2024 South West Swim Open Water Sessions at a Glance
See what we have on offer and dates all on one page to make your selection and booking even easier.Let us share our passion, experience and knowledge to make you the best open water swimmer you can be.
Keep checking back for more dates and session types as the season progresses.
Below you can see our Open Water Workshops and Group offerings for 2024, along with links to book sessions directly in our online booking system.
This page will be updated with new services and dates as we release them, so keep checking back or contact us to find out how we can help your swimming.
Need General Swimming Help, Learn to Swim Front Crawl or Stroke Development & Correction Sessions?
We also offer 1-to-1 and video analysis sessions in our Private Endless Pool in Swindon. See www.southwestswim.co.uk/endlesspoolcoaching for more information and booking details.
South West Swim offers the complete swim coaching solution, and can offer Open Water, Endless Pool and Pool Group Coaching services.
Swimmer Level: Everybody
Open Water 1-to-1 Sessions
SPECIAL OFFER ON DOUBLE SESSION PURCHASES BEFORE JULY 12th 2024
Enjoy£20 off a twin pack of 1-to-1 open water coaching sessions. Book your initial session HERE
and on the payment screen select the twin pack option, use discount code ‘SummersHere” at checkout. All sessions must be used by September 7th 2024.
*Sessions are for one swimmer and cannot be shared, no refunds or extensions for unspent sessions.
By far our most popular session every year, and we are confident that we offer the very best 1-to-1 experience in terms of coaching, content and take away materials.
Sessions are taken By Jason Tait, A Swim Smooth Certified Coach, STA Open Water coach and qualified coaches tutor, Swim England Open Water Coach, Swim England Pool Coach and teacher and CTA Aquaphobia Specialist Coach.
This is a tailored and individual session where we can work on any aspect of your swimming, open water skills, confidence, pacing and even an private individual Introduction to open water session.
Jason will guide your swim either in the water with you, from a SUP board or from lakeside (or a mixture of all). We use various techniques to give you the best session possible, from our class leading swim smooth certified coaching, to amazing AI Stroke Analysis and coach to swimmer headsets (so we can guide you whilst you’re swimming). Technology used at coaches discretion for your needs, session type and where we coach you from.
Whatever your swimming needs Jason can help you in a one off session, or guide you through your journey through the whole season and beyond.
Available as single session purchases or grab a discounted pack of 2 sessions (to be used within 4 months). These sessions are also valid for use in our Endless Pool for all round development.
Find out more about our 1-to-1 Sessions at Lake86 and book your session here
Need General Swimming Help?
We also offer 1-to-1 and video analysis sessions in our Private Endless Pool in Swindon. See www.southwestswim.co.uk/endlesspoolcoaching for more information and booking details.
Swimmer Level: For the Completely New Open Water Swimmer
Introduction to Open Water Swimming - Swim England Level 1 Workshop at Lake86 (Cotswold Water Park Hire)
Your first step into the world of open water & triathlon swimming, working to achieve your Swim England Level 1 Open Water Certificate (and shiny badge, we all like a shiny badge…….right)
This Level 1 workshop will swim your way to your Swim England Level 1 certificate in Open Water Swimming and provide you with the skills and confidence to take to the water by yourself, tackle your first Open Water or Triathlon event, or just educate and improve the swim of the non competitive swimmer looking for that new and exciting challenge.
This workshop is around 1.5 hours in duration, actual water time will vary depending on the water temperature at the time of the session.
This session will cover
- Safety / Session brief, including venue specific safety
- Putting on your wetsuit – making the dark art of getting rubber on your body as simple as 1-2-3-4
- Safe Entry / Exit of the water
- Acclimatisation and breathing control
- Self Rescue & Emergency actions
- Basic Sighting Action for front crawl swimmers
- Group Swimming Familiarisation / Drafting
- Common start & finish techniques
- 200m Test Swim (part of the Level 1 Certificate sign off process)
- The Syllabus of the Swim England Level 1 Certificate in Open Water Swimming. This is ONLY passed if the swimmer completes all of the content in the course, including online questions (link sent nearer the course date)
2024 Dates (we will add more sessions as needed through the season)
The Cost of this fully coached and supported session and all materials is £35 (Get £3 off this price as an early bird sign up before March 31st). Price is per session, only one session is needed as this is a workshop.
Lake 86 – May 11th, June 1st, June 29th – All sessions start at 1pm Click here for more details on this session and to choose and book your session time
PRIVATE SESSIONS: We are available to deliver this session to your training group or club, please contact us to discuss how we can deliver a bespoke workshop for you. Email Jason@southwestswim.co.uk
Swimmer Level: For the Intermediate & Advanced Open Water Swimmer
Introduction To Open Water Race Skills - Level 2 Swim England Workshop at Lake86 (Cotswold Water Park Hire)
Build confidence and learn the skills needed to confidently embrace a swimming or triathlon event or race environment. This session will work towards the achieving your Swim England Level 2 Open Water Certificate (and another shiny badge!)
This Level 2 workshop will swim your way to your Swim England Level 2 certificate in Open Water Swimming and provide you with the skills and confidence to take on your first open water or triathlon swim.
This session is a fast paced introduction to race skills, delivered with productive fun by building each skill on top of the next skill. The aim is to progress swimmers through the vital skills to get you through an event or race with confidence. To book this session you must be able to swim 400m, confident non stop front crawl.
New swimmers are advised to take our Level 1 Introduction To Open Water Swimming session before this one as it would help to understand the basics of the skills we will be working through at Level 2.
This workshop is around 1.5 hours in duration, actual water time will vary depending on the water temperature at the time of the session.
This session will cover
- Safety / Session brief, including venue specific safety
- Sighting technique and patterns
- Advanced Drafting Techniques and overtaking
- Group Swimming / close contact swimming
- Various Buoy turns and when to use them
- Mass Starts (Plus Diving / entry from a jetty)
- 400m Test Swim in race conditions
- Finishes to T1
- We will be working to the syllabus of the Swim England Level 2 Certificate in Open Water Swimming. This is ONLY passed if the swimmer completes all of the content in the course, including online questions (link sent nearer the course date)
2024 Dates – Please enquire about this session and we will add dates depending on demand.
The Cost of this fully coached and supported session and all materials is £35
Lake 86 – tbc – Click here for more details on this sessions and to choose and book your session time
PRIVATE SESSIONS: We are available to deliver this session to your training group, swimming or triathlon club, please contact us to discuss how we can deliver a bespoke workshop for you. Email Jason@southwestswim.co.uk
Advanced Open Water Race Skills - Level 3 Swim England Workshop at Lake86 (Cotswold Water Park Hire)
Take your swimming to the next level and learn advanced tips, tricks and skills to make you a well rounded swimmer. Be it for Triathlon, Swimming or long distance swimming this session will build on the skills learnt in our Level 2 workshop. This session will work towards the achieving your Swim England Level 3 Open Water Certificate (and another shiny badge!), the last in the series of Open Water Awards from Swim England.
This Level 3 workshop will swim your way to your Swim England Level 3 certificate in Open Water Swimming and provide you with the skills and confidence to take on your first open water or triathlon swim.
This session is race simulated session with a mina focus on competing in an event and making this as real as we can for the swimmer, whilst recapping on key skills and performing them at speed and in close contact. To book this session you must be able to swim 400m, confident non stop front crawl and have completed the level 2 workshop with us.
New swimmers are advised to take our Level 1 Introduction To Open Water Swimming session AND all swimmers must have completed the level 2 Introduction to Race Skills session or have relevant race experience and confidence to take part in this workshop. This workshop will be close contact and fast paced learning.
This workshop is around 1.5 hours in duration, actual water time will vary depending on the water temperature at the time of the session.
This session will cover the content of Level two PLUS some more advanced hints and tips. Content will be swum as a race simulation environment
- Safety / Session brief, including venue specific safety
- Sighting technique and patterns
- Advanced Drafting Techniques and overtaking
- Group Swimming / close contact swimming
- Various Buoy turns and when to use them
- Mass Starts
- 400m Test Swim in race conditions exhibiting and demonstrating all the skills listed above
- Swimming & Triathlon finishes to T1
- We will be working to the syllabus of the Swim England Level 2 Certificate in Open Water Swimming. This is ONLY passed if the swimmer completes all of the content in the course, including online questions (link sent nearer the course date)
2023 Dates (we will add more sessions as needed through the season)
The Cost of this fully coached and supported session and all materials is £30 (Get 10% off this price as an early bird sign up before March 31st)
Lake 86 – No Dates at this time, private bookings available, contact us to discuss.
PRIVATE SESSIONS: We are available to deliver this session to your training group, swimming or triathlon club, please contact us to discuss how we can deliver a bespoke workshop for you. Email Jason@southwestswim.co.uk
Guide To Sighting and Swimming Straighter Workshop
Our ever popular sighting specific workshop is back. Learn how to sight effectively and be aware of some key faults in your stroke that may make you swim off course.
reduce thre distance you swim and learn the most effective way to sight your swimming in this workshop session
Cost £33
Sighting and Navigation – Lake 86 June 1st @ 10:30am (Cotswold Big Swim Edition) Click here for more details on this session and to choose and book your session time
Swimmer Level: Competitive Junior Swimmers (aged 12 at end of year to 17/18)
Junior 1-to-1 Sessions and Lake Sign Off Sessions (Swim England Level 1 Open Water Swimming Certificate)
These sessions are aimed at competitive swimmers and triathletes with a good standard of front crawl swimming to a county standard, they are not suitable for leisure swimmers with limited exposure to regular training.
The first session a junior swimmer should take is our Lake sign off session. This session is designed to take competitive swimmers and triathletes through the basics of Open Water Swimming safety, self rescue, signalling help and an assessment swim of 400m. We work towards the Swim England Level 1 Open Water Certificate, which is awarded if all of the criteria in the session is passed.
Successful completion of this sign off session allows the swimmer to swim without an adult at Lake86 and we work with the lakes and their current junior swimmer requirements. Please note that just attending the course does NOT guarantee a pass, the swimmer will need to demonstrate a mature attitude to swimming alongside all of the swim skills asked and completion of the 400m open water test swim.
As part of this session we give the swimmer their own Swim Secure Tow Woggle to keep, and a Swim England Certificate and Badge to show completion of our session.
After completion of the Lake Sign Off session, or for swimmers with relevant swimming or triathlon club open water experience, we are happy to coach competitive juniors in open water skills and technique for open water.
All junior swimmers MUST be aged 12 years (at the end of the calendar year) and hold a county qualification swim time (click here to see Wiltshire County Qualification Times) and be able to swim 400m non stop front crawl comfortably and confidently. If your swimmer does not meet these requirements please do not book a session or contact us before booking if you are unsure if this session is not suitable.
Please book a 1-to-1 Lake Sign Off session HERE, booking this in the SWIMMERS name and details (not the parents details)
Book a Junior Introduction to Open Water Level 1 at Lake 86
After completion of a Junior Sign Off session we will also be able to coach the Junior swimmer in a Junior Open Water 1-to-1, see details and book HERE
FREE Coached Open Water Sessions
FREE Coached Sessions for Members of Lake86 Swim Community
Part of our ‘Giving Back’ initiative at South West Swim.
These sessions are free for lake86 Swim Members, but MUST be booked via our booking system (we can not accommodate walk ins). If you are not a member of Lake86 our coaching will still be free but you MUST book in for a swim session with the lake in advance, this is at your cost. Memberships will be checked before the session.
Each session has limited availability, once full they are full so be quick to book. These sessions are only for those aged 18 years and over.
Please note that South West Swim operates independently from Lake86 as a business entity.
Dates and courses (click on title to book):
Safety Essentials – Lake86 April 14th or April 28th – 10:30am
Relaxed Breathing and Breathing Technique – Lake 86 25th May 9am
Basic Front Crawl Pointers – Lake 86 June 22nd 9am
Swimmer Level: Bespoke services for Swimming Clubs, Triathlon Clubs, Event Organisers, Lake Operators and Media Outlets
Bespoke Club & Corporate Coaching and Open Water / Media Consultancy Services
South West Swim can also offer bespoke coaching services for juniors and adults from swimming clubs and triathlon clubs. We can also cater for businesses (maybe you have a team event or challenge coming up). In a bespoke session we will work with you to provide a session that meets your needs as a club or organisation.
We also work with lake operators, event organisers and media outlets on a consultancy basis. Head coach Jason has worked with and provided content for magazines, governing bodies, TV and Radio, most recently working with the BBC Top Gear Team.
Please contact Jason Tait for more information at Jason@Southwestswim.co.uk
Finally, a bit about us.
South West Swim is the longest established Open Water coaching company in the Cotswolds with a long built reputation for delivering quality swim coaching, be it in the open water or pool. We have been trusted by thousands of swimmers to help them with their stroke since our launch in 2014. South West Swim is a full time coaching business putting swimmers safety and development at the helm of all we do.
At South West Swim our Open Water sessions are delivered by the very best fully qualified and experienced Swim England coaches and teachers. All our open water coaches also hold specialist Open Water qualifications from Swim England and / or the STA, and Open Water lifeguarding from RLSS. South West Swim Coaches are not simply guides to show you how to get into open water for the first time, we are here to guide your journey from that first step lakeside through to progressing and correcting your open water skills and swim stroke, drawing on many years of real life experience in coaching, racing and eventing. We have coached swimmers from Learning to swim (adult & child) all the way through to regional, national and world level achievers and champions.
All sessions are led by Head Coach Jason Tait, Swim England Coach & Teacher, Swim England Open Water Coach, STA Open Water Coach and Tutor. Jason also sits on the STA Open Water Working group that helped develop the award winning STA Open Water Coaching qualification, a course which has gone on to become the leading open water education course that other coaches sit to become an open water coach / open water guide.
Jason is also a Swim Smooth Certified Coach and is an expert in Front Crawl stroke analysis, fault identification and correction.
South West Swim’s Coaching manner, experience, session structure and after session take away material provide our swimmers with the very best swim coaching experience available, which we believe is unrivalled in the Cotswolds.
Read what others have to say about us at https://www.wellnessliving.com/crossfit/swindon/southwestswim/review
You are in great hands with a South West Swim session, be it 1-to-1 or one of our amazing groups or workshops. If you have any questions please get in contact with us at swim@southwestswim.co.uk
How Do I know If Open Water coaching is Right For Me?
With the most comprehensicve range of open water services around and a huge variety of time slots available (and we can try and arrange bespoke times if needed) we are sure to be able to assist your open water journey.
Here are some frequently asked questions we have from swimmers who are looking to join us and start or develop in open water.
Are you new to open water and never been in that environment before?
We can help. Look at our ‘Safety Essentials’ and ‘Introduction to Open Water Swimming’ session types. If you wanted a more private and bespoke session, or are very nervous about entering the open water then book into a 1-to-1 session with Jason.
Jason can guide you through your session and knows what it’s like to have those nerves and fears, believe it or not many years ago Jason was in the same position. Jason is a fully qualified Aquaphobic coach so can back up his own historic experiences with the latest coaching methods for those with a fear or nervousness of the water.
Have you swum in open water before but want to progress your open water skills to do an event?
Yup, we can help there too. Look at our ‘Introduction to open water swimming’ session type. You may then ant to progress your swimming with one of our ‘Open Water Squad’ sessions or a 1-to-1 session.
We can even start developing your swimming before your open water session as we have our own pool for 1-to-1 based sessions and swim squads for group sessions.
Are you training for an event, or just want to swim in a group with focus and structure
We have this covered too. Check out our ‘open water squad’ and ‘mini open water skills’ sessions. Our squad sessions are sorted into speed/experience groups and will offer a weekly structured training session mixing both open water skills, swim technique and endurance.
Our mini skills sessions will focus on an open water skill and really get you focusing and learning in the form of a mini workshop.
Do you want to improve your open water skills in the lake
Look at that, we have that covered too! This is one of our specialities and we can help you learn, refine and perfect all of your open water skills. We will show you how to adapt them to different environments and bodies of water too.
We can work you through how different open water skills will affect your swim stroke dynamic and technique, advising on how to overcome or work with these areas too.
We will use the latest tech to compliment your session which could include our Swim Stroke Analysis AI or our coach to swimmer headset, dependant on how we coach your session.
Take a look at our 1-to-1 sessions with open water expert Jason Tait, you may also be interested in our ‘mini skills workshops’
So you want to improve your swim stroke, can you do that in a lake?
Oh yes, we can help there. Head coach Jason Tait is Swim Smooth Certified after all /,and thats what he does day in day out. Take a look at our 1-to-1 sessions where we can look at your stroke and develop your swimming to the next level. No two swimmers swim exactly the same, and no two swimmers should be expected to so will use our knowledge and skills to work in the best way possible for YOU!
As with open water skills we can also walk you through adapting your stroke for the open water or when performing a certain open water skill, such as sighting or buoy turns.
We will use the latest tech to compliment your session which could include our Swim Stroke Analysis AI or our coach to swimmer headset, dependant on how we coach your session.
If you want a really in-depth review of your stroke then consider hitting our Endless pool for a Full Swim Smooth Certified Video Analysis, the gold standard in video sessions.
You. have a junior swimmer who needs lake sign off, or wants to train in open water
Yes, Yes and Yes, we love coaching junior swimmers and have worked with many over the years. We start coaching Junior swimmers at 12 years old AND if they have at least a county time.
We offer both 1-to-1 sessions, Junior introduction to open water sessions and weekly junior squad sessions. !-to-1 sessions and Intro session are / can be lake specific and come with lake sign off if the swimmer passes. We work towards the Swim England Open Water Certificates of Level 1, 2 and 3.
See our “Junior Swimmers’ PAge for more information
