A Closer Look at the Water Quality Testing at Corsair Bay
In October 2022, ECan downgraded the long-term recreational water quality of Corsair Bay to “Poor” and labelled the beach as “unsuitable for swimming”. The public and media interest around this event has been high, with confusion around what the term “unsuitable for swimming” actually means. READ FULL REPORT: A Closer Look at the Water Quality Testing at Corsair Bay...
Round Rarontonga Swim
The idea of a circumnavigation #RoundRaro swim had crossed my mind on previous trips to the Cook Islands and promptly been ‘shelved’ as too big of a project. . For me realistic #RoundRaro plans started to form in the middle of the Cook Strait crossing in March 2017 in an IRB with NZ Hall of Fame swimmer Philip Rush and swim coach Chloe Harris in the water. It’s a busy schedule coaching in the UK and running FitandAbel in New Zealand #RealSwim. Philip Rushs advice was… “there will never be a good time, just needed to commit to it and do some consistent work and...
Don’t Set Limits
A big shout out and congratulations to Simon of London, UK. Simon came to Fit&Abel in June this year. At 52 years young he was scared of deep water, not a confident swimmer but most importantly he was uncertain as to whether or not he could ever learn to get comfortable in deep water , let alone open water. This was part of his first e-mail to us: “At 52, I have never mastered swimming and nervous to go near deep water. I would be really grateful if I could organise some 1 to 1 coaching to at least teach me the basics...
Tracking Your Swim Data
The swimmers logbook: provides an ongoing record of training. Some swimmers view them as a waste of time, an annoyance that must be added to daily. Others see the value in being able to review and compare training cycles, sets and repeat times. This can help identify strengths, weakness and opportunities. A logbook entry can record distances, times, heart rates, sleep patterns, success and failures, present and past … and just about anything the author desires in between. They can become quite a personal document recording battles, triumphs, injuries and emotions. Sure you can get some of this data off a swim watch but a...
To Paddle or not to Paddle?
The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to Swim Paddles (This article was originally published in http://www.yourswimlog.com/ultimate-guide-swim-paddles/ and is published with the kind permission of Olivier, olivier@yourswimbook.com) Swim paddles are a staple in just about every swimmer’s training. Here is everything you need to know about making the most of this piece of equipment. “Fins and paddles!” coach called out. A chorus of smiles and cheers swiftly followed. Some things are totally universal in our sport, and one of them is the pleasure in getting to Mach-1 while wearing equipment that throws our swimming into hyper-drive. Paddles are one of those pieces of equipment that are found in just about every swim bag across the world,...
Touch or Tumble?
One of the things open swimmers love most about swimming open water is the ability to get lost in the continuous rhythm of the swim. This Zen like state is less likely to occur when we train in a pool. It is even less likely to occur when we train in a short course pool. *The term ‘Short course’ meaning 25M in length as opposed to long course which is 50M....
The Open H20 Swim Journey Continues
On Monday FitandAbels Dan Abel will head north to the UK for the Northern Hemisphere season; "It is time once again leave behind wonderful family and friends and to head north to visit many friends who have become like family....
The Performance Triangle
It is really important to remember in open water swimming that your performance is based on three core ‘foundations’. Athletes regularly fall into the trap of focussing purely on Fitness when there are most often equal or sometimes easier gains to be made in Technique and Open Water Skills. For any program we recommend you make sure that each side of the Performance Triangle ; Fitness, Open Water Skills, Technique are given specific and equal attention to ensure you achieve the best possible gains in your open water swimming....
Swim Kit Additions
The Aquaflex goggle becomes available in New Zealand from July 2016.We think it fills the gap perfectly in Zoggs range of goggles that we recommend for our swimmers....
Action for Freshwater
Last month we attended a NZ Government Consultation evening in Christchurch hosted by The Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment. It was pleasing to hear him acknowledge that "Freshwater is New Zealands greatest natural resource"....