Top Tips

Pick up knowledge to improve your outdoor swimming. Learn how to plan routes, train with others, complete events, and overcome obstacles like nerves or fitness level. Get guidance on skills like bodysurfing, underwater swimming, and adapting your stroke for rivers and seas. Experts and seasoned swimmers share their top tips so you can swim safer, stronger, and with more joy.

Myth busting: Can a pike bite my toes?

If you have swum in freshwater, you have swum with pike. They lurk – often unseen – in rivers, ponds,…
How to have a happy public lane swim

Jonathan Cowie shares his advice for how to make your training sessions in public pools happy and effective.
Understanding pool training sessions

Being able to decipher the most commonly used terms and abbreviations in a pool session will take your training to…
Adaptive Swimmer: Sophie Etheridge

“Spring is the time of plans and projects” (Leo Tolstoy). Adaptive Swimmer: Sophie Etheridge on how to plan and train…
How do I feel less ‘heavy’ in the water?

Swimming coach Cassie Patten answers a reader question about heaviness in the water, and improving stamina for an upcoming swimming…
Use mindfulness to help you tackle challenges

Liz Lowe is your guide to how you can use mindfulness to help you recognise the transience of uncomfortable sensations.
7 Reasons to stop procrastinating with open water swimming event entries

It's time to stop differing and make your event choices. Entering early benefits you and event organisers.
Top five tips for a long-distance swim challenge

So, you’re swimming long-distance? Simon Murie shares his top five tips to help get you in the best shape possible…
Myth busting: Can a swan break your arm?

“Sleep easy, your arms are safe.” Dan Keel, author of Swan: Portrait of a Majestic Bird: From Mythical Meanings to…
“I survived a swan attack”

During their swim down the length of the River Thames, Henley Mermaids Laura Reineke, Joan Fennelly and Susan Barry fended…
Training for a winter swimming event

Jonathan Cowie shares guidance for how to prepare for a winter swimming event, including cold-water acclimatization and stroke technique.
Pre- and post-swim rituals for cold-water swimming

For a safe and enjoyable cold water swimming experience, it's helpful to establish some pre- and post-swim rituals. Jonathan Cowie…
Why I like ‘boring’ swim training sets

If you race over longer distances, these long repetitive sessions help build the fitness you need plus teach you pace…
Myth busting: you only get the benefits of cold water without a wetsuit

If you go for a winter dip wearing a wetsuit, will you be getting the same benefits as those swimming…
Open water skill: Superman buoy turns

Jonathan Cowie explains the fastest and most efficient way to turn around a buoy.
Myth busting: will I get Weil’s disease from open water swimming?

Is Weil’s disease a risk when swimming in open water? Simon Griffiths unpacks the fact from the fiction, and advises…
Why is early morning swim training so hard?

Morning training is a fact of life for many swimmers. There are ways to make them easier.
Top Five Dry Land Exercises

If you’re new to swimming, it’s understandable you want to get in the water as often as possible. More time…
Yoga for open water swimmers – Part 2

Part two of a series of yoga exercises to help improve your swimming both physically and mentally
Yoga for open water swimmers – Part 1

Part one of a series of yoga exercises to help improve your swimming both physically and mentally
How can I keep my fitness levels in open water?

Swimming coach Cassie Patten shares her advice for how to maintain fitness levels in open water.
How to prepare for a swim training session

When you prepare for a swim training session, it can make a big difference to how you feel in the…
Cold water, science and nutrition

What science says about exercising in cold environments, and what the nutrition implications of that might be.
How to plan an A to B swim

Is there an island you have always wanted to swim out to? A river that you have always wanted to…
Outdoor swimmers, swim smart in the heat

As outdoor swimmers, particularly those of us that live in a northern European country, our biggest concern is often how…