This is my vision board for adult swimming in the Philippines.  (photos from: US Masters Swimming) Strong. Confident. Incredibly fit. and swimming well into their senior years.  I was a competitive swimmer up until college. Retiring from national level swimming didn't mean that I wanted to stop swimming altogether, but at the time retirement meant a full stop ?. There were no races to train for nor swim friends to train with on a regular basis. For decades, I was a sport orphan. Until I discovered triathlon in my late 30s. Yeay there's swimming! But I have to bike and.. (gu ..read more

The swimmers at Swimjunkie Challenge : Caramoan a few weeks ago were all strong, confident, and primed for their 5Km, 10Km and 15Km swims. We also have swimmies who are back from their power Ironman Kona stints. All have been a little surprised at how lately, short distances seem to leave them out of breath and that they can't seem to break out of their long-distance race paces. We get that, and we've got you. The swimmies and I are working on Project 1:29, an off-season challenge designed to help us break through our time plateaus and hit faster times before the next race season begins. Why i ..read more

Even the strongest swimmers can be caught off guard by the power of ocean currents. And many of the participants at last weekend's Ironman 70.3 Davao (March 26, 2023) will attest to this.  This blog's widest read post (over 50,000 hits) is: "What Happened at Ironman Philippines Cebu (the swim)". In that post I talked about how tides affect swim conditions and swimmers alike, and I watched the phrase "spring tide" turn top-of-mind in the tri community. I was not expecting to write a similar topic about Davao. Was March 26, 2023, a spring tide? It was not.  Then why was the current in ..read more

In triathlon the swim leg is often the most feared, especially for those who are new to open water swimming. The challenges the open water presents - such as currents, waves, critters, rough starts, and the potential to swim off course (sometimes way off course) - are the reasons why so many triathletes seem to struggle with the open water swim.  This post is about the benefits of swim analysis, open water swim clinics, and structured workout programs and how important they are in improving your open water swim. Because we're so proud of how far the Swimjunkie squad has come, I've include ..read more

It's happened! One of the most current-handicapped Ironman swim courses (in the world) has changed! From this: To this: What does that mean for everyone swimming this Sunday, August 7, 2022? IT'S A CHANNEL The swim is in a (Hilutungan) channel, which is swimmers' code for strong currents : ) We've explained why that is on several posts but as a refresher: if you force this much water through a smaller section, the currents are stronger. Some sections of Hilutungan have been known to house currents as fast as 2m/second. For reference, a competitive swimmer holding a pace of 1 minute per ..read more

It's that time. Off season can go one of three ways for me. 1. Completely Rest. This includes no early alarms set before 6am and limiting my workouts to shorter stints, at hours that are more friendly on the skin.  2. Cross Train. In previous years I dabbled in underwater-hockey or running on trails. The goal was to maintain a level of fitness but give the overworked tri muscles a break. 3. Dedicate a Block of Training to my Weakest Sport. Ever since I started organising Swimjunkie Challenges / open water swim events I may have over-achieved Option 1. Thankfully, event preparations d ..read more

A few months back I posted a reminder for those inquiring about the open water swims that I organize. No tali translated means No Lines. As in No lane lines. These are open water swims which have, unlike triathlons and open water races tailored for beginners, zero lane lines as course guides. The swims feature evenly spaced sight references along the course. Our versions of large marker buoys are white beaches and island stops. I set up the swimjunkie seaswim races this way to help participants embrace the real feel of open water swimming - and not embrace the lane lines.  Obviousl ..read more

I took this picture at the club pool this morning. With the temperatures suddenly soaring over the past few days (the same pool was at 29 degrees the week before), coaches and swimmers are faced with the dilemma: To Swim, Or Not to Swim? When is it too dangerous to be swim training at warm temperatures?  The pools hit this same measurement last year but there are other factors to consider. The El Nino Phenomenon brings with it typically cloud-less skies, which offer no reprieve from the force of the sun. Then there's the dry-spell, with less lush ground cover the earth soaks up more h ..read more

I am in awe of family and friends who used the lockdown months to become fitter versions of themselves. I've seen people jump-rope to half their 2019 size, and friends with mini home-gyms walking around with wider shoulders and leaner physiques. After the desolation of one of the world's longest quarantines (Philippines, 18 months) getting fitter, faster, or stronger seems like the perfect gift to one's self. Of course I asked: shouldn't there be a swim version of this as well?!  How to be a better swim version of yourself. It has been tough staying swim fit, the venues where I coached (m ..read more

I have a new pair of paddles!! I asked a swimmie to buy a pair of Strokemakers for me (my favorite), on one of his trips to the U.S. He refused to accept payment for them when he got back so, Yeay thank you!!! I love coach gifts ?. Before I gush about this new pair, I feel the responsible thing to do is offer a preamble aka premumble on the pros and cons of using paddles, particularly for my tri friends. A survey (1993, U.S. study) of 1,262 age-group to national level swimmers revealed that swim paddles and shoulder-bearing exercises were acknowledged as "having the capacity to agg ..read more