Catch and pull

Good progress on stroke technique over the past few days. A great website has been of real help in finessing the open water stroke which is very different to the standard pool technique most of us have learnt. The 'catch' is the crucial bit which defines how you feel when you 'catch' the water at the very front of your stroke and the 'pull' (rather unsurprisingly) is the retraction of your arm back to your body.

Little adjustments to technique on these two areas make a huge difference. I reckon I have been putting down a slightly faster speed with 10-15% less effort. If you want to see more and download their stroke visualisation model (with virtual swimming legend - Mr Smooth) then visit http://www.swimsmooth.com/ .

First sea swim now set for 21st March - aagh ! Cold showers are helping with acclimatisation (now up to 4 mins post swimming of skin numbing water) but I don't really think anything will prepare me for 6-7 degrees celsius - so much for the gulfstream. Have a look at the sea where I'll be swimming on http://weathercam.camstreams.com/ though you might want to make sure you've got a mug of warm tea in your hand first !!