The British Long Distance Swimming Association

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BLDSA partners up with RNLI Holyhead for safety training

The BLDSA and its officials recently had a training weekend to improve safety at our events, which we did in collaboration with the RNLI Holyhead lifeboat station. We’ve been really fortunate in the last 2 years, gaining 4 new swim secretaries and new members on the committee getting involved with the organisation of our swims. The BLDSA therefore felt it would be a fantastic opportunity to get everyone on the same page and gain new skills & methods from the experts of search & rescue, the RNLI.

The weekend in summary was a roaring success, we put 16 of our swim secretaries and officials through an emergency first aid qualification so more people can provide the first response to people in serious trouble in terms of health. Janet Wilson, one of our own expert first aiders tutored the first aid course, now has over 50 years experience in first aid since getting her qualification and has taught many people how to save lives  (Janet’s milestone year) and has been honoured for her services to organisations such as the Royal Life Saving Society delivering the lifeguard qualifications (Leeds Beckett trainer earns award for contribution to life saving). 

Janet guiding Richard and Caroline on how to use a defibrillator with CPR.

Janet really highlights the huge skill set the BLDSA has in terms of its members and provided all of our new and long serving officials with vital skills for supporting our swimming events.

The weekend also had a focus on how to manage an operational response to an emergency and what happens when we’re faced with the hard decision of abandoning a swim. Abandoning a swim is logistically hard and officials are faced with dealing with how to get swimmers safely out of the water part way through a swim (often in remote locations), when they’re very likely to be cold and with wind chill, at risk of hypothermia. Chris Hickling on a windswept beach near Holyhead guided everyone through a series of scenarios designed to test and improve how we deal with a swim abandonment and how to deal with people in emergency situations.

Part way through the swim abandonment scenario.

Chris also included various scenarios on how to deal with finding someone who had collapsed without participants knowing the cause and assessing symptoms of blocked airways, a person being very cold and confused, chest pains and many others in a remote environment. Chris was also assisted by his fantastic team of casualties, who deserve oscars for their acting skills, not falling out of character and for being so convincing!

Jo warming up!

Richard Hardy, our safety officer, in the evening guided everyone through the various parts of organising events, making sure that all officials were clear on the roles and their importance at our events. Richard has built up many years of experience handling the BLDSA’s insurance and administration of our safety documents. Richard provided everyone with excellent advice on good practise and avoiding the various pit falls around organising events – invaluable to the new swim secretaries that attended and reinforcing the knowledge of more experienced swim secretaries.

Richard talking through the various bits of event admin needed.

 

 

And this was only Saturday!

Sunday – was split into the boat crews and those completing the first aid qualification.

Our boat crews went over to RNLI Holyhead to be taught methods the lifeboat uses for search and rescue operation, handling rough weather, casualty care on the the boat and getting casualties on off the safety boats. The BLDSA is extremely grateful to Nigel Dennis, Beth Wilkinson and the crew at the station still be able to deliver after the hell they’ve been put through with the recent storms – Storm Emma smashes boats at Holyhead marina, Anglesey – where people lost boats and some their livelihoods. Unfortunately we weren’t able to launch our safety boats in the marina due gale force winds, but it is too the testament of the crew at Holyhead the weekend was still able to take place.

BLDSA safety crews visiting the lifeboat station at Holyhead.

While all of this was going on at the lifeboat station, Janet was guiding our new recruits through the art of bandages and how best to deal with large bleeds, fractures and head injuries – completing the first aid qualification.

We’re hoping this will become an annual training weekend before the start of the season and plans are already being worked out for another weekend with our safety crews and the lifeboat station when the weather’s a little more forgiving. Well done to all involved and a thoroughly enjoyable weekend with the hard working volunteers of the BLDSA!

Trying out the new survival tent
Trying out the new survival tent
Ex El-Presidente
Ex El-Presidente
The lovely Jo and Amanda
The lovely Jo and Amanda
Out for dinner with some of the sailing club and RNLI crew
Out for dinner with some of the sailing club and RNLI crew
Getting ready for the outdoor scenarios!
Getting ready for the outdoor scenarios!
Early morning swim before the start of training.
Early morning swim before the start of training.
St Paddy's at the sailing club
St Paddy's at the sailing club
Pre-jenga
Pre-jenga
Trying Andy's whiskey.
Trying Andy's whiskey.

Contacts

Chris Hickling

Hon. Rescue Boat Co-ordinator

chris.hickling@btinternet.com

Richard Hardy

Richard Hardy

Hon. Safety Officer

safety_officer@bldsa.org.uk

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BLDSA Distance Weekend – 2 days of fun and hard training

The BLDSA recently ran its first ever Distance weekend, a kind of boot camp for long distance swimming based at Charlton Lido on the 24th and 25th of February. Around 20 swimmers led by coach Chris Malpass, Mark Sheridan and Anne Mette embarked on an intense weekend of pool training, Pilates, discussions around feeding strategy, motivation of a long distance swimmer and opening the doors to the marathon Swimming world for the new people to our sport.

The weekend started with a meet and greet with all of the swimmers and coaches/officials of the BLDSA in attendance. This Involved listening to the person sat next to you and then telling the rest of the group what their aspirations were for marathon swimming and what they wanted to get out of the weekend. The variety of challenges the swimmers had set themselves was astounding; ranging from Manhattan Island, Straits of Gibraltar, English Channel, Loch Lomond, Lake Tahoe and many other events on the BLDSA calendar.

Mark kicking off the weekend!

Moving into the pool, Chris kicked off the swimming with a series of drills for technique and stroke efficiency. It’s fair to say, with the videos and new toys the swimmers needed to bring, they came away from that session with plenty of new ideas for their training and a list of things they were able to work on in terms of their stroke. The snorkels proved to be a challenge, but after a few lengths of the lido people seemed to get used to them and started to see their benefit. Although hanging around at the end of the pool it was a little cold, people seemed to love the new tricks they had learned for their stroke.

Andre cruising into the wall.

All the toys!

Of course the most important part of the day for any swimmer is when they can eat. Emily Sheridan (wife to Mark) did an absolutely sterling job at laying on lunch with more sandwiches, pasta salad, doughnuts and muffins than you could feast your eyes on. Lunch also gave the opportunity for more informal chatter of everyone’s marathon Swimming experiences. But the swimmers had to be a bit cautious about eating too much owing to the looming Pilates session they had in the afternoon with the wonderful Anne Mette, a very skilled physiotherapist with an exemplary knowledge of the human body in relation to how it moves.

Strengthening that core with Pilates – great session by Anne!

Hayley & Melanie definitely win best outfit!

And raise

Interested in pilates? Then take a look at Anne’s website! – scandipilates.com

There was no easing into the Pilates session, Anne took us straight into a number of exercises to mobilise the spine and movement in the shoulders of the swimmers. It seems a slightly ridiculous notion, a Pilates session being intense, but some of the stretches and positions Anne got the swimmers into really tested the flexibility of their bodies. There were plenty of exercises for them to improve flexibility and everyone’s core strength (essential for marathon Swimming and swimming in general). Most swimmers came away saying they’d try and integrate some of the exercises into their training!

After the Pilates, the swimmers were again back in the pool. Chris had told them the session would ‘start off easy, but save something for the end!’. Consolidating some of the drills they had learnt in the morning, what followed was a gradual ramping up of the distance involving some pyramid bits and the main set totalling just over 3 km. It gave the newbies to the sport an idea of what set swimming was like and how it could be beneficial to them in terms of building up stamina in the pool during the winter. Safe to say, refuelling was taken very seriously that evening for the next tough swimming set in the morning.

Refuelling for the next morning – cheers!

Morning approached and similar to the first, the day began with some informal discussions on training and then shortly after into the pool for the main 2 hour set of the weekend with no light introductions. The swimmers did a lot of work with bands around their ankles, first with a pull-buoy and then, the tougher version of the drill, without the pull-buoy. This really tests the balance of someone’s stroke and how strong their core is – vital to any swimmer. Then onto the longer part of the set, again introducing some distance, but also speed into the set. Chris was praised throughout the weekend for his positive and accessible style of coaching, always giving something a swimmer could work on no matter whether they had all the toys with them or not.

Then onto lunch and the end of the training weekend – many thanks to Emily Sheridan for making sure everyone was well fed for both days, sandwiches did the trick!

Thank you Emily – from all the swimmers!

Phil Hodges, one of first to swim all three of the big lochs in Scotland (Loch Awe, Loch Lomond and Loch Ness), throughout the weekend was great when everyone was sitting down to chat about swimming and imparting some fantastic knowledge and experience on the swimmers from his time in marathon swimming – a true inspiration. The feedback from the weekend was overwhelming positive, with new friends made, new swimming experiences, new ideas to make the winter grind that bit less tiresome and also some new ideas for swims in the summer season.

So what did people have to say about the whole experience…

“Fantastic! Beautiful setting and a great mix of experiences that allowed all to work together to meet personal goals. Chris’ expertise in coaching was evident from the start, mixed with his lovely manner made everyone feel at ease. Combining this with Mark’s expertise made for some excellent discussions in the talk session. Added to this was the excellent advice and support from Philip Hodges. I think we all lef with things to think about and work on regardless of our previous experience. Perfect!”

– Amanda Bell

“A much needed opportunity to test and review training preparation for the season ahead in a perfect facility. I was able to garner confidence in stroke, fitness, knowledge and, ultimately, my own ability to once again step outside my comfort zone and attempt to achieve a personal challenge. Thanks.”

– Helen Beveridge

“Format was excellent, as was the coaching. For me, it was a very enjoyable and sociable way of continuing what I usually do, with the added bonuses of personal feedback on technique and the camaraderie of like minded people.”

– Kate Robarts

“I attended the BLDSA long distance week as my first BLDSA event. It has encouraged me to enter some events to mix up my training for big swims. I thought the facilitation and coaching were excellent, it also provided some great tips to work on, in good time to factor into my training plan for the season. The location of the camp was fantastic. I would definitely like to attend again.”

– Nicola Naunton

The Class of 2018

A huge well done to all the swimmers and to Mark & Chris for organising it all!

Keep up the training…

Training with Gin part A.

Part B.

Interested? Email distanceweekend@bldsa.org.uk to be added on the mailing list for the next distance weekend!

Coaches

Mark Sheridan

Chris Malpass

Anne-Mette Friis

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Response to SOWSA proposal

Edited: 22:14 08/02/2018

*SOWSA – Scottish Open Water Swimming Association

1. Outline

Over the past few months, the BLDSA has been made aware of plans to create an organisation in Scotland in the interests of promoting land access to different water bodies, increasing safety standards, providing accreditation for events and recording achievements of swimmers (completing a point to point swim in either wetsuit or skins). This has been proposed by event organiser Robert Hamilton and amateur swimmer Phia Steyn under the name the Scottish Open Water Swimming Association (SOWSA).

Correction: Stewart Griffiths only took an advisory role and was listed unknowingly as a founder of SOWSA.

SOWSA proposal in full – link

To anybody not involved in the politics of open water swimming or not aware of the context, this sounds reasonable and a desirable outcome – to have an organisation representing the interests of Scottish swimmers and promoting safety standards at events they compete in.

2. Our main concerns

Our concerns are three fold :-

2.1 – In the proposal, SOWSA outlines that it would like to work with organisations such as the BLDSA and ILDSA, but to our knowledge neither of us have been approached for our input. When the proposal also states “SOWSA does not stand in opposition or in competition to Scottish Swimming, BLDSA and ILDSA”, this seems at odds with their actions or lack of. However, this is not surprising bearing in mind Robert Hamilton’s past relationship with the BLDSA being at best strained.

2.2 – SOWSA outlines issues which are in duplication of what is already there; through us (the BLDSA) in terms of recording swims and all that entails and then the Outdoor Swimming Society (representing recreational swimmers throughout the UK) which already covers issues surrounding land access and free wild swimming throughout the UK with their respective working groups. Although the OSS is a limited company, the information they provide in this area is invaluable and it cannot be overstated how they have increased access to open water swimming through projects such as their online wild swimming map. They are there to promote wild swimming, supported by their commercial activity.

2.3 – The BLDSA is a democratic organisation accountable to its membership; where we are rightly held to account for how the association is run and how we spend the memberships money. We also operate on the basis of transparency, where members can at any point ask us for our documentation and we publish our accounts annually to that effect. This differs vastly from SOWSA, which although a proposed charity, was born through self appointed individuals with vested interests in their respective commercial activities and own disagreements with organisations like the BLDSA on swim routes and recognition. In marathon swimming integrity is key, which must involve transparent documentation and a set of standards (which the rest of the marathon Swimming community has abided by for years).

3. The need to respond

Although anybody can set up an organisation like this, if SOWSA claims to represent swimmers in Scotland, then it must expect to be held accountable for the way it conducts itself in terms of the consultation and provide transparency on the proposals. Rightly, the open water swimming community would expect nothing less from such an organisation. Indeed, this is why a response has been prompted from no less than 14 swimming groups in Scotland explaining their opposition to SOWSA and representing around 5,000 swimmers. Although SOWSA has attempted to respond, it’s done this over Facebook and answered questions selectively.

Link to Scottish swimmer’s response

For example, representatives of the BLDSA sent in their concerns and these were not responded to by any SOWSA official via normal channels of email and letters for such issues. The officials of SOWSA have also been involved with sending unsolicited messages to people raising their concerns through the official email SOWSA have advertised. For an organisation like SOWSA is proposing to be, this is completely unacceptable and on that basis alone, it is right to question the validity of SOWSA. They must also address issues of conflicts of interests owing to the commercial activity of the different individuals involved, suggesting this is a money making exercise rather than a genuine promotion of Scottish open water swimmers and wild swimmers alike.

4. Going forwards

From the proposals of SOWSA, there is clearly a demand for better information for pilots escorting marathon swims in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Therefore the BLDSA intends to develop an online guide for pilots and how they can get involved with our sport. There is also a need for the BLDSA to develop better pathways into our sport, which should include wetsuit swims as part of that. The BLDSA will therefore be putting plans together for wetsuit swims separate to our championship events, which will be put to the members of the BLDSA at the 2018 Annual Meeting. Since this is huge change for the BLDSA, it is right that we go to the membership on this fundamental issue.

Unlike SOWSA, the BLDSA does not (and has never) intend(ed) to have a monopoly on open water swimming. We strive to encourage people to get involved with our sport and develop their swimming to achieve the extraordinary goals they set themselves. We fully support the the collective responses from the 14 groups in Scotland and the response from the Outdoor Swimming Society. There is clear opposition to the proposal of SOWSA, we hope the proprietors take notice of this and take more care to consult the open water swimming community with the complete transparency swimmers in Scotland and the UK have come to expect.

—

André Michael Roberts

On behalf of the elected executive and members of the British Long Distance Swimming Association.

 

For any issues relating to this matter, please email andre.roberts@bldsa.org.uk.

To sign the petition, go here – https://www.change.org/p/oscr-we-oppose-the-sottish-open-water-association-proposal-as-it-stands

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BLDSA Distance Weekend 24th-25th February 2018

Dates and times: 24th-25th February 2018, running from 9 am Saturday to 1 pm Sunday.

Cost: £ 100.00 (+ £ 1.40 transaction fee)

Location: Charlton Lido and Lifestyle Club, Hornfair Park, Shooters Hill Rd, London SE18 4LX, UK

see below for details or contact us for more information.

Contact Us 

Applications have now closed. For those that have already applied, you will have now received either; (1) a payment link if you were successful, (2) an email saying you’re on the reserve list or (3) that your application was unsuccessful this time.

What’s the KEY OBJECTIVE of the weekend?

To give those with a major swim booked for 2018 a chance to improve technique, get proper feedback on their stroke and set them up for a successful season. You will be swimming A LOT, going home buzzing and feeling fitter!

Who is it aimed at?

The weekend is tailored to a group of 20max members of the BLDSA. Apply using the link above. Please note that priority will be given to those BLDSA members who are taking on Loch Lomond, Windermere or other BLDSA swims.

What you will get out of it?

Technique work, underwater filming, stroke feedback, skills sessions, speedwork, feeding and help with the mental side of marathon swimming. We will also be incorporating a Pilates and Flexibility session with a leading, qualified Pilates coach. There will be a mixture of both pool-based work and classroom sessions.  You will be guaranteed lots of swimming and you don’t even have to fly abroad to do the sessions!

Your coaches during the weekend

Chris Malpass (BLDSA Windermere Swim Secretary)

Chris is a real swimmers’ swimmer – he lives and breathes the sport and is actively involved at every level – from a coach through to competitor.

As a youngster, Chris was selected to compete at an international level for both Great Britain and for England. In 2014, Chris successfully competed at the World Masters Swim Championships in Canada. Chris achieved top 10 positions in all his pool and open water races, including three top 5 finishes. Chris spends much of his time open water swimming and has held several records and titles within the UK, including the arduous BLDSA Champion of Champions race held in Dover, which he has won on two occasions.

An impressive background in coaching combined with a BSc in Sports Science means that Chris is superbly placed to advise on stroke analysis and correction for all levels of swimmer with the emphasis on enjoyment and remaining injury-free. Chris is Swim Sec for BLDSA Windermere.

 

Mark Sheridan (BLDSA President)

Barely swimming as a youngster, Mark re-learnt the technical aspect of front crawl from scratch in his mid-30s and instantly became hooked. He is one of only few Brits to be listed in the ’24-hour club’ with his 70km & 33-hour solo success in Lake Geneva in 2016. He has swum the English Channel twice, Two-way Windermere and Loch Lomond solo among very many others. He’s one of only a few people to have completed the entire BLDSA calendar. He eats, sleeps and breathes marathon swimming, training and technique work in addition to organising the BLDSA Champion of Champions and Two-way Windermere swims. He is living-proof that you can come to swimming later in life and achieve much greatness.

Anne-Mette Friis

  
Anne-Mette is one of the countries leading Pilates coaches. She works with swimmers to help them develop a strong core and her focus is not just strength but on maintaining flexibility which is invaluable for the marathon swimmer. Her coaching was instrumental in Mark Sheridan completing 70km Lake Geneva pain- and injury free. Anne-Mette will lead the Pilates session on the Saturday and will give swimmers a programme of exercises to work with.

 

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A more secure BLDSA site

Our website maintenance period has finished! So what does this mean for you?

Our content is now being served over HTTPS and we thought we’d share some of the reasons behind the project.

The reasons for our move;

1. Privacy

By using HTTPS, internet service providers (ISPs) are not able to track the pages which our members are accessing. It means we protect the privacy of our members when accessing content that may disclose any information that may be used against them. It matches our core values. We believe that protecting you is good internet citizenship.

2. Security

Once on HTTPS, we prevent malicious third parties from inserting code into our site, or tracking what our visitors are doing.

3. SEO

It also gives us other benefits such as a potential increase in search results. For the reasons mentioned above Google has announced that it will favour https content. It is also helping us decipher traffic from secure and ‘unknown’ referrers.

4. Content authoring and integrity

By switching to HTTPS, browsers will ensure that the content displayed is actually published by the BLDSA. Without HTTPS someone between the browser and our website could maliciously display other content or alter our content.

When actually viewing the site, it just means there’s a little padlock in the address bar. Which seems daft for how much effort this takes, but it means your privacy is protected while using our site! Very few of our commercial competitors have invested in this for their sites, which is no bad reflection on them since this does take a lot of work, but it does show the value we put on your trust.

Best wishes,
British Long Distance Swimming Association

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