How to get back into swimming after an injury

Why it’s often simpler than you might think to resolve a swimming injury When a swimmer sustains an injury, it’s important to acknowledge the situation and embrace the path ahead to allow for proper recovery. Whether it’s an overuse shoulder strain or traumatic injury, it’s important to understand the steps required to return to the […]
Why seaweed can help save the planet

How seaweeds can be a sustainable source of food and other materials ‘Large seaweeds are essentially like underwater trees. They are the foundation of shallow reefs and they dominate a quarter of the world’s coastlines,’ says professor Adriana Vergés, a marine ecologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. ‘They provide food, habitat […]
What swimming goggles should you buy?

What’s the difference between pool and open water goggles? Put simply, pool goggles tend to be smaller and fit more closely in the eye socket. This is because in the pool you typically need less range of visibility (you’re only really looking at that black line). They will often be very streamlined for speed and […]
What is the Rampion wind farm swim challenge?

Where did the idea for the Rampion wind farm swim come from? Nikki, 31, is the OG, the first to do the swim, from Shoreham and back, and reveals it was an idea born in the first lockdown in 2020, when she and a friend, Jon, were looking for a challenge to help prepare them […]
Five simple tips to improve your freestyle swimming technique

Why changing your breathing technique can help your freestyle swimming When you’re swimming face down, it’s important to continuously blow out into the water between your breaths to the side. This gets rid of the CO2 build-up in your system and it means that when you rotate to the side to breathe you only have […]
How To Improve Your Dolphin Kick

What is a dolphin kick? As you’ll see if you watch someone swimming butterfly, it’s a kick where the legs are extended straight back and move up and down in unison, with a slight bend in the knees on the upward movement. According to World Aquatic rules, all up and down movements of the legs […]
How To Care For Your Wetsuit

How to put on your wetsuit without damaging it Looking after your wetsuit starts the day it arrives. One of the biggest mistakes people make (as I found to my cost) is rushing to put their suit on. For the purposes of this feature, we’re talking about the swimming wetsuits made from coated neoprene (rather […]
How To Protect And Boost Your Immune System When Cold-Water Swimming

What diet is best to boost your immune system when regularly cold-water swimming? When your body needs to fight an illness, it requires energy. Following a long or intensive swim session you are at greater risk of illness as you will have used up some of your energy reserves. Your immune system may not now […]
How To Go From Swimmer To Triathlete

What are the health and training benefits of taking part in a triathlon as a swimmer? Most triathletes tend to come from a background of running and cycling, and if there’s anything that gives them the heebie-jeebies, it’s getting into the water to compete – let alone into open water. So, if you’re a good […]
How did elite swimmer Andreas Waschburger break the English Channel world record in 2023?

What made Andreas Waschburger decide to swim the Channel and try to break the record? Already a few years ago I had the idea of swimming the English Channel. Petar Stoychev and Christof Wandratsch [former Channel record-holders] ultimately encouraged me to do this. They persuaded me and also put me in touch with the famous […]