Water SOAP!(Open Water Swimming Optimisation, Acclimation and Performance)

During mass open water swim starts and when swimming around marker buoys, a bit of contact with other swimmers is inevitable. Your choices? Drop back or out to the side into clearer water - reducing your chance of catching a good draft and swimming further than you need to - or get stuck in and stay close to other swimmers getting maximum benefit from drafting.

Research shows that you can save up to 38% of your energy expenditure* from drafting behind or to the side of other swimmers. A huge saving that would be insane to ignore. You might have tried swimming close to other swimmers before but found it uncomfortable (or even outright scary) to do so. Open Water SOAP is a drill sequence designed by Steve to help you gain experience swimming close to other swimmers and develop your confidence doing so.

Watch the full SOAP sequence on Steve's website here: swimsmooth.cassonz.com/wp/?p=1912

Steve is based in Northampton in the UK. Find out more about his video analysis and stroke correction services here, and his forthcoming training camps in Mallorca in July and October.

Open Water Skills

In his coaching, Steve recognises the variety of challenges that stand between swimmers achieving their potential in the open water environment. Overcoming anxiety, water temperatures, navigating, judging distances, judging pace, wetsuit fitting, coping with choppy water conditions and learning how to gain advantage from other swimmers around you are all skills you need to experience and practise dealing with on a regular basis.

As with the SOAP sequence, the good news is that you can do a lot of that in the pool, just as easily as in the open water.

Swim Smooth!

[1] CHATARD, J.-C., and B. WILSON. Drafting Distance in Swimming. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 35, No. 7, pp. 1176–1181, 2003.

Announcing Two New Certified Swim Smooth Coaches In Cardiff And Perth

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations: Chamonix June Workshops & Open Water Skills Full information here New Forest Clinics August Full information here Prague Kids Swim Camps Enjoy Prague this August whilst your kids improve their swimming! Full information here New Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Loughborough SS Squad Full information here Richmond & Wimbledon Sunday Workshops Full information here Acton UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Alicante, Spain June Clinics Full information: here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante September 2013 Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

Today Swim Smooth are very proud to announce two new Swim Smooth Certified Coaches: Andy Lane in Cardiff, South Wales and Sally Scaffidi in Perth, Western Australia. Find out more about their coaching and how they can help you with video analysis, stroke correction and squad training on their websites:

www.sallyscaffidicoaching.com.au

www.pmdcoaching.com

Andy training in the Perth sunshine

Sally & Paul Newsome
Sally's lucky enough to be based in Perth.

As with all Swim Smooth coaches, Sally and Andy were hand picked from hundreds of applicants to our Three Day Coach Education Course. They have been highly trained by Paul Newsome, Adam Young and the rest of the SS home-base team to deliver all of our coaching methods directly to you in person.

For more information on our other certified coaches and to find your nearest coach, see our full list here: www.swimsmooth.com/certifiedcoaches.html

Growing the number of Swim Smooth coaches around the world is a major goal for us as a company because we know the value of high quality face to face coaching to swimmers. Please bear with us while we develop this network over the coming years, carefully selecting and training coaches is critical to maintain the very highest standards of swim coaching and is not something that can be rushed.

Becoming A Swim Smooth Coach

If you are interested in becoming a Swim Smooth coach, a good first step is to join our Coaches Network here. We use the network to invite coaches to join us on our Three Day Coach Education Course which we operate several times a year in different locations. From the course we select the candidates with the coaching talent and passion to go on and train with Swim Smooth to become certified by us, which takes around a year.

Don't wait for Swim Smooth to come knocking on your door, get out there and start contributing to your local swimming and triathlon community to develop your skills and build your experience. You might also like to contribute on our forum too. Being proactive and passionate about coaching are key attributes we are looking for and make you much more likely to be selected.

Swim Smooth!

Announcing The New Womens HUUB Axena Wetsuit

The new HUUB Axena, extensively tested
(and modelled) by Caroline Steffen

Over the last six months, using Swim Smooth's expertise in stroke mechanics, we've been working with HUUB wetsuits to develop a special suit specifically for women with low lying legs in the water. Today we are very proud to announce the result, new HUUB Axena! : www.swimsmooth.com/axena

The Axena is in many respects a sister suit to the award winning men's Archimedes (as chosen by the Brownlee brothers) - a top end suit that is faster and more efficient than anything else on the market. We've been working closely with powerful triathlon world champion Caroline Steffen to develop and extensively test the suit before releasing it to you today.

Many strong female athletes have excellent levels of performance on the bike and run but struggle with their body position whilst swimming, meaning their athletic potential is lost in the water. If this is you, check out the Axena, you won't believe the performance improvement you gain from the suit's unique buoyancy profile designed to pull your legs strongly up towards the surface.

However, it's not only the buoyancy profile that brings the speed, like all HUUB wetsuits it's packed with features to improve your race performances, including:

• X-O Skeleton for improved body alignment in the water.
• NBR X-O Skeleton for added buoyancy
• Bicep release specially developed by Swim Smooth to enable a high elbow catch under the water, even as you fatigue when swimming hard.
• Arm Crossover Alignment for correct positioning and reduced snaking / fish tailing in the water
• Calf Release for improved kick, propulsion and blood circulation through the lower leg (if you suffer from calf or foot cramp in your wetsuit this is a must-have feature)
• Break-away zipper for faster transitions
• Special ultra-flexible lining material
• Neoprene flexibility, thickness and stretch combination unmatched in the wetsuit market.

We now have limited Axena in stock and ready to ship at Swim Smooth HQ. Order one now and give your race season an incredible start: www.swimsmooth.com/axena

Important note: For women who already have a high body position in the water, choose the HUUB Aura instead, it has a lower buoyancy profile that is more balanced from top to bottom. You'll find it fast and very comfortable, without creating that unbalanced and restricted feeling that most women's suits on the market give you - perfect!

Swim Smooth!