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​​