Shine Swim Coaching

Won’t be too long before we can do some front crawl intro sessions, although probably a bit too cold at the moment!

I was at Brighton last weekend and had 2 lovely swims in the sea. The first one I had a go at some front crawl - definite ice cream head! I haven’t been able to keep up my front crawl in the open water this year due to my eye operations, so you definitely feel it when you give it a go again!

Wrapping up warm afterwards is a must 😃

Happy 2026 everyone. Do you have any new swim goals this year? Anything that you would like to achieve?

For me…
- channel relay team training continues with Bluetits 3 Channel Swim Relay Team 2026
- Dock2dock 10km entered
- continue to work on technique, strength and swim speed
- lead on a fabulous Different Travel swim trip to Basel

Not much then 🤣

Happy and safe swimming everyone, and please do get in touch if you’re looking for support with cold water introductions or heads up breaststroke to heads down front crawl coaching 🩵

New Year’s Day Swims
They are so much fun, what ever your plans are make them a great one.

After the sad news over Christmas thought I just put a little reminder of what to think about before going in.

Just because it’s a organised swim it doesn’t mean you have to do it.

How am I feeling today?
If you’re not feeling 100%, don’t go in. There’s always another swim.

Running into cold water
Cold water shock is real. When you enter cold water, your body can gasp involuntarily. If you run and jump in, that gasp can cause you to inhale water, which is where it becomes dangerous.
Enter the water slowly. Talking out loud, shouting, or even laughing helps you control your breathing. Don’t hold your breath — making lots of noise is safer (and more fun!).

Fancy dress
For organised fun swims, we often wear costumes. Just remember: once wet, they become heavier. Stay within your depth and don’t overdo it.
For novelty swims like this, just getting wet is enough. If you do want to stay in longer, with current water temperatures, limit yourself to a few minutes unless you’re experienced.

Wind chill
Think about the walk back up the beach. Wind chill will make you feel much colder, and warming up will be harder.
Get out, get dressed quickly, then enjoy some cake and a hot drink.

After-drop
Your swim is not over when you get out of there water, it’s important to get dried and dressed quickly, your body temperature will continue to drop for some time after you get out, keep moving it helps to warm up

Most importantly
Make sure someone takes a photo or video — if there’s no photo, it didn’t happen 😉

Enjoy your swims — they’re great fun. But remember: if you don’t feel like going in, don’t go in. It’s your swim, no matter what anyone else is doing.

Keep it simple
In slowly
Out & Dressed quickly
Enjoy the laughter & Joy for the rest of the day

Happy New Year to you all, and best wishes for 2026

This is such an inspiring watch if you haven’t seen it yet. Full of Bluetit fabulousness and incredible women doing amazing things 🩵

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8r3gdnmp8no?fbclid=IwdGRleAOyLjBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeuG9lpMEzSBUjblJgorm-VDm4MlsxwUeCs1v6_b7Ym5KYvOKUOcVMS61DA9A_aem_cCEuW9c7U0yZ_lQhXAGjRw

Six Pembrokeshire women attempt St George’s Channel swim record In a new BBC documentary, six fearless women take on a huge challenge drawing on their sisterhood, resilience and unbreakable bonds.

A fabulous time supporting incredible swimmers today 🩵

The winter swim challenges have started! Dip 2 for me today. Yesterday the water at the lake was 11.1 and today at the river it was 9.7 🥶

Two done, 98 to go!

It’s been a week of ‘easy’ swims so far, I do love a sociable chatty swim 😊

Today I had a swim coaching session with Olympic medal winner Cassie Patten. I first found her as part of a one day sea swimming course last summer and today was my 3rd one to one session with her. She is so patient and supportive and talks me through all my worries and inferiority complex issues, as well as giving me lots of top tips on technique.

There is nothing like seeing a video of yourself swimming to make you realise how much you still need to improve, but there is also nothing like seeing a video at the start and then again at the end of the session to see how much you can improve in a short time with the right coach.

Coaching works! 😃

Training continues with some great sessions including open water and pool! I’m on week 4 of my swim serpentine plan which is a rest week. These happen every 4 weeks and mean that my distance / effort is lower before it goes back up next week. Never underestimate the importance of rest. Sometimes the only way to move forward is to retreat 😊

Some great info in the video about drowning prevention. Always practice floating on your back. Being able to do this is part of the ‘float to live’ campaign and so important if you find yourself in difficulty in water.

Drowning Prevention It's World Prevention Day 2022, and Sian heads out to learn more about how to prevent drowning. With the help of RNLI lifeguard Tirion, Sian gets to the bott...

Always an important message

RNLI urges people to Float to Live | RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is today (Tuesday 20 May) launching its Float to Live campaign, urging people to remember a single piece of advice which could help save their life if they are struggling in the water.