CLUB COACHED/UNCOACHED SWIM SESSIONS
Where? - Sea Lanes, 300 Madeira Drive, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 1BX
When? - We have sessions every Monday evening 7:30pm (coached) and Friday morning 7:15am (uncoached but swim set provided). Please arrive early to put on wetsuit, as required and warm-up yourself . If this is your first session with us, please make yourself known to the coach on arrival to gauge your experience to assist with lane placement
How Much? - £6.00 for full club members per session.
Can I come? - If you can swim front crawl for min. 200m without stopping, expect min. 1500-2000+m total per session, we’d love to have you along. However, if you can’t yet swim front crawl, we recommend 1-2-1 sessions first. If you would like to find someone who can teach you, contact us at info@brightontri.org
Can I Have A Trial Session? - yes, sign up for a free 30-day trial membership HERE.
How Do I Book? - Follow this link to the club’s Training Calendar, log in and you can book the upcoming sessions in advance.
What Are The benefits? - Coached Club sessions provide you with a carefully planned and structured swim. You will have direct coaching from British Triathlon certified coaches, and you’ll be swimming with people of a similar speed to you. We concentrate on improving both your technique and swim fitness. Also, we add in triathlon-specific skills, such as open water drafting and sighting. It’s easy to go to a local pool and swim 40 lengths, but this does little to improve either your technique or speed.
What to bring? - essentials: swimwear, swim cap (as appropriate), goggles and water (to drink!)
Facilities include individual changing cubicles and lockers (bring own padlock, though they do sell them at reception).
As you progress, we recommend the following additional items which we will frequently use in our sessions. Whilst we do have some club swim “toys” you can borrow initially, there is not always enough for everyone:
Pull buoy - a figure-of-8 piece of foam held between the thighs or ankles during the swim, to provide flotation for hips and legs, thereby focusing on arms, and improving your position in the water.
Fins - Not all fins are the same, so please buy the ones we recommend: The Finis Floating Fin. Note: When unavailable, try googling, “Finis Long floating fins” or alternatively, Swim coach Graeme’s recommendation at DECATHLON
Paddles are not vital, but if you do buy them, go for the Finis Freestyler.
Please name your kit with a permanent marker, and bring it all in a bag. Mesh swim bags work well for swim gear.
What Can I Expect? - training varies depending on the time of year and focus, usually, they will be something like this:
Warm-up - getting you used to being in the water and helping you relax after a hard day’s work.
Drills - these emphasise a particular part of the swim stroke and help to improve your technique. They should be performed deliberately and conscientiously, not rushed!
Main set - this is usually intervals (swim and then rest and repeat), but there may be more technique focus within this.
Cool-down - allows you to relax again at the end of the session and contemplate what you’ve just achieved! When you get home, we recommend a warm shower and some gentle stretching exercises.
Lane swimming etiquette - If you’ve never swum in a group session before, it can be helpful to follow these simple rules:
There will be a maximum of 10 swimmers per lane.
You will be placed into a lane according to your speed. Don’t be offended if the coach asks you to move down (or up) a lane.
Each lane has its own direction to swim in, either anticlockwise or clockwise, alternating across the pool. Keep close to the lane rope at all times. If you’re not sure, please ask a coach. If you do move up or down a lane, don’t forget to change swim direction.
Each lane will have a ‘leader’ who sets off first for each part of the session. This is often, but not always the faster person in the lane. Please set off with 5-10 second intervals, which gives each swimmer their own space in which to swim and perform at their best.
If you are catching the swimmer in front and want to overtake, give them a firm tap on the toes. The slower swimmer should then get to the end of the lane, and then wait for the faster swimmer to overtake.
Start each length with a good torpedo push off.
Many swimmers rush the drills because it doesn’t feel like ‘proper’ swimming and just want to get to the main set. Concentration on the drills is the best way to improve your swim speed because of the resulting technique improvements. Listen to your coach carefully during the explanation and demonstration. The drills will focus on, and exaggerate a particular aspect of the stroke, e.g. body rotation. When you swim in the drill-swim sequence, try to feel how the drill exercise translates into the whole stroke.
We strongly recommend investing in the recommended pool toys above.
Keep your kit tidy poolside. Only bring the items requested by the coach at the start of the session.
Bring and drink water: You will still sweat!
Finally, we follow the SWIM SMOOTH coaching philosophy. You can find out more here: www.swimsmooth.com, sign up for their blog, it’s full of great information every week.
See you at a swim session soon!
Updated - 01/01/2024