​The days are lengthening nicely and we can start swimming already  at 6.30am. You can feel that the winter is almost gone again as the day temperatures stays comfy around the 20 degrees. Water temperatures have been very kind to us as well and we seen many swimmers go the whole winter without a wetsuit. Why not start looking at planning some new goals for yourself as spring and summer are rapidly approaching. Maybe push yourself and sign up for that first ocean race or join a swim group, perhaps sign up for your first triathlon or Ironman.  Swimming is such an addictive sports once you masters the basics: breathing, streamlining, catch, recovery, kick and build up of core strength for endurance. Below are some stunning pictures taken from this morning crossing in Cabbage tree bay. What a swimmers heaven is this Aquatic reserve in Manly Beach. Join us and start ocean swimming today.
​Mark

As winter lingers to an end I just want to share with you all some of the great pictures we captured. For swimming and underwater pictures there is no better time then winter. Something magical happens when the water cools down. It turns into crystal clear aquarium. A small selection of this years winter pictures.
​Enjoy and see you out in the ocean!
​Mark

I had the fortune to take a Kay Tacke Morse from the US out in our beautiful waters. Please click the link with the blog she wrote about it! Enjoy

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/life-is-simple-eat-sleep-_b_10174056.html

​Thanks so much Kay Tacke Morse for your great article, I hope this inspire many more people to make the journey to the ocean and experience its remarkable powers.
​See you all out there.
​Mark

It has been a long while since I have been on the blog. We have even changed two seasons. This week we are feeling the chill as the water has quickly dropped to a fresh 17.2 degrees Celsius.
​I have been training hard with lots of new Freestylers in the last 3 months. So many swimmers experiencing the joy of ocean swimming. It is growing rapidly.

Winter can bring these spectacular conditions. Clarity of the water usually improves however after the Sydney super storm we are still way of water clarity prior to the storm.  The bay has suffered a lot during the bad weather. Loads of plants have come undone while the complete Shelly to Manly walk way has been destroyed and now is closed until further notice.
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These great photos have been taken by Deevoceaan who has recently joined our morning sessions. The magic happens when the sun starts to rise out of the ocean. Just fabulous to see when your in the ocean.
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My number one priority is to get my clients as comfortable as possible in the waters. After that is all technique and breathing driven. In order to grow as a swimmer you need to embrace new methods. At first that can be quite frustrating as you will be confronted on areas you need to grow in. Then gradually you see the benefits and the result start to show. Swim after swim you feel the improvements in your reach, pull, streamline, kick & breathing and all starts to sync up! That is when the big smile get on your faces and it becomes easier and easier. It is such a shame that many swimmers never experience this moment. The most commen comment I get from new swimmers who join  " it is such a hard effort and struggle , I do not enjoy that at all " Clearly we have some work to do!
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In the height of summer the water sports activities in Sydney go mad. As the school holidays go for a long six weeks Sydney siders and tourist from all over the world flock to our stunning beaches. I had a lovely break up north in Blueys beach and was ready for a cracker of a month where we swam from dusk till dawn every day. First of all I would like to welcome a huge new group of freestylers who joined Team Mb-freestyle. Calista, Mike, Max, Mia, Ava, Linda, Katie, Eva, Jack , Ethan, Melissa, Kai, Chyna, Jovi, Lieselotte, Anelore, Sunny, Brian, Fraser & Sita. They all decided that it was time to improve their swimming skills. Some of our swimmers ramped up their training programs and  swam up to 5 times a week. I have seen so many swimmers grow quick in these weeks. Effort is all it takes to grow. Listen, apply and practice , practise , practise.
Junior Julian (12years) successfully swam his first Manly to Shelly and back in just 44 minutes​, while Lieselotte and Anelore comfortably swam up to 1.2km.
Surf conditions have been rough in summer, strong currents and large waves make an extra challenge for the swimmers.​ Always make sure that you gather as much information about wind, currents, tides and swell prior going into the ocean. This can warn you about changing conditions. The water temperature is now up to 23 degrees and extremely pleasant for longer swims​. Wet suits are not needed in these conditions.
Keep freestyling everyone we have some great swimming months ahead of us, see you at the beach!
Mark

Above photo by SMH
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​Wow 2015 has flown by like a tornado! I am wishing all swimmers a great and healthy 2016.
I hope we will be kicking some big goals this year and pushing our personal limits further and further. After the 8 days of holiday closure it is time to get back in the water and shed those holiday kilos off with some good endurance and interval swimming. I am always amazed what 8 days of rest does to your body and mind. The mind seems to welcome it and it relaxes while the body seems to be getting a bit more sluggish and feels off for a couple of days.
I guess you need both to be in good balance. 
So good to feel the water again this morning for a couple of sessions with some of my clients. I will play with my Suunto Ambit3 watch as I can now super accurate record all my moves!  No more debating and guessing how far we have swum but some good GPS data.
I am looking forward seeing you all back in the water soon as I know some of you have still some more holidays to go (lucky enjoy).
Happy swimming everybody!
Mark​
Below some holiday swimming at Elizabeth & Blueys beach Gorgeous!​​​​

We have kicked off summer with great swim conditions. Stunning blue skies and water temperatures around the 20 degrees. First of all I would like to welcome our newest Freestylers Alan, Sita, Fraser, Elizabeth, Carl, Catherine, Oscar, Jayla, Darren, Laila, Dustin, Julian, Shelley, Richard,  Geoff, Krista , Cathy and Allison. This weather brings all swimmers out into the ocean and it is good to see how many swimmers are ready to work and improve on their open water skills. With summer arriving we also face more challenging conditions as the wind and swells are much stronger. The great thing about Manly is that there is always a calm stretch of water in either Cabbage tree bay or at Manly cove. I have been receiving great notes where the results are paying off for the efforts being put in. Sometimes I am as nervous for the results as the swimmers are. So rewarding when I receive the text " I beat my last years time by 15 minutes" that is what we are all about.....results. It does not matter if you are a beginner, intermediate or advance swimmer what matters is that you want to move forward in technique, endurance and pace.

 I am also pleased with how our Juniors are performing. Some great results have been made over the last months by Sam, Nicolo, Ruby, Ayla, Cameron, Murray, Jayla, Ashlee, Zara and Julian, Julian even came first in the 25 m sprint at his school carnival and Ruby, Ayla & Jayla have been doing some  great distances. Sam and Nicolo are getting closer and closer to the 1 km mark per session. Keep pushing boys and girls

Swimming in new environments can be so cool as I have started training in the Manly dam with Shelley who is competing next week in Canberra Triathlon. Being in this freshwater reservoir is just magical, it is so quiet there but you here tons of bush noises. The water is silky soft and exceptionally clean. I am also swimming with some juniors in rock pools at high tide which turns them into a washing machine and fun conditions for them to face.

If you are in the Manly area and have time on Wednesday mornings there is a community beach clean up where we clean Manly cove it starts at 9.30 you would be shocked to see how much we collect weekly. Please spread awareness that we can't treat our oceans like a dumping ground. If you smoke a cigarette take your butt ;-) with you!

I am also excited to start working on Patrol 3 from MLSC where we protect the swimmers in the busy summer months. Whenever you hit the beach ensure you play by the rules of the men and women of Surf Life saving Australia, so swim between the flags and listen to the signals they are giving. I also agreed to do a three month trial to coach the Manly Masters swimming club. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the beach!
Happy swimming everyone!
Mark​​

We have passed our final beach scenario test last Sunday. It was a spectacular day on the northern beaches. The Manly team originally went to North Narrabeen but due to growing swell we had to move to Dee Why beach. Safety first is always the top priority what ever the SLSA does. It is great to see how the team has worked for the last 9 weeks to improve our rescuing, first aid and resuscitation skills. In a multiple incident scenario we had to prove to the assessors that we are capable of dealing with a range of emergencies. Strong and clear communication skills are a key ingredient. Also staying calm and composed is a must when handling multiple emergencies. There is always room for improvements as we listened to the assessors judgement at the end. We were glad to hear the words "Manly you have passed". Funny how quickly you become close with a group when you simulate life and death experience in weekly trainings. We all have our individual strengths (surfers, swimmers, first aid, resusc) and we distributed them accordingly. Looking forward seeing us all doing the real thing on our Patrols in the weekends. Bring on the summer.
Happy swimming  everyone,
Mark​​

It is fantastic to see so many people discovering or re-discovering ocean swimming. A warm welcome to Deborah, Laila, Catherine, Ashley, Zara, Elizabeth, Rosie & Krista.
Whoever is new to this sport is curious to experience something totally new outside of their comfortzone. A lot of these uncomfortable feelings are because of "the not knowing what to expect". Lots of thoughts run to swimmers minds, even the very experienced ones have these.
I love seeing the process of growing skills and the confidence gained by swimmers week by week. Slowly they are overcoming these uncomfortable feelings and it is replaced by pure enjoyment. I receive many messages, email, notes, how fantastic they feel after overcoming these unknown conditions.
Being outside of your comfort zone can be so rewarding.....when will you challenge yourself?​

Swimming is all about repetition and getting comfortable in the always changing conditions. Knowing the surf conditions on the day and knowing the area in general is very important. Wind, swell, water temp can all change very quickly. This morning we fought a very strong outward rip in the bay. Some of the lesser experience swimmers had some difficulty to get through. Good to see the experience swimmers comforting them and showing them where and how to get through a ruff part of the ocean.
Entries and exit particular can be tricky too, something to train on regular. Some swimmers loose there confident after they are caught out in a condition they have not experienced before. Very important to talk to other swimmers and learn from this. The worse thing to do is stop swimming and not addressing it.
Learning to deal with the unknown is a skill you can develop and train.  Good to see so many of you challenging yourself every time, pushing further and further.
Happy swimming everyone,
Mark
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Lovely sunrise swim with Kim last week​​​​​

 I am really excited to announce our junior ocean program has kicked off. Kids can enjoy swimming in a new environment. Taking them away from the pool can be hard at first but also a great change of scenery. In one to one tuition or in duo's open water swimming is taught. Brilliant to see the kids eyes when they face different conditions then the pool. Fresh water temperatures can be a turn off but quickly they adapt and love there new fresh conditions. We spotted blue swimmers crabs in our classes and beautiful kelp and seaweed. It seems that suddenly the focus is not purely on there stroke but at the place of being as well. We cruised further and further because it is interesting & there is always something to look at, they really appreciate the marine life. There is no healthier environment then being in the open waters, wind, saltwater, sun, waves. Kids just love this! Nicola and Sam enjoying there ocean swims!

If you have children who are 10 years or older and you would like to give them a different swim experience please contact me. Either one on one or bring your best friend and experience the open waters together.
Happy swimming everyone!
Mark​​