Ho, Ho, Ho

Yesterday I mentioned that I was keen to get to swim training this morning because I thought it would be a bit of fun. Well I wasn't disappointed, it was a very Christmasy affair indeed, complete with Paul Santa Newsome on pool deck replete with red suit and fluffy white beard, ending each instruction with a merry Ho, Ho, Ho.

It was quite a giggle.

There was some work too, with an actual serious session occurring for most of the morning. The only concessions to the time of year being a 12 days of Christmas 200m (12 strokes hard, 12 easy, 11 hard, 11 easy etc) and the almost traditional relay (how do I always find myself doing Butterfly?). Great way to start the morning.

So that is Swim Smooth for the year. It has been a great 12 months with the squad and one that has seen some big improvements for me on the swimming front. Of the various training decisions I made when I moved to Perth, choosing to swim with the squad at Claremont is one that I will never regret. The squad has been a perfect match for how I swim and what I have needed. Paul's coaching technique is a fairly perfect match to how I train. Not to mention that 80% of the triathletes that I know in Perth, I met at that pool. I am really looking forward to an equally rewarding year with the squad in 2015.

On the topic of Swim Smooth. I have been meaning to mention this for a little while.

Swim Smooth App

The folks at Swim Smooth released this app a couple of weeks ago. I have been having a play with it for the last couple of weeks, but now that I am going into a period of training by myself I am about to start using it a lot. I have to say this is one powerful tool. For around $16/month (or $174/year) you more or less have direct access to Paul Newsome's brain. The amount of information on this app is pure daunting at first. But once you get your head around it, it is amazing. Stacks of high quality technique video featuring some fairly awesome swimmers (several Olympians), around 100 training programs, complete training plans that cater from everything from complete beginner, to elite Ironman all personalised for you once you have inputted your swim type and your pace. I know I am gushing a bit, but it really is that good. I haven't been using it for that long, so I am still at the stage where every time I open it I find something new. If you are training alone, or looking for a bit of extra information about technique, or just interested in new ways to improve your swimming, I really can't recommend this enough. It simply is that good.