Tailor-made one-to-one coaching to help you achieve your goals
Coaching to help you swim faster, smoother, more comfortably
Train with a thriving, supportive and welcoming local club for all abilities
Anyone can benefit from having a coach, whatever their experience or goals. It is about so much more than the training plan. I work with a small number of individual athletes at any one time, to ensure that I am able to give each athlete the time, head-space and commitment they deserve. I am fully qualified and insured to coach athletes on an individual basis.
The key word here is “individual”. No two athletes are the same, just as no two people are the same. I understand the challenges of trying to fit in training with the rest of your life, whether that be family commitments, work, volunteering, other hobbies or health issues, and work with my athletes to ensure that the balance is right for YOU. More is not always better, and for most of us this is a hobby. Training smart is just as important as training hard - sometimes more so!
For this reason, I do not currently offer generic training plans. My most basic package includes a detailed start-up assessment and meeting, as I have found that skimping on this process only causes problems down the line. Before even committing to that, I always like to meet clients in person first, usually for tea and cake, to have a frank and open discussion about what you want from a coach and what I can offer.
As a Level 2 Diploma BTF (British Triathlon Federation) coach I am fully qualified and insured to coach athletes on a one-to-one basis; you can have peace of mind that I am competent, knowledgeable and you are in safe hands.
I am a UK Anti-doping (UKAD) Accredited Advisor and am fully committed to protecting clean sport and supporting my athletes to uphold this principle. To find out more about UKAD, and what it means for you as an athlete, click here:
Of the three disciplines in triathlon, by far the commonest source of anxiety and frustration is the swim. Unless you have swum competitively as a child, swimming is technically the most challenging and the sport in which efficiency (or lack of it!) is the biggest limiter.
Individual swimming lessons for adults are hard to come by and often expensive. Triathlon Club and Swimming Club Masters sessions will often focus predominantly on fitness development with less time devoted to technical development. Adult swimmers may feel intimidated starting in a squad environment but have difficulty finding lessons.
For these reasons, fellow BTF Coach Jennie Jones and I recognised that many adult triathletes were crying out for some specific frontcrawl technique development in a small group low pressure environment. Jennie is a BTF Level 3 coach with many hours of pool and open water experience.
On Tuesday mornings, 6-7am, at the beautiful 6 lane pool at Bradfield College Sports Complex in West Berkshire, we run just such sessions, focussing on different aspects of technique. Sessions are suitable for a range of swimmers, with different triathlon and open water swimming goals; some are training for open water marathon swims, others for triathlon races, whilst some simply want to feel comfortable swimming frontcrawl in the sea on holiday. If you can swim a length of frontcrawl, then these sessions are suitable for you. If you are interested in joining us, get in touch.
I was lucky enough to be selected to attend the Swim Smooth 3 Day Coach Education Course in Mallorca in the summer of 2019. I learnt a huge amount from Paul Newsome and Adam Young, the founders of Swim Smooth, as well as the fellow coaches on the course. Seeing yourself on video, and having this critically analysed, can be hugely beneficial to your swimming.
Whether you are already an experienced open water swimmer or triathlete and want to improve your technique and skills specific to the demands of open water, or are a relative novice wanting to start out under the watchful supervision of a coach, I can help you. I am able to offer one to one and small group sessions at the H2O Swim Centre just outside Reading, between April and September, on Thursday evenings and Saturday and Sunday mornings, and at Beale Park on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
I am the Head Coach of Tri2O Triathlon Club. I coach every Friday morning at Bradfield College swimming pool alongside Jennie Jones for the club. We rotate through a range of themes, including endurance, technique, CSS pacing, speed and open water skills. Swimming with others in a club environment is fun, sociable and a great way to keep your motivation high, with the added bonus of a coach watching over you able to give individualised advice regarding stroke technique. If you attend consistently, you can see significant progress.
Tri2O Triathlon Club is a very friendly supportive club with around 250 members, ranging from complete novices who are yet to try an actual triathlon but like exercising with like-minded people, to athletes winning medals at international age-group competitions.
