3) Regroup & Restart

Overview

Finally I feel training has begun... which is just as well given the next two weeks will officially tip me into the ‘less than 2 years to go’ bracket.

My knee and hand injuries have either been sorted, have sorted themselves or are in the process of being sorted, but either way, I feel I’m moving forwards now instead of backwards as I did during April and May.

I‘ve got myself a big interim goal for 2025, found two swim coaches, have increased my distances and have learned some new things. So all in all, I’m feeling much more positive.

I’m still on the starting beach on my shipping chart on the wall though; there’s still quite a bit to do before I feel I can move myself into the sea. 

June 2025

The fractured bone in my hand restricted much of June’s training. I did actually swim with my hand splint (rightly or wrongly), causing some strange looks from other swimmers, but in all honesty it was just cumbersome and annoying, so I ended up taking it off. How painful or damaging can it be to push some water out the way? Surprisingly my hand felt fine while swimming, but ached like mad for the rest of the day.

And I confess that feeling sorry for myself led me to using my hand as an excuse not to workout as much as I could/should have done. Towards the end of the month I gave myself a talking to and finally adapted my workouts to include some hand-free exercises (and there’s plenty of them) and some of the physio exercises for my knee too.

I have unfinished business with Lake Windermere! Having completed only 9 of its 11 miles in 2024, I need to get it under my belt for my confidence levels. 

So I’ve booked to swim it again in September on my way home from a holiday in Scotland. Only this time it’s not an event; I’ve booked a support boat all to myself. That way I can go at my own pace without being slowed at the start or having to speed up later due to cut-off times - although with the recent injuries the last couple of months, I’m not sure I’ll have have done much more training this year than last time, so we shall see...

I’ve been trying to secure a swim coach since May, without too much luck so far. I contacted several English Channel coaches, with only one getting back to me 6 weeks later towards the end of this month. We had a good, and quite enlightening phone chat for almost an hour during which I learned lots. He was very honest that he was already booked up for my slot dates in 2027, so wouldn’t be able to be on my boat, but that he was still happy to take me on for training/plans/nutrition online coaching. ‘Great’ I thought. Never heard from him again! Hmm... still searching...

Mid and late June saw the UK in the grip of a heatwave with local temperatures soaring into the early-mid 30s, so lake swimming was absolutely delightful, if not, slightly too warm for speed.

In terms of distances, I got two 5k pool swims under my belt this month; the furthest I’ve swum since Windermere last year! And my knee was fine - yay!

July 2025

I found a wonderful new lake: Leybourne Lakes in Kent, which is a 1.3k swim around its perimeter. It’s a fantastic setting within Leybourne Country Park - a watersports centre with changing rooms, lockers and a cafe next door. What luxury after bank-side changing. I did the required induction (all very formal, proper and correct) and the next time there, I managed 5 laps (pleased with that, having intended to do 4), so a distance of 6.5k, and 10 days later, 7 laps, so 9.1k.

That was a milestone, being my longest open water swim since last year. It was swimsuit only, but then the water was 22 degrees, so I guess that’s nothing to shout about! The 9.1k took 4/½ hours which included stopping to drink and feed... times are always slower in open water.

I now have 5 tow floats although I’m not quite sure how that came about... something to do with size, pockets & handles... But my latest acquisition is a game changer as the float has a hole in it designed to hold a 750ml water bottle. It’s ideal for swimming alone as it saves time & energy getting out the water to find my water bottle to feed & drink. I can also thread 2 or 3 gels though elastic bands round the bottle and off I go. And it’s good practice for feeding while treading water! 

On average I swim 3, sometimes 4 times a week, one pool swim and the rest in one lake or another, and on occasions, the sea if the tide and my schedule align. I still do one or two short (5k) runs a week - it took me so long to be able to run, I’m convinced I’ll lose the ability if I stop altogether - and workout twice a week. 

Stroke Assessment

On 21st July, I travelled to Ripley, Surrey for a stroke assessment. I figured there’s not much point increasing distance and hours, if I’m not being as efficient as possible with my stroke.

Steve Wadey was recommended to me at the DCT Conference in March, as being a really good coach for technique. Well that was an understatement! It turns out he’s ex-Sport England and widely regarded as one of the finest technical swim coaches in the UK, having coached swimmers to national and international success. He mentors other coaches, some of whom have been selected to coach for Great Britain. He has 30 years experience and most importantly for me, he’s particularly renowned for his breaststroke expertise.

So I was excited, privileged and slightly nervous of my session with him. After a brief chat, he watched me swim, increasing the speed of the endless pool flow until I couldn’t keep up, the idea being to see how my stroke changed with speed. His first comments were ”before you arrived, looking on paper at the facts, your goal and your preference for breaststroke, I thought it was a very small window of possibility. Now I’ve spoken to you, heard what you’re willing to do and seen you swim, that window has suddenly got much bigger”. Boy, did that increase my confidence! 

He gave me advice on small but important adjustments to head height, arm angles, hand shapes & feet positions. He offered insight on some technique differences between competitive speed swimming and endurance swimming (who knew?) resulting in me knowing which online video tips to completely ignore in future! 

It's all about making the stroke as efficient as possible for long distances, but also reasonably comfortable for all the hours I’ll need to do it. I’ve been able to practice some of the adjustments during my swims since then and gosh, I don’t know about comfortable, it doesn’t half make my shoulders hurt!

Swim Coach

Finally, I have a coach! While Steve is a technical coach, he’s not the person to see me through to 2027 with training plans and feeding advice.

With radio silence from the coach I chatted with in June, and desperate to still secure someone, I contacted the DCT asking for recommendations. I was surprised and delighted to receive a reply from the lovely Emma France (what a perfect name for channel swims), Director & Head Coach of DCT, offering me a conversation with a view to possibly taking me on herself - wow! Some of her clients had done their swims in June/early July, thus freeing her up a little.

During a Zoom call a few days later, she dissected what had happened during Windermere last year, gave me some tips for this year - about earplugs, feeding and feeling grumpy(!) - as well as tips on cold acclimatisation, other possible interim swims before 2027 and how her training works, i.e. what I get for my money. Steve had apparently told her I was mentally strong, and on that basis, she agreed to take me on. Mental toughness is one of the main things she looks for in new clients and she doesn’t take everyone who asks. Woo-hoo! I’m so excited to finally have an English Channel swim coach!

As she's already given me some tips for Windermere, I’ll officially start with her later this year or early next. She’ll provide weekly/monthly training plans, particularly for speed & technique practice in the pool over the winter months. My swims will upload to an online platform where she can monitor distance, time, speed & effort (heart rate) etc. We’ll have a Zoom call once a month for catch ups/questions and she offers unlimited WhatsApp support in between.

Emma has done 3 solo & 20 relay channel crossings... so I’d better pay attention!

Finding these coaches has been two big ‘to do’ boxes ticked off for me. So I really feel I’m firmly on the yellow brick road, pointing the right way and with the right support behind me.

Onwards & forwards...

What have I learned these last 2 months?