Scottish Swimmer Open Water Swim Coaching

A wee bit of numerical navel-gazing here My 2020 in numbers. Image is of Wardie Bay this morning when we went for a swim in the snow, and it was magical: https://www.scottishswimmer.com//review-of-2020-in-numbers/

Cracking swim yesterday with a couple of swimmers doing an Introduction to Open Water Swimming course. Sun was warm and sea lively. Water was not too cold either! Now looking forward to another week of coaching with some great people! Get in touch if you want to be involved. Thanks to coach Tine Barkmann for the pic. ... #wardiebay #wardiebaybeach #swimcoach #swimcoaching #openwaterswimcoach #wildswimmingscotland #seaswimming #outdoorswimming

If you slip on the ice on your way to a swim, does it count as an ice swim? It was a cold one anyway, even if the sea temp was a balmy 6/7c. The sand was frozen, which was a joy to walk upon after we’d done our swim out towards the white buoy and back. Was good to stretch out and felt we could have gone further, but now’s not the time to be pushing limits. Getting in and having a decent swim is a challenge in itself, and brings its own rewards! ... Many thanks to @lachlangrant1 for the pic and @tinebarkmann and @weesarie for the excellent company.

So this has been a work-in-progress for quite some time, but I'm almost there with it. Coming very soon: The Benefits of Open Water Swimming. Cover might change now I'm thinking about it Larraine Rowney

Yesterday it was a post-sunset winter solstice swim, this morning (some 16 hours of darkness later) it was a gorgeous sunrise swim to celebrate the longer days ... and to do a little bit of work on front crawl. Just because the sea is a tad chilly (might have to start wearing two caps) it doesn’t mean you can’t still work on a few kick, breathing and arm drills! Plenty of other swimmers - more than 20! - around by the time we’d left and the sun was fully up. Great atmosphere down at #wardiebaybeach

Loved our Thursday Social swim yesterday - such a great bunch of regulars, and some new faces, each week. The water was delicious, as ever, but it definitely felt on the cold side after the recent winter-like weather we’ve been having! Snow and hail in May???! What’s that about?

Hi all, I'm cancelling tomorrow's Thursday Social Swim - waves today were fierce. Tomorrow's forecast is for even greater ones. Apologies for any disappointment to those who were planning on a Christmas Eve dip.

A very happy new year to you all from me and my wife Caroline. This morning we went along to Wardie Bay, where dozens of bold souls of almost all ages were braving the Forth for their own Loony Dook. A few hangovers were on show! After splashing in the waves @lachlangrant1 @tinebarkmann @weesarie and I swam out towards the white buoy and back - about 500m in 6c water, a good start to 2021. Was lovely on the beach afterwards seeing so many folk scattered about and gingerly ru...nning/hot stepping into the water. The warm atmosphere certainly kept the cold at bay. Looking forward to more swims, more laughter, and meeting more people this year.

Massively grateful for this kind review from bold swimmer Emma!

A very warm thank you to all you bold swimmers who have come along to a coaching session with me or supported and encouraged my wee swim coaching venture in other ways. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

A lot gets said and written about the healing power of the sea. I found this one profoundly moving. Many thanks to Christa for sharing.

Alice has made a beautiful book containing illustrations of Wardie Bay.

Some lovely feedback from a swimmer who took part in our Intro class this morning!

The weather is gorgeous and the sea is starting to warm up who fancies a swim? Get in touch if you're looking to "take the plunge"! Every Sunday morning I run an Introduction to Open Water Swimming course at Wardie Bay in Edinburgh, complemented by an online course where we talk about the risky stuff you need to know about before going outdoor swimming! This Sunday's session has a couple of spaces spare due to a cancellation. (Forecast looks lovely by the way!) For more in...fo or to book, visit: https://scottishswimmeropenwaterswimcoaching.setmore.com/cl And if you like, have a read of my reviews to see how other swimmers found them helpful. Cheers! Colin See more

Months in the making, here is the final published report on The Benefits of Open Water Swimming. Within this 28-page publication are analysis and results from four surveys, collating a whopping 830 individual responses! Combined, it presents a brilliant insight and overview into our open water swimming community. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate. Please take the time to read, like, comment, and share! The downloadable version can be found on my website.... https://issuu.com/swimforg/docs/swim_for_good_survey_report

Delighted to be listed on Social Enterprise Scotland's #BuySocial website, an amazing directory of purpose-led social enterprises, including my own coaching business. As well as gift vouchers for some swim coaching, there are tonnes of other gift ideas, from adventure experiences to food and drink, clothes and so on. Please do have a wee look. https://www.buysocialscotland.com/produ/open-water-swimming

As some of you know, and others may have suspected, I’m moving away from Edinburgh at the end of June (along with my family!). I’m still planning to coach after we relocate to Cambridge, although there will be more of a focus on Swim for Good, the social enterprise I founded. For now, next week will be my last week of coaching at Wardie Bay. But I’m delighted that Tine Barkmann / Open Water Swim Coaching, who’s been working with me for the past six months and who is now a fu...lly qualified STA open water swim coach, will be taking on many of my Wardie Bay classes as well as offering her own sessions. Please take a look at her website for more information. Anyone still with gift vouchers, please get in touch direct. Becoming a swim teacher and open water swim coach has been the most amazing journey. I’ve met some fantastic, frankly inspirational, people along the way, many of whom I will miss deeply ... although I’m planning to be back fairly frequently. I’ve also met many more people in passing. A hello here, a wave there, perhaps a single coaching session that I hope had a positive impact long after our paths crossed. Suffice to say, leaving Edinburgh is a move packed with a mixture of many emotions and memories. Thanks for making so many of them happy ones!

Just a stupendously gorgeous swim today at Wardie Bay, where we freestyled it to the Big Yellow Willie, then looped round the white buoy for good measure. A very lovely 900m all in at high tide. Coaching-wise, we practised sighting, balanced body position and kick.

Good morning! So who’s all getting in the sea today? After what was a long winter, it’s good to feel the sea temperature heading in the right direction! (Won’t be long until some of us will be pining for the ice!)

Took a trip to the beautiful city of Cambridge this week and couldn’t resist a swim in the lovely Cam at Grantchester Meadows. I’m against the flow here; the swoosh back down was a touch easier! Filming by @swimskybreathe #cambridgewildswimming #grantchestermeadows #rivercam #rivercamswimming #riverswimminguk