Please set your alarms 5 minutes earlier…& bon voyage!

Dear Swimmers

A quick note to say goodbye and adios as myself and Emma leave for the UK tomorrow evening. I'm sure you'll all join me in thanking Emma for her wonderful support at the squad sessions since October and that we wish her the very best with her move back to the UK. Emma will be announced as our 6th Swim Smooth certified coach in the UK on Friday and will join us at the Triathlon Show in London this weekend where we have two seminars to deliver to 500+ people on each - no pressure! Rather than a holiday, this is going to be very much a work commitment as we'll be delivering coaching clinics and education courses all across the UK and Ireland in the next 3 weeks and also unveiling some new products too - busy, busy, busy - just how I like it ;-)

I leave you in the very capable hands of coaches Sally, Sandy, Francene, Brad and Carolyn and all have been briefed with all of the sessions for the next 3 weeks to ensure a super smooth delivery. As mentioned in my last email, despite the anticipated reduction in some of the squad attendance over the next 3 weeks, we won't be announcing any additional squad space until the end of March - so please enjoy the next 3 weeks in my absence and the refreshing difference of a different face(s) on pool deck!

Despite originally advertising a 5.35am and 6.35am start for our Tuesday and Friday squads, we have been politely asked to finish the second session by 7.30am due to another usergroup coming in immediately after us for the next month. I have requested that we try to get you through the gate asap and into the pool as soon after 5.30am as is humanly possible, so please do your best to help the coaches and the staff of the pool with this request. Many thanks.

Please note, that Thursday 28/2 and 7/3 6.30pm sessions will not be on due to carnivals and when we start back on the 14th March we'll be back in the 50m pool - wahoo!

Also, there will be no sessions on Saturday 2nd and Monday 4th March owing to the Public Holiday. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Please be aware of upcoming adjustments to the venues for the 9.30am squad at http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/revision-again-to-march-april-dates-for.html

Lastly, I actually depart tomorrow evening at 10.30pm - if anyone needs a new PAYG card for whilst I am away, please do your best to order that tonight / tomorrow morning at http://swimsmooth.com/perth_buycard.html and I'll have them ready for you to collect from the coaches. If you order a card whilst I am away, please ensure you print off the receipt and present it to the coaches for them to allocate you a card.

Thanks everyone and see you in just over 3 weeks!

Paul

P.S Rotto report on it's way very soon!

A reminder about Thursdays...and a "Sundowner" this Friday!

Dear Swimmers

A big congratulations to all those who bravely made their way across to Rottnest Island on Saturday in the 23rd Annual Rottnest Channel Swim. I'm still waiting on a few details (namely the full results!) before I give a report on the day, but needless to say there were some exceptionally good results - so well done all!

Just a reminder that this Thursday (28/2) and next (7/3) there will be no Thursday 6.30pm session with Coach Sally due to two carnivals that are running. Very sorry for the inconvenience. When we start back up on 14th March though, we will be back in the 50m pool then, so that'll be a nice change!

Lastly, a lot of people are asking about squad availability at the moment, now that the Rottnest Channel Swim is complete. If you are intending on taking a bit of a break now, please be so kind as to let me know so that I have a good idea on numbers and available space. Believe it or not, we have an incredible 193 people on our squad wait list waiting to come and join the squad and as such it's imperative that I know what I can and can't offer to people given the flexible nature of the PAYG card system...I think I need at least two new pools and about 10 new coaches! LOL!

I'll be away from this Thursday for just over 3 weeks coaching in the UK, so the general plan is to keep the numbers a little quieter for Coaches Sandy, Sally, Brad & Francene whilst I'm away and looking to see what the space is looking like for some new faces if necessary come the end of March.

Cheers and have a great week!

Paul

P.S a good number of the Rotto crew are planning an informal get together at The Claremont Hotel this Friday from 6.00pm if you can make it...sadly I won't be there in person, but will be in spirit! If you need a point of contact, look for the guy from page 9 of the Sunday Times yesterday ("J.T") who had "Don't eat me, eat him..." sprawled across his chest pointing to other squad member and first-time Soloist, Sean Webb - well done boys - great photo!

Revision (AGAIN!) to March / April dates for 9.30am squad

Dear Swimmers

I am so sorry that I am having to re-issue this again owing to been mistakenly given some incorrect dates by the pool for the March / April carnival season. Please rest assured that these dates are now set:

As noted here: http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/dates-for-your-diaries.html - there are now two updates to these 9.30am sessions (see RED):

• Friday 8th February at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION 

• Wednesday 6th March at 9.30am = in 50m pool but lanes 1-3 (shared with a carnival) 

• Friday 8th March at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION 

• Wednesday 13th March at 9.30am = 25m pool 

• Friday 15th March at 9.30am = 25m pool

• ** Wednesday 20th March at 9.30am = in 50m pool but lanes 1-3 (shared with a carnival)**

• Monday 25th March at 9.30am = 25m pool 

• Wednesday 27th March at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION 

• Weekend of 29th March to Monday 1st April (inclusive) = NO SESSIONS (Easter Long Weekend) 

• Friday 5th April at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION 

• ** Wednesday 10th April at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION ** 

• Friday 12th April at 9.30am = BEACH SESSION

Thanks for your patience and understanding here.

Cheers

Paul

I say "pah!" to the bed weather forecast…let's get it on!

Dear Swimmers

Many of you will no doubt be checking www.seabreeze.com.au and www.windguru.cz every second minute right now in the vain hope that the weather forecast will somehow miraculously change before Saturday. Whilst it's definitely got better since Sunday THIS IS TOTALLY OUT OF YOUR CONTROL (so no sense worrying about it!).

I always knew that my English Channel Swim in September 2011 would come in handy sometime, so if you're feeling a little edgy right now, go and grab yourself a nice cuppa and read / watch this:

http://www.feelforthewater.com/2011/09/pauls-report-what-it-really-takes-to.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJZQ5Nlfeho (17 minutes of the psychology that went into battling a 28-35kt headwind and 3.5m swell across to France...12 hours of grim conditions - excuse the naughty words!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SavBLTMwvE (a quick 2 minute summary of the above demonstrating the rough conditions and how to tackle it with a slightly straighter arm recovery, increased stroke rate, lots of rhythm and lots of confidence in your training).

Don't panic, you CAN do it!

Cheers

Paul

More urgent help needed!

Hi all.

 

If you, or you know of anyone who can assist two duo teams swimming to Rottnest this Saturday please email Jon below:

 

• Catherine Ward for her duo with Heather Whitehead.
• Jon Jessop on behalf of Heidi Gann and Simon Huitenga – they are hoping to break four hours and be the fastest on the day!

 

Even if you think you could share the load and help paddle please let them know.

Many thanks and good luck everyone participating or supporting on Saturday.

 

Regards,

Jon. Jhaines@iinet.net.au

Last minute request for help…??!!

Michael Gregory, one of the Melbourne Brighton Bay Ice Breakers Geoff and Andrew swam with for their Manhattan qualifier, is swimming solo to Rotto and needs a boatman to help pass drinks to the paddler.

He's fine for boat, skipper and paddler but needs a spotter / food person to help out on the day.

Michael is a very experienced OWS with a Manhattan and English Channel solo swim under his belt.

Michael will be doing a solo swim and have a boat and paddler organised (starting in first wave at 0545). His Rotto swim plan is very straightforward (courtesy of successful English Channel and Manhattan swims) and all they would need to do is pass the drinks, etc to Jon Haywood (his paddler).  

Michael's email is attached (bondispeedos@live.com) and his phone number is 0418 653 051.

Cheers

Paul

Farewell to Emma and what to do this week...

Dear Swimmers



I cannot tell you how much I'm enjoying this cooler weather today! It's awesome! I've been melting on pool deck this last two weeks!



Ok, so following on from last week's note about tapering and getting your "Race Face" on, quite a few of you have been asking what sessions to actually do this week? Well firstly, all sessions WILL be running as normal (save for Saturday 1-2pm which THIS WEEK WILL BE CANCELLED) so there's no worries about turning up and a session not being on! Secondly, I would propose something like the following:



MONDAY: either one of the technique squads, or if you're swimming by yourself, do up to 3km mostly technique work but include some shorter intervals (50s, 100s and 200s) with a little bit of tempo to them (remember, whilst you're backing off volume this week, you still need a little intensity so that you don't feel flat or stale).



TUESDAY: either the 5.35am, 6.35am or 6.30pm sessions will be perfect.



WEDNESDAY: we will still be running the harder 5.30am session as usual, but I would encourage soloists and duo swimmers to just do up to 3-3.6km and not the whole session. Alternatively we have the 9.30am Fresh n Fruity session which will have a little more rest to it than normal but will still maintain some intensity.



THURSDAY: rest day - it's always a good idea to have the day before the day before the event as a complete rest day or a very light swim of 1.5-2.0km (max). This is a good day to sort out all your final preparations for the Big Day and get yourself sorted and confident. I will personally be swimming down at the Claremont Jetty for 4km meeting later than normal at 6.45am and starting at 7am (done by 8am) as I won't be able to swim on the Wednesday. Keen for company of course!



FRIDAY: I would encourage you to pop along on Friday to the 5.35am, 6.35am or 9.30am sessions. These will be geared towards those racing on Saturday and I would suggest that you swim 1.5-2.0km and see how you feel, and if good, complete the set which will prep you nicely for the Big Day!



SATURDAY: the big one! Good luck! You've trained hard for this, now go and have a good one and keep a smile on your face, or if not on your face, then in your heart! ;-)



It goes without saying that you should aim to stay off the grog this week, get to bed early and keep well hydrated and also to avoid any dips in blood sugar by leaving too long of a gap between meals, i.e. keep your energy stores up! Personally I don't really carbo load as such (I find it makes me bloated) but I do follow the instructions as per above and this is a real help.



Lastly, Coach Emma will be flying back to the UK with me on Thursday 28th February and returning to her coaching base in the Lake District after assisting us with the London Triathlon Show on the 1st to 3rd March where we are one of the keynote speakers in both seminar halls (exciting!!). Emma's last session will be the Wednesday 5.30am and 9.30am sessions on the 27th February so anyone who can stay after the 9.30am session for a tea / coffee and nibbles and to join me in saying thanks for all her wonderful support is kindly invited to do so! She won't be around this week as she's taken the opportunity to have a week down in Margaret River before she attempts her first Rottnest Solo as well - so some of you will see her over on Rottnest Island for a beer and a chin-wag this Saturday too!



Cheers



Paul