This is a 5-day experience designed for you to fully immerse yourself in the joy of open water swimming. The retreat will greatly improve your technique and confidence in the open water, running under the expert guidance of qualified open water swimming coaches.
During the retreat there will be morning indoor pool sessions to focus on drills and techniques to then put into practice in the sea in the afternoon. The average swimming distance per day will be around 2-3 km depending on the weather conditions and ability levels. It will be a relaxed environment and if anyone wants to swim a shorter distance or just get used to cold water, we can accommodate this. Equally if anyone wants a longer swim we can also be flexible and adapt a session to meet your needs.
The swimming sessions and presentations will focus on the three core principles of open water swimming; breathing, body position and propulsion.
Our head coach is John Hodgetts (www.efficientswimming.co.uk) who has been open water coached and qualified by Keri-anne Payne (Olympic silver medallist and two time World Champion) and technique coached by Tracey Baumann (ex Master Coach at Total Immersion and now head coach at SwimMastery in Windsor). John’s coaching style is to develop a relaxed and effortless swimming technique, enabling you to enjoy your time in the water more, swimming further, more efficiently and injury free.
We will also focus on specific open water swimming techniques to reduce anxiety in the water and be able to overcome the mental and physical challenge of the natural environment. Our instructors will give you all the encouragement, coaching and support needed to achieve your goals.
Within our swim retreat, we enhance the already meditative and calming quality open water swimming brings with the opportunity to take part in yoga, mindfulness and breathwork sessions. We even include an outdoor sauna as part of the program to allow you to recover and relax after a swim session.
Your safety is of paramount importance to us and with this in mind swimming locations are carefully selected based on weather and tidal conditions and we provide as qualified beach life-guard and a kayaker for all of our open water swimming.
The swimming retreat is hosted by Dorset Fitness retreat and based at the historical Old Rectory in Symondsbury, West Dorset, with stunning accommodation and beautiful grounds with views of the iconic Colmers Hill. You can expect spacious accommodation with nutritious homecooked meals to fuel all of the activities.
