Swim Smooth Ltd

Altogether now! What an amazing week of bespoke swim coaching for 13 swimmers from around the world Lyttos Beach Vigeo Sports

Altogether now! What a week Lyttos Beach Vigeo Sports

There’s something about swimming at sunrise.

Our Swim Smooth Experiences are already packed with video analysis, stroke correction, presentations, pool sessions and open-water skills. So why get everyone out of bed early to swim at sunrise as well?

Because these swims are about something different.

They’re not about fixing your catch, improving your stroke rate or worrying about what the underwater camera might reveal later that day.

They’re about remembering why we swim in the first place.

There’s a wonderful simplicity to walking down to the water while most people are still asleep. Pulling on your goggles. Looking out at the horizon. Getting in alongside people who, only a few days earlier, might have been complete strangers.

And then just swimming.

No clock to beat. No perfect stroke to chase. Nothing to prove.

Just the rhythm of your stroke, the feel of the water and the shared experience of starting another day together.

Here in Crete this week, the weather hasn’t exactly been playing ball. We’ve had wind, cloud and conditions that perhaps aren’t quite what everyone pictured when they imagined swimming in Greece.

But maybe that makes these mornings even more meaningful.

You take the opportunity in front of you rather than waiting for the perfect one. If there’s a safe window to swim, we swim. If conditions change, we adapt. If the sunrise is hidden behind the clouds, we still get in.

Because it was never really about the perfect sunrise photograph.

It was about being there.

Not every swim feels amazing. Conditions won’t always cooperate and progress rarely follows a straight line.

But you turn up.

You get in.

You swim.

And very often, you come out feeling better than when you went in.

For all the science, technology and stroke correction that goes into a Swim Smooth Experience, these mornings remind us that swimming is about far more than becoming a better swimmer.

It’s about friendship. Adventure. Resilience. Connection. Being outside. Feeling alive.

And occasionally standing on a beach in Crete far earlier than seems entirely sensible, looking at a grey and windswept horizon and thinking:

Yep. We’re getting in anyway. 🌊

This very rarely happens: take note! 😂 Samir Barel UltraSwim33.3

What a weekend! UltraSwim33.3 silver 🥈to Samir Barel - total beast of open water swimming. Had a fab time as usual putting myself in the hurt-locker for 7h46m to cover the 33.3km distance. Full race report in the blog (see Stories for link)

To taper or not to taper? That is the question… 🤔🏊‍♂️

Tomorrow I’ll start my third UltraSwim 33.3—covering 33.3km over four days around the beautiful Greek island of Skopelos.

In today’s blog, I’m sharing how my approach to tapering has evolved since winning my two previous UltraSwim events in Montenegro.

A few key points:

✅ Reduce volume, but maintain your normal swimming frequency
✅ Keep a little controlled intensity to preserve sharpness
✅ Watch your Fatigue fall and your green Form line rise in the Swim Smooth GURU
✅ Finish each session feeling as though you could have done more
✅ Remember: the best taper is highly individual

I’ve still swum more than 20km during the past seven days because I prefer to maintain my feel, rhythm and connection with the water. That works for me—but it won’t necessarily be right for everyone.

The objective isn’t to arrive having done as little as possible. It’s to arrive rested but not rusty, energised but not restless—and still unmistakably feeling like a swimmer.

Read today’s full blog for practical final-week session ideas and advice on using Fitness, Fatigue and Form to guide your taper.

🔗 Link in bio.

Tapering FeelForTheWater SwimmingTips EnduranceSwimming Skopelos

2 days to UltraSwim33.3 - are you ready to GOOOOOOOOOOOO?!!!!

Cheeky lunchtime dip in the Thames Sea Lanes Canary Wharf FINIS Swim Buddyswim International