Final week of training

NB Please scroll to the bottom for a selection of the photos taken

Just like that, and the training season is done….

Just like that, the training season is over. In some ways it’s been a very long season as such a lot has happened and yet it seems like just yesterday that we welcomed the Class of 2022 onto the beach for the first weekend.

We had the crazy first few weeks where we ramped up quickly due to the unseasonable rapidly warming water temperature. That bit went rapidly. Then the long slog in the middle with all the celebratory arches, frantic tracking and whistles on the beach with returning victorious swimmers, the weeks where I could never remember the week number without Wookie reminding me or looking it up! Finally, the last few weeks disappeared in a blur and we find ourselves back together and celebrating life, swimming and friendship.

What a year!

I’m sure you’ll have your memories of the season.

I’ll remember the fantastic team spirit. The flashmob arches and people hanging around after their swims, not because they need to, but because they want to support fellow swimmers.

I’ll remember that you were an incredibly easy group to work with. You worked hard, accepted support and made the work fun.

I’ll remember the increasing proportion of ‘athletes’ rather than ‘participants’.

I’ll remember the joy of returning swimmers and the frequent sound of the whistle on the beach for all the right reasons.

I’ll remember the vast range of swims that you trained for.

I’ll remember you.

A time to celebrate

With swims happening throughout the season, it’s naturally for our group to gradually fade away as the season progresses (except for those that just can’t get enough and come back anyway!). It’s been a tradition for about 10 years now to go out with a bang. On the last Saturday of the season we get as many of you as possible back together for one more session.

This year was the same.

Our theme was ‘Grease’ and there were some great interpretations of the theme! You rose up to the challenge on the paddleboard as well! The beach was alive again and it was amazing to see. Even the massive downpour didn’t dampen the spirits.

Whilst the training is now done, it’s always possible that there will be more swims to celebrate. Please make sure you let us all know so that we can get excited for you and track you to success.

Thank you

It is a great honour and privilege to be able to work with people like you, people who set great audacious goals, people who dare to dream, who dare to believe.

Thank you for the trust that you put in our training plans. You have been an absolute joy to work with.

Thank you for the beautiful words in the Kudos card, they will be treasured forever along with the memories of the season.

Finally, a massive thank you to you all for the utterly gorgeous and stunning gifts. The glass wave has pride of place on my mantle piece and will be a constant reminder of this amazing season and the fun and success that we shared.

The best way that I know to really summarise the season is to put a movie together of photos and videos throughout the season.

This is DCT.

This is why I do what I do.

If you’d consider leaving a review of your training experience, it would help those who are deciding on where to do their training for future years. Nothing means more than the voice of someone who’s used the service.

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Channel swimmer on the beach

Clearly there were a lot of returning successful swimmers on the beach, some of whom were returning for the first time. These are the photos.

This week’s shout outs for swims in the week ending 25th September, here’s what I saw (in no particular order):

Beth Murphy for her successful channel solo on 20th September in a time of 14hrs 43mins
Peter Whitehead for his successful channel solo on 20th September in a time of 17hrs 39mins
Mark Farmer for his successful channel solo on 21st September in a time of 12hrs 19mins
Mark Scott for his successful channel solo on 21st September in a time of 13hrs 29mins
Drew Fobbester for his successful Windermere swim
Madison Emment for placing 10th and representing Team GB in European Open Water cup in Barcelona

Swim stats

Saturday:

Swimmers: Loads
Water temperature: warm enough to play
Air temperature: Not so bad
Conditions: Rain, but that didn’t stop play!

Sunday:

Swimmers: 8
Water temperature: Same as yesterday!
Air temperature: Actually quite nice!
Conditions: Lovely to chat through with those getting the most from the season

Volunteers & beach crew

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank each and every person who helped out on the beach this year. We’ve been blessed with some frequent support as well as those helping out when they could. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mandi for being utterly amazing and a constant presence. We are so very lucky to have you.

As we move out of the training season, we move into the planning season for your leadership team. We will naturally reflect on what went well and where we can do better. I’ve had some ideas around the management of beach crew that I’ll share. Watch out for potential changes and ways to get involved.

The adventures of Dover Dave

Dover Dave has had the best summer ever, he’s been hosted by so many lovely people.

He was hoping to go to Barcelona for the weekend to attend the European Open Water Cup with Team GB swimmer Maddie, but Team GB management must have seen his social profile and decided that there was a risk that he’d bring the team in to disrepute!! (Either that or I didn’t manage to get Dave to Maddie before she went!).

It did mean that the had the opportunity to dress as a T-Bird for the weekend, pretty appropriate for his temperament.

Thank you for everyone who brought this little felt fella to life. Thank you to Amanda for making him in the first place. Dave is now back with Amanda. Hopefully, he’ll be re-stuffed with less cheekiness for the future!

Paddlefish Ponderings - Confidence

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”

— Joe Namath

One of the things I talk about is the reason that I enjoy doing what I do. The same thing happens every year. I see people walk onto the beach at the beginning of the season, eyes down, a little apprehensive. Suddenly realising what it is that they’ve taken on. I see fears and doubt.

Our job is to take you from where you are to where you need to be. Whilst we do have an idea about how we’d like to build you up, we do have to adapt for variables that you just can’t plan in advance:

How you cope with the training regime both physically and mentally
The pressures of real life and family & work responsibilities
The weather!

So we have become good at adapting between sessions and even within sessions. Our aim is to help you bring your best self to life.

We teach you the process that you’ll need to follow on the big day.

As the weeks go by, we watch you start to walk taller, we see the physical manifestation of confidence.

It’s a beautiful process to witness.

You go off and do your swims and come back a different person.

This is something that could never grow old.

Confidence - it’s the special feed that makes it all works.

When we feel confident, we jump onto the beach with purpose, ready to take on whatever the plan is for the day. Adversity is easier to handle.

But when we lack confidence, sessions are harder, self-doubt piles up, we overreact to setbacks, and swimming becomes a burden, a pressure, not-fun.

And while we all envy the swimmer who is naturally full of authentic confidence, far too many of us treat confidence like something that “just is.”

The truth is that confidence is a skill. It’s a skill that we subtly aim to instil in you. However, it’s something that you can work on yourself too and you should.

Here are a couple of my favourite ways to go about filling the confidence tank.

Recognise your moments of excellence.

Swimmers with high expectations and big goals tend to only reward themselves with praise when they complete the big goal.

But confidence can’t be reliant on one or two swims per year, particularly when things can go wrong that are completely outside of our control.

The foundation of confidence, the authentic, genuine stuff, comes from the Little Wins in training.

Each session chase meaningful training goals and recognise them.

In your logbook. In a text file. In a Confidence Jar. Wherever.

Just make sure you are taking note of them.

If you don’t, they just disappear into your vast training history, along with the confidence you rightly earned from them.

Chase Stretch Goals in training

Confidence comes from stretching yourself in the water.

Telling yourself to be confident is one thing.

But doing daily things that generate that hot buzz of real confidence is another.

Get into the habit of tackling new and scary stuff in training.

Be the first to get into the harbour maybe. Or embrace the pool, maybe a masters squad or find a coach to help you build a great training plan that does what you need to do and not just what you want to do. This doesn’t mean going further or swimming for longer or handling colder conditions. It’s about training smart and embracing the principles of training.

Two things will happen.

You will fail at the Stretch Goal and realise “failing” wasn’t as painful or demoralising as you thought. Or you will succeed and realise that your fears were unfounded.

Either way, you are learning what you are truly capable and picking up valuable chunks of real confidence along the way.

(Give yourself a Daily Stretch Score… something as simple as grading yourself 1-5 on stretchiness each day when you get out of the water.)

Each day when you walk out onto poolside or into open water, you are not only working on your technique, cold acclimatisation and building fitness, but your confidence is being shaped.

Choose to work it like a skill.

Think about his in every session.

Build authentic, genuine confidence.

And swim like the rock star that you are.

Reminders

The community call runs all year round, so why not make the most of your membership and join in?

Looking ahead

Chilli Dips

Our Chilli Dips start again THIS MONTH!!

The Kent edition will be on the third Saturday of the month at 11am and we’ll aim to visit a few different locations, just as we did last month. The first one will be in Viking Bay on Saturday 15th October. We’re finalising the pricing on this, so watch out for more information very soon. Put a hold in your calendar for now though.

I’m working with another swimming coach to come up with a plan for a Surrey version, utilising the River Wey and potentially some lakes. These ones will definitely be suitable for new swimmers throughout the winter months so feel free to bring friends. I’ll post more details once we’ve worked through all the details.

All of the sessions will be added to the Dates & Altered Sessions part of the website.

Halloween(ish) Fright Night

Apologies for the delay in organising this special event. I have some potential extended overseas travel for work at just the wrong time for this. I don’t have firm details yet though. As a result, I think it’s a little too risky to plan this event now as the safety measures around an event like this are pretty extensive and need all hands on deck. We’ll try again next year. One of these years we’ll get it to work!

Conference

Our 2023 DCT Conference will be held in Maidstone on 4th & 5th February 2023. Spaces will be limited so look out for your chance to book to avoid disappointment.