Tell us about your swimming background. I swam as a kid but nothing serious and I just loved anything to do with water sports. I started triathlon in about 2003 when I got fed up with getting slower at running and that’s when I started to do some more swimming again. As a triathlete I want to be faster! In the beginning, I was so bad at cycling and running I thought I needed all the help I could get. So that’s what initially prompted me to go for some Total Immersion swimming lessons. I made so much progress in 6 weeks just by focussing on improved movement that it sparked my passion for swimming!   Since then I’ve swum Round Jersey in a 3 person relay and completed 2 English Channel crossings with a 6 person relay team.   I’m still obsessed with triathlon   and have raced at all distances all over the world including 6 Ironmans with the most recent being Barcelona Ironman in 2019. Since the swimming pools are still closed in the post-co-vid restrictions I’m swimming outside se

In another in our series of open water swimming blogs, Manchester-based Total Immersion coach Sarah Hill uncovers the truth about the reported benefits of a post-swim Coke. More people have discovered the joys of open water swimming this year than ever before, partly because of the amazing sunny weather but mainly because of the fact that lockdown restrictions have meant that we haven't been able to access pools. Despite the variable water quality of our lakes and rivers, most swimmers will suffer no ill-effects but an unfortunate few will succumb to a post-swim upset stomach; a not uncommon problem for outdoor swimmers.  There are a number of strategies you can  use to reduce your chances of getting a bug: Always check as best you can for up to date water quality information - see our previous blog post for great information on how to do this Avoid getting the water in your mouth as much as possible - this sounds obvious but it's not always easy on a choppy day - rinse out yo

I've been learning swimming from Total Immersion Coach Susan Cheshire for a year and a half, had daily yoga practice for the past thirty-one years, taught and lectured yoga for fifteen years, with twelve years of tai chi practice.  For the last five years I have been developing a method to help us learn the fundamental connections which inspire and feed all movement. I could never move very well on land.   Please, indulge me and let me qualify that statement: as a child and all the way into early adulthood I had been pretty uncoordinated; catching objects, hitting balls with bats or racquets and kicking, yes especially kicking a ball was so comical that when it came to PE, when the curriculum dictated football or tennis, I would be sent on a run or to the gym.  Granted they were different times back then, but this is just an example of how, even though I truly love to be active and feel the joy of movement, I couldn't find a place to express the innate joy of being alive.