GIVING BACK
How many times have you been asked for tips on swim technique or help with learning to swim? If you’re like me, you know what to do but find it difficult to explain so that the swimmer can learn for themselves. So last month I bit the bullet and signed up to the STA Open Water Coaching Qualification, a three-day course run by Olympic swimmer Keri-anne Payne. If you are going to learn you may as well learn from the best!
What was interesting from the outset was the mix of people on the course and their reasons for attending: triathlon coaches; swimmers who wanted to help their friends become more confident in the open water; people setting off on new careers in open water coaching; established swim teachers and guides who wanted extra arrows to their bows. What soon became apparent is that swim teaching is very different to coaching. Enabling a swimmer to learn for themselves rather than telling them what to do is a very powerful tool. I think I can safely speak for everyone on the course when I say it exceeded our expectations and gave us confidence to help all kinds of swimmers on their open water journeys.