OW training & coaching

In Scandinavië, Schotland, IJsland en de Baltische Staten is wildzwemmen gewoon toegelaten, tenzij er expliciet staat dat het verboden is. The right to roam, zo noemen ze het daar, een basisrecht op bewegingsvrijheid. Maar waar exact moet je in België zijn om te zwemmen in de natuur?

Zwemmen in de zee kan prachtig zijn, mits je dat veilig doet. Daarom geeft zwemjuf Linda Damme ieder jaar een aantal zwemlessen in open zee aan haar leerlingen. Afgelopen week was het zover. Met een wetsuit aan, een badmuts op en een zwemboei rond de middel, namen de kinderen een frisse duik in de Oosterschelde.

Op de Facebook pagina van de ACNEG vond ik een video die fraai de techniek demonstreert hoe te voeden bij een marathon-oversteek.

It’s the first Saturday of October, at 6:15 in the morning. It’s still dark out, with the faintest of light creeping in over the eastern horizon. I’ve arrived at the Gravel Pond, where most of my open water training over the last decade has occurred, hoping to sneak in one last long swim before the pond closes for the season. I have no distance goals today; I’m just aiming to swim until 10 am, when the session closes.

The nighttime air temperatures are hovering around 37 degrees F (2.7C). The water temp is still warm enough, right at 58F (14.4C). The temperature contrast is causing a fine layer of mist over the water, as if the air is struggling to steal the remaining warmth from the water below. The skies overhead are crisp and clear, with a nearly full moon just starting her descent toward the foothills to the west.

When a great white shark stole a flipper from freediver Callum Stewart, he felt terror, curiosity and a deep love for his family – all in the space of 30 seconds.

A week before a great white shark took my diving fin, I went diving with nurse sharks on the New South Wales south coast. It was epic. I’ve always really liked sharks and was interested in seeing them in the wild. From what I’ve been reading and hearing, sharks are really not interested in attacking humans.

Even if you never want to enter a swimming event, learning how to turn quickly and efficiently around a buoy is a fun and useful skill to learn. If you do have swimming events planned, a well-executed buoy turn will not only give you a faster swim but also make you feel more confident and look really professional!

Buoy turns can be one of the most daunting parts of a swim event or triathlon. Like a mass start, they are feared for being like an aquatic rugby scrum as swimmers vie to get round the buoy as quickly as possible. 

‘One minute per degree’ is a rule often touted among cold-water swimmers, but is it a reliable guideline? Heather Massey and Mike Tipton of the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Plymouth investigate.

There is an inverse relationship between water temperature and rate of cooling (the colder the water, the faster your tissues cool). So, the idea that in-water duration is reduced as water temperature cools in winter and spring is not a bad starting point.

But the nature of the relationship between water temperature and deep body cooling rate varies hugely between individuals.

“You will get dragged down by weeds!” Just one of many anxious thoughts that might go through a swimmer’s mind before taking the plunge. Simon Griffiths has your myth busting guide to swimming safely with weeds.

There is something about being in open water that nags on your subconscious. However comfortable you are in the water, and however competent you are at swimming, somewhere in the dark recess of your mind is a voice that says you don’t really belong here.

If you want to perform at your best in the water, you need to keep warm. Here, Professor Mike Tipton highlights the body parts that it's most important to insulate

To continue swimming in open water through winter safely and comfortably, you’ll need to make sure you take measures to keep your body warm. But what are the most important body parts to keep toasty while swimming in cold water? Professor Mike Tipton explains…

If you understand the underpinning physiology, then everything else will make sense. You can’t lump gloves, boots and hats in together, as they do different jobs!

Swimming in cold, open water has become a popular hobby for thrill-seekers. From the frigid waters of Cape Town’s Atlantic seaboard to the icy dams of the Karoo, South Africa offers many opportunities for a refreshing dip.

In 1985, Nature published a paper arguing that women would outrun men in marathons by 2000. Like so many other things that were supposed to happen “in the year 2000,” this prediction never came to fruition. Women’s finishing times were indeed improving rapidly as compared to the rate of men’s improvements, but that was likely because women were so much newer to distance running as compared to men. As science writer Rose Eveleth has explained, that Nature paper “extrapolated linearly from a few points of early data. (Its conclusions are mocked in many entry-level statistics courses.)” In 2016, the fastest men runners are still about 12 percent faster than the fastest women, and most exercise scientists doubt that women will ever outperform men at the elite marathon level.

Op meerdere zwemlocaties in en rond Amsterdam zijn blauwalgen aangetroffen. Het wordt afgeraden om hierin te zwemmen. Blauwalgen kunnen leiden tot huidirritatie en maag- en darmklachten.

Zo waarschuwt de gemeente Amstelveen voor blauwalgen in de Grote Vijver en aan de westzijde van de Nieuwe Meer. De organisatie van het Amsterdamse Bos adviseert daarom de komende dagen hier niet te zwemmen. De Oostzijde van de Nieuwe Meer is wel veilig.

Tips van open water en kanaalzwemmer Pierre Mellegers

Paar tips voor als je op een Pieterman gaat staan!

1. DOE HET NIET!!
   Als het wel gebeurt:
2. Meteen in heet water staan (liefst binnen een half uur. Dat breekt het gif af).
3. Neem een pijnstiller.
4. Drink melk (deze tip kreeg ik van een sympathieke Griek).

Ps. Deze tips staan ook op een willekeurige websites.