Its Winter, its wet, its cold you feel like you want to rug up and bed down like a bear and snooze the winter away (wouldn’t that be nice!). Having had a swim with the wonderful Simon Redman in Perth this week I was on pool deck at 5.45 am watching the steam rise from the pool with an air temperature of 6 degrees. Removing the last layers of clothing and jumping in to the pool my brain was definitely telling me I am quite mad but I rocked up again on Friday for more of the same and at 11 degrees it felt quite balmy.
With the fantastic pool we have in Margaret River you don’t have to worry about the air temperature. I actually think that with fewer people using the pool in winter the doors open less and so the ambient air temperature really is very pleasant making it my favourite time of year to swim at the pool. My favourite little indulgence is to put my swim towel in the drier for a short time before I leave the house. If you roll it up tight in your bag it will still be warm when you jump out of the pool an hour or 2 later. Very pleasant.
Last term we worked on rotation and stroke rate timing and had some fun with international languages. It was amazing how swimming with different accents in our brain affected the way we swam. This term we will get some lung work happening as well as getting over the barrel to set up that early vertical forearm, the key part to start the stroke, grab the water and get ready to slip through. We will also add in some open water skills towards the end of the term.
For Swim[Men] and ongoing swimming women you start back on July 22nd, or week thereof and for everyone else the new term starts on July 29th.
See you in the pool.