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OrchidSwim Training Advice

Train and prepare
We want you to get the most from your Great Swim, but to do that it is important that you put in the correct training and adequately prepare for what is a challenging event. A one-mile swim represents 64 lengths of a 25m swimming pool – and the challenge of swimming so far becomes even greater outdoors because of the water temperature, the weather and so on.

To help you prepare as best as possible please download a free personalised training plan dependent on your level of fitness from the Great Swim Series Training Room

Safety Tips
Below are a few helpful hints to make sure you have a safe swim:

• Swim in a brightly-coloured hat (ideally not blue, white or green) – so other water users can see you.
• If you can, swim in a group of swimmers and let people know your plans.
• Don’t swim across ferry routes or busy sailing/boating/jet ski areas or around ferry jetties – boats are often not expecting swimmers in the water and may not see you.
• Local knowledge – find out good swimming spots (you are generally NOT allowed to swim in reservoirs). Local swim clubs or triathlon clubs may be able to offer some advice.
• Ideally you should have a kayak or support boat with you.
• If the lake has boat users your support boat should display an Alpha flag (blue and white), so other boat users know you are in the water and they should alter course.
• Finally, remember to pack your common sense, check the water depth before jumping in, be careful of sharp objects, be aware of tides at sea, strong currents in rivers, access issues (trespassing on private land), fishermen (don’t swim over for a chat), fabled water creatures like mermaids or the Loch Ness monster.
• Have fun!