Daniels background may resonate,  he swam when he was very young, mainly breaststroke but never really mastered front crawl.  Now in ‘mid-life’ and keen to stay fit he has taken up cycling and running, Daniel was recommended to get in touch through one of his friends and booked a course of 6 hours of 1:1 lessons, he allocated time between lessons to practice.

I am quite often asked ‘how many lesson will I need’ which is simply impossible to answer as there are so many variables to each individual learning journey.  The experience you arrive with, any anxieties you may have, the practice you put in, the undoing of bad habits and the creation of new ones.  The rate at which you learn.  The movement pathways your body already has.  The question could also be answered with ‘How good do you want to get?’

My goal is to share my experience and knowledge to empower all the swimmers I coach to understand how to practice so they improve in between lessons.  This comes with improved awareness not just of your own movements but also tuning in to the feedback the water gives you in terms of improved balance, stability and forward momentum.  The extrinsic data from watches can support the intrinsic feedback from within.

Daniel, What is your swimming background and experience?

I swam when I was very young, but never really developed a correct swimming style. I can swim long distances using breaststroke, but have not been able to historically swim long distances and fast using freestyle.

 

What was your motivation for improving your technique?

Over the past few years I have taken on cycling and running as hobbies. I have improved my endurance a lot. I’d like to be able to finish a triathlon and I’ve always been interested in improving my swimming technique.

 

What led you to lessons with Susan?

A friend of mine took lessons with Susan about a year ago and spoke of Susan very highly.

How did you feel about coming to your first lesson?

Everything was very well organised. Susan sent me an email with clear directions how to find the swimming pool. The swimming pool is truly very nice. Susan calls it a ‘hidden gem’, which I agree with 😊 . I didn’t know exactly what to expect and how much we could achieve in only 5 lessons, but I arrived open minded and eager to learn.

 

How have lessons improved your swimming?

A lot. I went from being able to swim, at best, 100m freestyle without interruption, to complete 2.5-3km. I’m very proud of the improvement we made. I feel my swimming is much more relaxed now. I also understand where I can continue working to make further improvements.

 

What do you like about the lessons and what’s a challenge?

Susan is clearly a pro. She immediately spots issues, calls them out. She’s also able to separate certain areas of improvement and focus on it. The only thing I wish for is ‘if there only was more time’ 😊 . That’s not something we can fix. The optimal swimming movement is one that needs practicing and improvement, step by step. It’d be great doing this with a coach, but the economics of that possibility won’t work. What helps a lot is that Susan shared the videos with her instructions with me, so I will follow those.

 

What is your proudest swimming related achievement?

Ability to swim freestyle uninterrupted for 2.5km !!! (I had not thought we’d be able to achieve that so quickly !!!)

 

Are you training for anything at the moment?

Not specifically. I just want to be a good swimmer!

 

What are your future aspirations and dream goals?

I’d like to get my swimming to 2min per 100m on an ‘endurance effort’. That’d be the goal!