Another week has passed without being able to swim or exercise, and it has started to concern me that I am missing vital training weeks for the Henley Swim. Motivation is at an all-time high now that I can’t exercise, but sadly there is nothing I can do in the meantime.

In order to keep working towards the swim in any way I can, I have been doing some reading around swimming techniques and other useful bits of information that might help me once I can get back in the pool again. Having been removed from any form of water sport for years (since I got glasses about 13 years ago), it is amazing how much more technical things are than you remember; particularly when “the last time” was when you were a child. So here is my summary of useful swimming tips for any budding swimmers, or any pros who might want to refresh their basics:

• Front crawl: a good warming up stroke. This one uses a lot of energy though as it is quite an active stroke. Breathing is key when swimming in front crawl, so even though you might feel you can go 4 strokes prior to breathing, it might be that you need to make sure that you only do 2 then breath, in order to ensure that your muscles are receiving enough oxygen to keep up your stamina, and getting rid of any carbon dioxide build up as quick as possible.

• Breaststroke: possibly the easiest stroke in that it doesn’t wear you out quickly. It is a nice relaxing stroke and can be used for swimming under water as well as on the surface. This is not a good stroke to warm up with unless you find front crawl too tiring as it can overstretch ligaments and tendons, and overwork certain muscles groups. You also need to have good core strength to do this stroke effectively, so tight tummy muscles can really help

• Stretching: after warming up, or at the end of your swim, you should always stretch. This will make sure that none of your muscles get tight, injured or cramped. It is important to remember that swimming is one of the few sports where all your muscles get used, so you would also need to do a full body stretch. Even better is if you can do your stretches in a steam room or sauna as you can do deeper stretches. Deeper stretches will help you to increase your flexibility, which will lead to improved performance in the pool next time. And for ladies: it will help get longer, leaner muscles rather than shorter, tighter ones, so you can be beach ready looking all lovely and trim.

Hoping to get back in the pool next week or the week after…..hoping for sooner rather than later