Wetsuit, Waves, and Balance

A few observations to share from my swim in the sea today, wearing my sleeveless, short-legged wetsuit. I went west along the shore for about 31 minutes, into a wind-driven current, with 50 cm swells and wind chop hitting me from 10 o’clock (to my side and slightly against my head). At the half-way mark [...]

In Defense Of Fat

I think these links will be of interest to you  if you aspire to weight loss, or to adapt to open-water swimming. Not all FAT is equal, nor should be villianized in our swimmer bodies. Here’s a few links from The Daily News Of Open Water Swimming: TDNOWS – Staying Warm With Brown Fat TDNOWS [...]

Argument for Swimming Naked

I bet the title on this essay is going to get me in trouble on some search engines, but there is nothing inappropriate in the content, I assure you. The title just fits… I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea in Antalya yesterday. April 8! The water was 18 C. I got fed up of [...]

Be Slippery When Wet

For the last several practice sessions in the sea I was working on improving my ability to hold a long stroke at higher tempos. For me, my goal is to take the long-stroke I enjoy effortlessly at 1.20 tempo, down into my race level tempo range of 1.00 to 0.90. Here was my open-water set [...]

A Natural Reward For Facing Fear

I felt it was time to return to my swim route out along the cliffs. I start where the 40m cliffs that hold up the downtown part of the city, meet the Konyaaltı Beach stretch. Instead of heading West where all the bathers play, I headed East along these cliffs, where no one but fishermen [...]

I Love Cool Pools

I can’t complain that the pool we were giving our Portland OR workshop in was a bit cool for the level 1.0 drills we were working on today. 27 C is perfect for swimming laps, but for our short drills today it was giving us all the chills. A few laps however would rev our [...]

Training: Last 4km BareSkin Swim Of The Year?

The weather could turn any day now, so I was eager to get in while the sea temperature was still on the edge of what I could handle for an hour without shivering to death afterwards.

Training: 4km High Elbow Catch Conditioning

Is a high elbow catch helpful to sprint speed and making a longer stroke length? My observations and experience say “YES”. Today, this was my focus for 4km in the sea.

Defining COOL Versus COLD Water

I have an idea for how to define COOL water versus COLD water for my personal situation. In COOL water staying warm is on my mind by not dominating how I train that day. In COLD water all I can think about is working hard enough to keep from freezing!

Training: 4k Feeling Better Further and Faster

I swam 77 minutes today starting at 10:10 at Konyaaltı Creek, swimming west half-way and back. It was sunny, cool-warm, clear, with a soft off-shore breeze, but suprisingly calm on the water. The sea was 23 C, glass smooth at first, then a little chop picking up on the second half. 10 minute warm-up, and [...]