Swim Smooth

Last week – when I flooded everyone’s inbox with news that Swim Smooth was back (sorry, not sorry – as the kids say!), a gentleman from Oregon in the USA reached out to who informed me he’d just turned 89 years old the week before and that swimming was what was keeping him going in later life. He described his life in three parts:

1. His youth was the first third, he said, when he was very successful in both the pool and open water...

We've got a cracker of a podcast for you this week - a fireside chat with Rob Hutchings, author of The Downriver Nomad, as he tells his story about dealing with the adversity of an alcoholic parent, the heartache of trying to adopt a child, and how he's found solace in his open water swimming pursuits and his own triathlon adventures, including swimming the length of the Clutha River in New Zealand, a distance of 256km!

Ro...

Today we're joined by Ross Davenport - 3-time Olympian, 2-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, former European record holder and now FINIS international business development manager.

We talk about Ross's childhood as a wannabe soccer star, his break at 12yrs old from swimming and the pivotal moment that saw him return to the pool fully committed and ready for action. Interestingly enough, former podcast superstars Rebecca Adling...

In today's podcast, we speak with Jess Potter, our online video analysis competition winner from a couple of weeks ago.

The conversation with Jess - a respiratory specialist from London, UK who's been fighting on the front-line over the pandemic - was so engaging that we thought you might benefit from her story in podcast form, if you wish to see the video analysis, please pop over to this YouTube link.

The video ...

What a cracker of an episode Paul Newsome and co-host Lucy Gibson have in store for you today with special guest, Rebecca Adlington - double Olympic gold medallist and former world record holder in the 800m freestyle event with an incredible 8:14.10.

Becky has recently got married and had her second child, Albie, so we are incredibly grateful to have spent an hour in her company discussing her story and rise to dominance in the swi...

Today we speak with a super inspirational athlete and coach, Swim Smooth Coach Paolo Mangilinan, who's based in Dubai, UAE.

As part of the annual Dubai Fitness Challenge - which seeks to encourage people to partake in 30 minutes of exercise every day for 30 days - Paolo decided to take it upon himself to swim 10km in the open water around the world famous and tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, every day for 30 days in...

We're back and pumped today with the achievements of Swim Smooth Manchester's Head Coach, Lucy Lloyd-Roach and her team of four female swimmers who on the 1st September broke the world record to be the first ever female English Channel Relay Team to swim across La Manche in full medley order - backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle - with each team member having to complete 60 minutes of uninterrupted swimming on their g...

Today we're joined on the podcast by 5-time Ironman World Champion, Craig ("Crowie") Alexander.

Crowie was the 2008, 2009, 2011 Ironman Triathlon World Champion and previous course record holder (8:03:56 in 2011), and the 2006 (inaugural) and 2011 70.3 World Champion. In 2011 he won both the 70.3 and the full Ironman World Championships. Needless to say - he's a beast, but best of all, he's an absolute gentleman too!

Craig was humb...

Well, we did it! This one's been about 3 or 4 weeks in the making! True to the worldwide collaborative efforts we're currently seeing around the globe with corporations coming together in a siege-like mentality and utilising technologies like Zoom and Slack to build a stronger team, so too have we compiled our resources to bring you something very special today.

At Swim Smooth, we've spent the last 10 years creating an ama...

Hey there listeners,

Hope you're managing to navigate the mess that we're in right now with COVID-19. It's certainly a very bizarre, scary and somewhat overwhelming time.

Today's podcast will be a little different - essentially some unfiltered musings from Swim Smooth's Head Coach, Paul Newsome, recorded between a car park and bathroom (no less!) as he attempts to give some strategies that have helped him in the last fortn...

We are back with an in-depth conversation today with Bec Johnson, a Type-1 diabetes ultramarathon swimmer coached by Paul Newsome here in Perth, Western Australia.

Bec was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes at the age of 17 and was determined not to let it ruin and control her active lifestyle, instead, she leaned into it and in 2015 set up the Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre in Perth (https://www.type1familycentre.org.au) to in...

Today we are back with Season 2 of the Swim Smooth podcast after a lengthy hiatus, and boy-o-boy do we have a great show for you today!

Have you ever thought about swimming the English Channel? The busiest shipping lane in the world; typically 14-17 degrees celcius and non-wetsuit over a distance that frequently extends to 50km due to the current and tides that prevail in this stretch of water? Yes, no, maybe? Now, imagin...

Today we speak with legendary Swim Smooth Coach and former Swedish Olympian from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Anna-Karin Lundin. The interview takes place in sunny Mallorca, Spain immediately after the BESTFest 2019 of Open Water Swimming, of which she won a few of the Age-Group events outright against some very good competition. 

If you've never seen Anna-Karin swim, start off by viewing this awesome clip here:

https://www.youtub...

Recorded in June 2019, this is a "mash up" of interviews featuring excellent snippets of advice from open water swimmers right around the world enjoying the fabulous BESTFest of Open Water Swimming in Colonia Sant Jordi, Mallorca, Spain. Featuring interviews with legends of the swimming world such as Jazz Carlin (dual Olympic silver medallist) and Jack Burnell (open water swimming extraordinaire and Olympian) and recorded live on t...

Today, after a 2 month hiatus owing to Paul dealing with a  very bad back injury and some firm reflections and adjustments to his day-2-day schedule, the boys are back with a podcast recorded some 2 months ago on sunny Mallorca, Spain. This show was meant to go out immediately and was at the 4 week mark of Paul's injury sustained over the Easter period. Sadly, a big relapse immediately after this episode was recorded has seen ...

Wow! What an interview we have lined up for you today! Paul and Adam chat with Stephanie Dixon, 19-time Paralympic swimming champion and world record holder from Canada, who recently attended our 3-day Swim Smooth Coach Education Course in Portland, OR, USA at the Nike World HQ.

Stephanie talks candidly about being born missing her right leg and how her body has adapted to deliver a perfectly balanced, streamlined and symmetrical s...

Today, enjoy an awesome interview with David Davies from Wales who is Britain's only swimmer to have achieved an Olympic medal in both the pool (1500m in Athens, 2004) and the open water (10km in Beijing, 2008).

Paul first met David in a cocktail lounge (of all places!) after the men's triathlon in Hyde Park at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, 2012. After spying Dave propping up the bar, Paul plucked up the courage to say hello to...

Today, the boys chat with Sam Bradley (née Warriner), former world #1 triathlete and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist for New Zealand, after a nine week hiatus following a whirlwind world coaching tour with Nike in Portland, OR and Sydney, Australia.

Sam discusses explicitly how she utilises a mental "switch" to move between her athletic / coaching self and her family life (which both Paul and Adam discuss is something they're ver...

Today we sit down with 4 of our soon-to-be Swim Smooth Certified Coaches at the end of their 2 week certification course here in sunny Perth and hear all about the training they've received to become one of our 52 international coaches. 

If you're a coach thinking of taking your swim coaching further, or are a swimmer who's pondered exactly what level of service you're likely to receive with your local Swim Smooth Coach, then ...