Friday 1 July. **Special**

Yes, special. Everyday is special at BB

This is a trio of swimmers who set off at 6.10 and shortly after that had completed their swim. It is still dark. They say it was light when they left but as it is still dark now I am not sure. So brave.

 

Sean

 

 

 

Warm boots for WOW.

 

Fluro with beards is very striking

 

Bruce said it was great in today. That must be correct.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday Rachel

 

Rachel’s friends celebrating her birthday with a swim. Good idea.

 

 

Jonathan saw a turtle today.

 

Happy birthday Ian!

 

Encounters with the early swimmers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huw

 

Nice sky today

 

 

I seem to have alarmed Jim and this swimmer

 

Sam

 

I tried to relax at seeing this jimble at the point. It did not work.

 

Dean at the point waiting for the ‘Let’s Go

 

At shelly beach. Henry

 

A team

 

 

 

 

 

Alan

 

Singing for Rachel. happy birthday

 

Charl may now be known as Saul. I am not sure

 

Howard and Peter

 

Rainer

 

What I have been reading – still going with Barkskins by Annie Proulx whose writing is very rich and the book is very long but  good reading. The story is about the early French timber getters clearing native forests in north America in the 1600s (so far), to tame the wilderness and plant potatoes and onions.  It would be better to have the trees still.

Keeping up with improving my swim technique, I saw this:

Swim flaws and fixes

Here is one that caught my interest

Classic Flaw 4: Kicking From The Knee

If you have a running or cycling background you’re at high risk from this one! A good freestyle leg kick is performed with a nearly straight leg, with only a slight relaxed flex at the knee in time with the kick. The kicking action should predominantly be from the hip not the knee:

As soon as you bend your knee you present your thigh as a blunt object to the water and you push against the flow creating huge amounts of drag.

How to fix it: To reprogram your leg kick, practise some torpedo push-offs from the wall with a very strong kick. Do this for about 10-15 meters using a strong kick and then swim easy pace to the end of the pool, lightly tapping your toes as mentioned in flaw 3. Do several of these in succession:

– First time focusing simply on keeping your legs straight and kicking form the hip.

– Second time imagine you have a coin between your butt cheeks and you’ve got to keep it there as you kick by lightly clenching your glutes.

– Third time stretch through your core as tall and straight as you can in the water.

Kicking hard like this with good technique helps your nervous system learn a better kicking action.

 

Bottom of the blog

190 swimmers

2 newbies

temp 18.4

 

Staying safe – a timely reminder!
Remember that there are no badges for scaring yourself silly! While it is great to extend your boundaries, it is important to know your limits.  Also, if you have a bit more experience, keep an eye out for new swimmers who might need company. Do read these excellent tips on staying safe in the surf. To read, or even download, click here.

WWW badge. We are up to week 5. Get down to the beach
Please be aware that to obtain the coveted WWW badge, the only part of the body that is allowed to be covered by wet suit material.  Are the feet (booties allowed).  Apart from the feet, the body should be covered in non-wet suit material.

Also, a reminder that the philosophy of the B&B group is that we are a group activity and that swims are only to be logged for swims made between the hours of 6am and the final 7am swim (or double or triple or other sanctioned swims).
Swims are not to be logged outside of these times for social and safety reasons.  Management.

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