Susan Cheshire
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About me
A competitive swimmer throughout school and university, I trained through the Amateur Swimming Association in 2006 and began to teach swimming to people of all ages and abilities, this experience has allowed to me to see that most swimming problems follow a clear pattern.
I was introduced to Total Immersion swimming in 2012 and was instantly drawn to its methodology in all four strokes. It was a natural progression to train as a Total Immersion Coach in 2015, training over the next few years to a Level 3 Workshop Director, remaining a Certified TI coach until 2023.
I became dedicated to re-learning how to swim, persevered through the challenges of undoing my own bad habits. Developing a greater understanding of how to connect and interact with the water and my own body in ways that have transformed my own swimming, allowing me to swim with a greater efficiency in mid-life than I ever had as a competitive swimmer.
As Head of Swimming at Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green (2012-23), I have been fortunate to share my experience and passion for swimming with my colleagues and a generation of pupils of all swimming abilities aged 7 to 18 and implemented a swimming programme into the PE curriculum that focuses on the skill acquisition and core principles of efficient movement.
An experienced open water swimmer; including swimming Marathons and a 3 person English Channel Relay. Sharing my love of open water with the Bancroft’s pupils, taking them to Montenegro in 2019 within SwimTrek for the schools first open water swimming trip, an incredible experience for the pupils and an absolute pleasure to swim alongside them.
My approach
Swimming. It’s a Science not a drag ®️
Addressing the key causes of drag and water resistance, deviation of energy and energy waste. Working with the biomechanics of your body to create effective human movement, and how this works best through water. Learning is broken down into a simple sequence, creating positive repetitions with mindful and purposeful practice and the use of simple cues and exercises to support your progress.
Addressing the importance of the breath to help build endurance and improve buoyancy.
My 12 years of continued professional development whilst working in education has allowed me to develop a greater understanding of learning styles to ensure the best outcome for you. During lessons and workshops the use of video analysis is key to help to gain understanding and close the gap between the perception and reality of your movements, sharing an annotated video with you following on from your lessons.
Research shows that for the novice to intermediate swimmer progress is determined by 90% skill & 10% aerobic, elites 75% skill & 25% aerobic. My focus is to improve your technique in a simple learning sequence with the support of technology to master a fast, efficient and beautiful stroke.
I work with all levels of swimmer from adult novice to competitor and endurance athlete and junior competitive swimmer helping them to take the guesswork out of swimming and achieve their goals…whatever they are!
Coaching Options
Pool:
1:1 London Bridge SE1
One day group workshops, Woodford Green, Essex
Open water:
Group coaching May to October at Luxborough Lake, Chigwell (NOWCA)
