Protect your hair from chlorine damage

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Emma

Chlorine is the chemical commonly used in swimming pools to disinfect and keep the water clean. If you’re a keen swimmer who trains a couple of times a week then you may notice your hair is more brittle and dry than it used to have been! This is because chlorine removes the natural oils from the scalp and hair so dries out the hair severely. This makes the hair split and break more, taking away the super soft feel that hair has when well maintained.

cap-200 Here we have some preventatives for you to try to stop your hair from suffering so badly from chlorine damage!

Firstly, the obvious preventative is wearing a swimming cap. Swimming caps can help to keep your hair safe from the harsh chemicals in the swimming pool water and prevent as much water getting to your hair. There are swimming caps to suit everyone now, bright designs, different materials or plain styles. To see our range of swim caps click here.

Always shower before you get into the water as then your hair has already absorbed a lot of chemical free water so there’s not much more space for chlorinated water.

Shower after you swim too to rinse out the chemicals and use a shampoo that is designed to dissolve chlorine, an ingredient called Sodium Thiosulfate. Condition your hair after every wash, alternating between a normal conditioner and a deep conditioner to keep your hair well moisturised. This will really help to bring back the super soft, manageable hair that you want!

Avoid blow drying your hair, straightening or curling your hair as the excessive heat will dry your hair out and damage it even more. Use the cool setting on your hair dryer or towel dry, these may not be as fast but will reduce the amount of damage you are putting your hair through.

If you have serious damage and none of these preventatives are working for you then make an appointment with your local hair salon and ask them for their best advice.

With thanks to Lin Pernille Photography for the banner image.

Which Type of Front Crawl Swimmer are You?

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Emma

Choose which type of front crawl swimmer you are!

1. Rocky – If you have a build like the famous film character ‘Rocky’ then you might have a bit too much muscle for swimming really well. Being a swimmer needs long, toned muscle rather than big and bulky as well as good flexibility which may be quite difficult for you. If this is you then you are obviously fit, strong and into exercise and in swimming your key focus a drifters-150 rea needs to be your body position. It’s harder for you to stay afloat so ensure your hips are kept towards the surface of the water and you get good rotation in your shoulders (the flexibility issue).

2. The Drifter – If you’re a Drifter you’re a swimmer who holds their glide a fraction too long

and so there’s a static spot in the stroke. This is really to adjust by increasing your stroke rate and so quickening the pace of each stroke. After this you’ll soon be a ‘Smooth Criminal.

3. Petite Pois – This is pretty much the opposite of being a Rocky. You have a petite build and your main front crawl technique issues are breathing pattern and getting propulsion through the water. You could probably do with developing your swimming strength in your upper (shoulders, back, arms) and core (back, stomach, sides). Work on your catch in the water, so take a look at how your hand grabs the water when you pull and maybe to some land based exercises to help build up a bit of irish-dancer-150 trength.

4. The Irish Dancer – You are the swimmer that is all legs and no arms – an Irish dancer! Having a hard leg kick is great in a sprint race but not continuously over a long distance or over a long training set as it’s very exhausting because it’s one of the biggest muscles in the body. So for you, try to relax and tone down the kick a little bit so you have a more balanced body.

5. Rock Not Roller – If you swing your arms over without rolling/rotating your hips when you swim front crawl then this is you. In the long run, swimming like this can cause some shoulder injuries so aim to get some hip rotation in your stroke when you swim. By rolling your body from side to side when your pulling, less of your body is going through the water and so it becomes much easier and faster.

6. Smooth Criminal – If you think that your stroke is smooth and appears effortless then that’s great, you’re officially a Smoot Criminal! Don’t forget though there is something that can be worked on – maybe core strength, better kicking? There isn’t such a thing as having a perfect swimming technique so don’t think you can stop there.

Which one are you?

With thanks to Jim Bahn,

Pull Buoy Advice

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Emma

Figure 8

Pulls buoys are designed to improve your upper body strength and also improve your body position in the water by adding buoyancy. Because the legs are supported, you can focus all your attention onto isolated areas of your body such as working your upper body, practising breathing pattern or correcting your head position.

Types

Pull buoys are mostly made with a foam material and come in two different designs:

Figure 8 design – This is the most common type of pull buoy used as a training aid. This design is a single construction that fits comfortably between the legs.
2 Piece design – This design is made with 2 pieces of foam that are joined by rubber or elastic.

2 Piece

Neither pull buoy type is better than the other, it is purely down to personal preference which one you choose.

Benefits of Using a Pull Buoy

Pulls buoys have a number of great benefits in training. Firstly, they lift your lower body higher in the water and so reduce drag. This makes swimming much easier as well as putting your body into the correct body position.

The whole upper body is supported in the water and so you can focus all your attention to other areas of your stroke. This could be concentrating on your breathing pattern, arm position or head position.

As you don’t use your legs when using a pull buoy, your upper body gets the maximum strength workout.

Top Tips for Using Pull Buoys

Place the pull buoy as high as possible between the legs, this is the correct position as the added buoyancy is in the right place. It’s also much more comfortable than placing your pull buoy further down you leg!

If you are known for dropping your hips a bit too low in backstroke then definitely try using a pull buoy to correct this. Try alternating every 50/100 metres with and without your pull buoy so you will really feel the difference then be able to correct this on your own without a training aid.

If you use a figure 8 design pull buoy and one end is noticeably larger than then other then place the bigger end facing the ceiling as it gives even more support and stability

Don’t use a pull buoy every training session as it may prevent you from developing excellent technique or building up your stamina

If you’re just beginning to use a pull buoy then keep front crawl as your primary stroke, then as you develop your swimming skills you can add in backstroke

Click to see our full range of pull buoys.

Swimmers Ear

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Emma

ear-250 Swimmers ear (otitis externa) can be a real issue! It can often be related to swimming or swimming underwater when the water can get into the outer ear canal. It only takes a tiny amount of water to get into the ear canal to get ‘swimmers ear’ and the effects will be different for every person who suffers.

Symptoms of this ear problem can include hearing issues and sounds of water in the ear – usually completely painless but irritating!

Swimmers ear can be really easy to prevent if you can’t get the water out of your ear easily and suffer from this regularly. Earol swim is a great natural product that you apply to the ear before swimming to create a natural barrier against swimmers ear. It’s cheap and really easy to use so if you suffer with swimmers ear is a must buy.

If you get swimmers ear a lot and know it often develops to infections, then another great product to invest in is some ear plug. These are also a real bargain and can prevent pain and infection in your ear. To see our range of ear plugs click here.

If you do suffer from any pain at all, it can be a sign of a more serious infection so a trip to your local doctor is advised.

With thanks to Darcy Norman for image

Great Training, Not Such Great Race Results?

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Emma

Not quite getting those swimming results that you deserve? It’s so common for swimmers to be the best trainers around – never miss a session, always on time and always works the hardest in the pool – but way off potential race times.

So here we have a plan of action if that swimmer is you!

I guess most importantly the thing to realise is that this is a very common thing; it’s not just you going through this. It doesn’t have a single thing to do with your technique or physical strength; it’s the you inside your head that is affecting your swimming! It’s simple to solve this…change the way you think about the competition ahead.

If you’re a competitive swimmer, the reason you train is to succeed in competition. That’s a huge part of this, the pressure of racing can really affect your overall performance if you don’t handle pressure very well. But is there that much pressure?…How many people will see the results of the race? – probably not that many. Is it life and death? – definitely not! So you may have realised that the swimming race ahead isn’t actually that big a deal and there’s no need to stress over it so much. There are plenty more races ahead if this one doesn’t quite go to plan!

Stay relaxed before your race. If you’re uptight and stressed, your muscles will seize up and affect your physical ability when you’re actually at the fittest you’ve ever been.

Think about the situation the other swimmers are in too. If they are ranked first and fastest in the race then imagine what pressure they are under to win. Would you want to be in their shoes when they are swimming against you after all the incredible training you’ve been doing!? They are more than likely terrified of you!

Mental preparation is massively important before any swim race. If you tell yourself you’ve not had a great winning streak then this winning streak you want is probably not going to start anytime soon! Before you race think about the great things about you and your swimming – think about all the hours you’ve put in, the reasons behind your swimming drills and think about achievements in the past that have made you feel great about yourself.

He believes in himself, so should you!

Visualisation is a tool used by the best swimmers in the world. Imagine yourself winning the race or getting that time that you are after. By imagining the situation over and over again you train your brain to believe you can do this. You will feel much more comfortable after imagining the coming even and planning the result you want. Subconsciously you will remember that when swimming that race.

So for great training and those great results, you are the answer! Give these top tips ago before your next swimming race and there are definitely going to be some much better results.

Team Building Exercises for your Swim Team

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Emma

If you get the chance to use some training time, or a day in the school holidays to do some team building games with your swimmers it’s a must, especially if you have some big swimming competitions coming up!

These team exercises don’t necessarily have to be done in the swimming pool or even on pool side as the idea is to build the teams strength and provide them with a little fun and excitement without any stress. They could be added into some land based training that your squad does.

What is Team Building?

Team building is creating games and activities for a group of people to help bonding or getting to know each other. In a swimming club, this is the perfect tool for motivation if you have a squad who are dropping in morale, who haven’t met many times before or are having their break between seasons.

Exercises and Games…

treasure-250 So the first team building exercise is the classic Treasure Hunt. Divide your swimmers into smaller teams and set them clues and challenges to find a prize. This is a fantastic team building game for swimmers as it helps to bring out that competitive edge that they all have! If your swimming club is within a relatively large leisure centre then you can relate it to all things swimming and do it inside. If you have a large sports ground outside, then even better to get them out in the fresh air. This game is great for any age and of any group size.

The Cup Game is a real favourite of mine as a swimmer and coach as it can be done easily on poolside before a session. It’s really simple too…Get together a load of plastic cups and place it upside down on the floor. A pair of swimmers face each other with one cup between them in streamline. A coach, friend or parent says ‘take your marks…go!’ and the swimmer to grab the cup from the floor fastest wins. Doesn’t sound like much now, but trust me, when a large group of swimmers get together for this you would never believe how excited and competitive they get about grabbing a cup!! This is a great exercise as they also practice their streamline, work on their reaction time and bring out their competitive edge.

Back to Back Drawing is a lot different to the previous games. Sit 2 swimmers back to back, give one a pen and paper and the other an object or shape. The person with the object has to describe to the person drawing exactly what it looks like without saying what it is. This is great for a team that lacks in communication or has some shy members.

shiwreck-250 Shipwreck is a great game for doing that forces the team to work together to ‘survive.’ Tell them their boat has just crashed and there is room on the lifeboat for all of them and 12 other items. The group has to work together to decide which 12 items they will need to survive on the desert island nearby. You will be surprised to see what they rank as their highest priority and life essentials! Make sure that you as a supervisor encourage any quieter members to get their voice heard. You’ll also be able to quickly tell who the leaders in the team are.

Other Team Building Tips…

Ensure you encourage each swimmer to congratulate each other for even the smallest of things. This not only boosts the team but individually can have a great effect.

By getting the club heading out together is another great exercise that just needs a time and a place set. This can be really simple, such as a trip bowling, ice skating, paintballing or even having a club party for any reason at all – Christmas, Halloween or even a summer BBQ. All the time the team are together, they are getting to know each other more and building camaraderie!

Do some relays at the end of a training session! By splitting up the squad and putting them into teams to race is a great ending to a hard training session. It will send all the swimmers home on a high and their last memory of their training session won’t be the incredibly hard set they’ve swum but the excitement of their relay!

Hand Paddle Advice

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Emma

What Are Hand Paddles?

Hand paddles are plastic paddles that can be used on the hands during training either with or without other training aids such as a pull buoy or fins. The usually attach to the hand with rubber bands around the fingers so the paddle is in the palm of the hand.

Why Use Hand Paddles?

Hand paddles are designed to be used to improve the swimmer’s arm/upper body strength so work the muscles in the back, shoulders, arms and chest. They do this by preventing any water from travelling through your fingers and so allows you to push more water with more power.

Types of Paddles

There are a number of different types of hand paddles:

Finger Paddles

Finger paddles – designed to fit to your fingers and can be used for all strokes

Han’s Paddles – the original holed hand paddles

Sculling Paddles – for building strength in the upper body. Similar appearance to the finger paddle but slightly larger.

Each type of hand paddle does a different job so do a little research before making any quick decisions about which paddles you’d like and which would be best suited to you.

Benefits of using Hand Paddles

Using hand paddles has a number of benefits, not just the fact that over time will make you a much stronger swimmer by improving your upper body’s muscle groups.

Hand paddles can help to improve your technique even though this isn’t their primary job. They can do this though by making you more aware of you stroke and arm pulls. You can tell whether your arm pull is good or bad by using paddles as if you can feel the pull without changing your stroke.

When you use paddles your stroke naturally slows down as you have to work harder for each stroke. By slowing your stroke down you can work on all areas of your stroke as well as developing your strength. You’ll also notice that your strength lengthens and you get a better distance per stroke which means each pull is more efficient.

Your body awareness improves as you think about your arm position and you can feel the most effective way to pull. It also allows you to focus on your body rotation to get the best pull and longest stroke. If you have an issue with a low elbow when swimming then wearing paddles makes it much easier to notice whether or not your hands drag in the water in the recovery phase.

The training that you do with hand paddles is much more time efficient as you tire much sooner and so don’t need to swim for so long – great if you’re in a rush or pushed for time!

Top Tips for using Hand Paddles

Build up gradually – if you start using paddles to much and too quickly then you’re at risk of shoulder strain and injury so start by using them for short distances then build up. For a first time user avoid the larger, wider hand paddles and go for a smaller size.

When using them, keep the palm of your hand open and allow the flow of the water over your hand so it feels more natural to use.

Don’t expect it to be easy! – Using hand paddles for the first time is going to be hard work. Don’t expect to be able to swim the same distance at the same speed with your paddles on as you will tire much quicker. This is all part of the paddles developing your strength as a swimmer.

For those who are experienced swimmers and are looking to up their training further, try using a pull buoy with your hand paddles to prevent any leg kick. Another option is try using a larger, wider paddle to increase the resistance further.

Consider using hand paddles whilst doing drills and technique work as you can work strength and technique in one go.

If it hurts then stop! They are meant to push you but not hurt you at all and improving doesn’t mean hurting.

Fin Advice

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Emma

What Are Fins?

Fins are a training aid worn on the feet that can come in hundreds of different styles, shapes and sizes.

Why Use Fins?

Fins are a training aid designed to improve your lower body strength, improve ankle flexibility and allow you to train faster. There are many benefits to using fins and styles/lengths to suit everyone’s needs.

Fin Lengths

Fins can come in all different lengths, each length of fin has a different purpose:

Short fins – the best suited to training. These fins feel more natural to swim with and so allow your natural kick to be worked (rather than changing your stroke totally!)

Long Fins/Split Fins – these scuba style fins aren’t great for swimming training so are best avoided. This length requires slow movements and so aren’t beneficial to swimming training or elite swimmers. They are perfect for scuba/snorkel use and are also very good if you are just using you fins for ankle flexibility.

Monofin – a one-blade fin that joins the feet together, like a mermaid tail! These fins are great for tough workouts where you are trying to seriously improve your lower body strength or also for developing your butterfly technique.

Benefits of Using Fins

So we know that fins are great for use in developing your lower body strength but they also have a number of other benefits for swimmers.

Ankle flexibility is a real benefit of swimming with fins as the fins put extra force on your ankles. By improving the flexibility in your ankle your butterfly leg kick will be much more efficient and so can improve all strokes distance of the wall.

Fins allow you to maintain a better body position easily so you can focus on other areas of your technique that need improvement, whether this be body rotation, arm technique or breathing pattern.

Using fins makes your training much more time efficient as you will fatigue quicker and so not be able to train for as long – great if you still want to train hard but are under time pressure.

Top Tips for using Fins

Work the distance off the wall when turning. You will really feel the difference that your fins are making and over time see those improvements in your races – at the end of the day that’s what competitive swimmers train for. Don’t forget in a race you can swim up to 15 metres under water off the wall or from the start so fins are great for working that.

Fins are not suited for use when swimming breaststroke and are to work the lower body muscle groups only – WRONG! You can swim breaststroke with butterfly legs which really works your arms and helps to develop your technique.

Avoid diving whilst using fins. When you dive off the side of the pool or block your toes and feet can grip the surface, with fins you can’t get that grip so you’re at risk of slipping and injuring yourself.

When using a kickboard and working your front crawl kick, why not bring out your fins?! Your fins will work those legs and give you a great lower body work out!

Mastering Your Swimming Start

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Emma

For all strokes, the starts are incredibly important. Butterfly, breaststroke and front crawl can all be started on the block when racing.

There are 2 types of starts commonly used:

Grab start
Track start

Both starts are equal – one is not better than the other and is totally down to preference but both can be super fast when practised well.

With whichever start you use remember the starter won’t start any race until every competitor is ready to begin and still on the block. Observers underestimate how important this is, but you can get disqualified for moving on the block, falling in before the start or if you are incredibly slow at getting ready.

The Grab start

The better your starting position the better your dive so key points of the starting position are:

Tuck the head as close to the knees as possible
Lift the hips as high as possible without pushing them back
Curl the toes over the edge of the block for extra grip
Bend the knees slightly
The arms should be straight down towards your toes and gripping the block

When the starter begins the race you want to aim to leave the block with as much force as possible. Throw your arms forward, lift your head up slightly and the rest of your body should follow your head.

As soon as your feet leave the block, push your hips up and tuck your head in so your body is in perfect streamline for entering the water.

When entering the water imagine you are entering through a ring, trying to make the smallest amount of splash possible. If you make a big splash it means you aren’t entering the water in total streamline and your legs are not completely in line with your body.

When you have entered the water, begin your leg kick dependant on the stroke. You’re allowed to travel up to 15 metres underwater from a dive or turn so make the most of it and try to travel as far as possible underwater whilst maintaining your speed.

A common mistake which can really slow this start down is by lifting the toes off the block after the start sound and almost rocking before leaving the block. When using the grab start, aim to push forward and out without lifting the toes as this can save you a few fractions of a second (but as we know in any race every split second counts!)

Track start

The track start needs a good starting position on the block to give you a great dive. Focus on:

Having your leading leg at the front of the block with toes curling over the edge
The back leg should be positioned about a foot length back from the front foot
Bend the knees slightly and grab the block with both hands, approximately shoulder width apart
Tuck the head down

The same sequence follows as the grab start – take off with as much force possible and enter the water with the best streamline position you can.

This type of start also has a common error – not bringing both legs together in time for entry into the water. If this is one of your mistakes then you will find your speed slows dramatically and you won’t straight, heading at different angles each time you enter. Try to correct this by gently bringing the legs together before entry.

Backstroke Starts

Backstroke is the only stroke out of the four that is begun in the water.

To start backstroke: grab the block with both hands about shoulder width apart. Place both feet on the wall about shoulder width apart again and some people prefer to have one foot higher than the other. Your feet should be just below the surface of the water and allow your body to be in a slightly curled position. Tuck your head down and wait for the starter’s signal. Again the start won’t start the race until all swimmers are ready and in a still position.

A common mistake with the body position is not locking the feet on the wall in a sturdy position and slipping down the wall. Ensure you get your feet into a position that is comfortable and sturdy so you don’t have this mistake.

As soon after the signal as possible, throw the body backwards over the water by pushing your arms back away from the block and throwing your head back. Ideally, you want the swimmer’s back to be arched during the airborne phase so your hands touch the water whilst the body is still above the water’s surface.

Most swimmers begin with a butterfly kick under the water for added power and speed then break into normal backstroke leg kick when they are ready to surface. Swimmers with a great kick tend to find it much faster to swim fully under the water than on the surface so for those of you who are quicker underwater, make the most of it and head right up to that 15 metre mark!

Your Guide to Speedo Goggles

Posted on July 6, 2011 by admin

Our range of Speedo goggles is pretty wide, so when you are looking for a new set which models should you be considering?

Training Goggles and Racing Goggles Explained :

There are essentially two types of goggle; racing and non-racing (i.e. training).

The racing ones like the Speedo Speedsocket are not especially comfortable for long periods but offer minimal drag. Racing goggles, by design, are for performance rather than comfort. If you want a pair for training and keeping on for more than a couple of minutes, consider models which are designed for training and not racing (i.e. anything other than racing versions).

Which Speedo Goggles Are Best For Me?

Speedo offer their goggles in multiple sizing – multisex which are general suitable for adults, ladies specific, which as the title suggests are for ladies and then children’s sizes. Use the compare feature (last column) to show the goggles for your child’s age band – see last paragraph for details.

There also differing lenses to choose from. Mirrored and smoked are ideal for outdoor and bright conditions. Clear for normal indoor pool swimming.

Below are our top three goggle in each category:

Best Speedo Training Goggles

Speedo Futura Biofuse

Best Speedo Racing Goggles

Best Speedo Kids Goggles

: Junior Vanquisher 2

Best Speedo Kids Racing Goggle

Junior Vanquisher 2

You’ll find the age range the kids goggles are suitable for within the descriptions of each product.

Remember to start your search for your new swim goggles with our goggles comparison page where you can see all makes and models of swimming goggles.

If you are not sure how to use our compare chart just click the “How to video” icon at the top centre of the page.

If you order the chart by popularity you will see the most highly regarded (by our customer’s feedback) models at the top.

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