South West Swim

WEEKEND WARRIORS
European Sprint Triathlon Championships 2026

We would like to say a MASSIVE congratulations to squad and 1-to1 swimmer Zoe Lilly who earlier today took an impressive bronze medal at the European Sprint Triathlon Championships in Tarragona.

Fantastic work Zoe, I know the swims not your favourite part of the race but you’ve worked hard this winter both in squad, and getting yourself to your own sessions, and it’s paid off.

Huge congratulations

WHAT A DAY!
We’ve spent the first half of the day down at lake32 supporting the Cotswold Big Swim.

Such a great event and so many amazing performances and experiences, I am so proud of everybody!. We’ll do a quick run through below.

I have posted some pics, if you have any more feel free to add to the comments .

Proud to have you all swimming with South West Swim 🙂

750m event
Well done Debra Shelby, 4th in her AG

1.9km EVEMT
1-to-1 Youth swimmer Flavia Tinchi took 3rd place female overall and 2ndAG
Jodie Hill 2nd AG
Ciera Blackstock 1st AG
Johanna Smith 1st AG
Rachel Bendall 3rd AG (longest lake swim)
Julie Viret 4th AG
Caroline Macbeth 2nd AG
Ashley Cain 7th AG
Hilary Gates 8th AG
Izzy cain 10th AG

3.8km Event
Marianne Day 2nd AG

5km Event
Max lowe 2nd AG (7 minute PB)
Milly Morrow 1st AG
Adrian Woolven 9th AG

Special shout out to honorary SWS Member Pete Campbell 10th AG in the 5km
And lovely to see Louise Abbott who was 3rd AG in the 1.9km event.

RELAYS
Shout out to South West Tigers Youth Triathlon team, who we coached last week and who smashed out a great relay team. Also putting on a strong display were the youths at Swindon Dolphin who we also coached last week and in previous years in open water. Special mention to Charlie Owen who came 1st overall in the 5km event and then joined his club mates as anchor in the relay. Charlie went into the final leg some 20+ seconds behind before the buoy turn of the event at the first buoy. Using the corkscrew technique he took a good 1.5/2.0m off the then leader, subsequently leading his team home by a considerable margin. We teach all our youth swimmers/clubs this turn and importantly when it is appropriate to use it. It showed well today.

Brilliant efforts everyone. See you on July 18th for the South West Swim 3-2-1 Event at Cleveland Lakes and in September for the Big Swim2, also at Cleveland Lakes.



Enter: 3-2-1 Event https://race-nation.co.uk/register/cotswold-lakes-trust/the-south-west-swim-3-2-1-challenge-2026

Enter: September Big Swim https://dbmax.co.uk/events/cotswold-big-swim-festival-september-2026/

We are providing some event support for the DB Max’s Cotswold Big Swim this morning at Lake32 Outdoor Centre.

If you’re racing today pop over and say hi to coach Jason and some of our swimmers, have a chat about swimming and, if you really want to, you can even ask us how we can help improve your open water swimming and swim stroke technique.

You can’t miss us in our big blue tent near registration and the swim exit point.

Good luck to all who are racing today, both here and elsewhere.

Can you help at tomorrow’s Cotswold Big Swim ?

DB Max are still looking for a few volunteers. See pic for details and contact [email protected] if you can help.

I’ve had a busy few weeks at Lake86 Cotswold Water Park Hire and the South West Swim Endless Pools / Highworth Recreation Centre pool. It’s been great seeing so many swimmers and helping build confidence in the open water, develop swim and open water skills and improve swim technique.

We’ve been virtually fully booked this week, but I currently have some open water coaching availability next week, including a Tuesday evening slot (6pm) and a Saturday morning session (8am).

If you’re interested in some expert coaching advice then i'd love to help you. Whether it’s your first time in the lake, a youth intro session, training for the regional or national championships, preparing for a big distance swim, taking on your first triathlon or gearing up for an Ironman (or anything in between all of those), we have you covered

Book your session online and get the pick of availability:
www.southwestswim.co.uk/openwatercoaching

Our sessions are available as a single one off session, a twin pack or our 5 session (6 month) development pack, which are all valid in both the open water AND our pool 1-to-1's. South West Swim offer a well rounded approach to your training as part of our 'Complete Swim Solution', with options of Endless Pool Video Analysis, pool-based 1-to-1 coaching and regular squad training sessions that can blend seamlessly into your development.

Get in contact at [email protected] or book directly online.

*DBS and safeguarding certification, commercially insured. Swim Smooth Certified Coach, Swim England Coach & Open Water Specialist Coach, STA Open Water Coach & Tutor and RLSS UK OWLG/MRASTC qualified.

A busy Friday squad today at Health Hydro. The swimmers took on one of our ‘Time Is The Essence’ session types.

Today’s session was 3 rounds of seven 1 minute, hard swims separated by reducing rest periods. Each followed by a reducing own choice recovery swim.

The joy of this session type is that you can swim it as a sprint, swim it as a hard pacing effort getting the same distance every effort, or even use it as a taper or recovery set.

Lots of red faces at the end today though, well done Friday squad!

The joy of an open water coach in the uk. Having to reschedule and move sessions in a busy diary because of a joyous British summer day 😂 .

💨 35mph wind gusts!!
🌫️ Mist!!!

Can somebody please tell the weather gods that it’s June! Not November. Thanks