Swimming with a legend

As you may know, I’m currently training for Swimathon, which is going to be a massive challenge for me. I’ve not been swimming as much as I used to because it’s a logistical challenge with Baby M. When I was offered the chance to have a swimming lesson with Duncan Goodhew, the President of Swimathon, I leapt at the opportunity.
Meeting Ducan Goodhew in London
After a challenging journey (running buggies are not the smallest mode of transport for a baby and definitely not designed for the underground), we made it to a beautiful pool at Pancras Square Leisure.
I changed into my swimwear and Sam (our Swimathon contact) introduced me to Adele, another Swimathon ambassador. Adele completed 5k last year, so she knows what she’s letting herself in for this time around (and she’s wisely chosen to do 2500m faster than she has before). (If you’d like to find out more about Adele’s training, please check out her blog: Fit Artist Running Blog).
Then we were introduced to Duncan Goodhew. He is such a lovely person and clearly remembered meeting Adele last year. Duncan is a great example of someone who found where their talent lay at a young age and who has built a successful career around it. He’s clearly as passionate about swimming today as he was in 1980.
Warming up
We had a discussion poolside and talked about the importance of warming up before discussing our training and what our goals are. I know that my technique has lots of flaws (and that I just haven’t been in the water enough recently… but that’s not something that Duncan could fix!), whereas Adele wanted to work on her speed.
Then it was into the water. We did a warm-up and then Duncan started giving us specific advice and drills.
As you can see, Adele and I had a spacious lane to share and I was surprised that the rest of the pool was much quieter than I am used to. It was such a beautiful and clean pool that if it were my local, I’d be happy to swim there every day. Southampton Tri Club is now so popular that there are usually at least 5 of us in a lane and sometimes as many as 8!
Open or closed fingers?
One of the first things that Duncan pointed out is that I hold my fingers tightly closed. When I first learnt to swim, I was accused of having ‘banana hands’ as my fingers were so far apart. I now need to learn to relax them as the latest research has shown that it is better to have gaps between the fingers.
Some of the first drills that I did with Duncan were to help me with lengthening my stroke. One of them was ‘catch up’ which I’m familiar with.
After doing this for a while, Duncan identified that when I start to tire, I don’t finish my stroke properly. This means I miss the final push phase of my crawl. I know that I can do it when I’m thinking about it, so I need to make a conscious effort to focus on that until muscle memory makes me do it every time!
Stroke imbalance
Duncan then pointed out an imbalance in my stroke. My right-hand side has worse technique than my left. Back in 2014, I had a cycling accident in the Pyrenees. It took months for my right arm to function properly and although it’s fine now, I’ve lost a lot of flexibility on that side. Duncan explained that on that side, in particular, I lead with my hand, instead of leading with my elbow, so in effect I’m doing an exaggerated doggy paddle :-O Obviously, that’s not something that I can fix quickly. I really need to make time for shoulder flexibility exercises, ideally every day. Unfortunately, I think carrying an increasingly heavy baby in a car seat is only adding to the problem, at the moment.
All too soon, the session was over and we were onto the cooldown (and some posing for pics!)
This was an amazing opportunity for me. I really appreciate Duncan giving up his time to help us.
Have you signed up for Swimathon yet?
Swimathon takes place this weekend, but it’s not too late for you to sign up. You can do a range of distances from 1.5k-5k, or could form a team and take part in a relay.
Finally, before leaving I had to ask Duncan Goodhew for a quick selfie with his amazing medal! Isn’t it amazing?
When I’m battling my swim on Friday morning, I’ll definitely be thinking back to Duncan’s wise words and will try to
- lengthen my stroke
- consider my head position
- finish my stroke when I get tired
- lead with my elbow on my right-hand side
Wow what an honour & swim coach experience
It was definitely worth the hours of travel time.
Ohhh I met him once or twice when I was growing up and he said I had a nice breaststroke style … will never forget that!! 😀
That’s high praise indeed… it probably took all of his imagination to find any positives about my technique!
ps – good luck with the swim!
Thank you… it wasn’t pretty, but I finished it!