The Endurance Store

Racing Bolton 70.3 at the weekend and worried about the swim? We had conversations with a couple of people last night at 3 Sisters Swim about anxiety in open water, particularly event mass starts. Here's the basic things to understand.

1. Accumulation of carbon dioxide creates the feeling of 'panic' ... it's not a lack of oxygen. When people are anxious they don't breathe OUT properly which worsens the problem.

2. The faster you swim, the more CO2 you accumulate.

3. Based on the 2 things above, to reduce the risk of panic, slow down and make sure you breathe out into the water to get rid of the CO2. Blow the bubbles out in a relaxed manner... no bubbles coming out? no CO2 coming out.

4. Just prior to entering the water is when anxiety is at it's highest. You'll be looking for family and friends for last minute support, Thunderstruck will be playing at full volume and before you know... someone will be counting you down to enter the water with other swimmers. All of these things cause distractions and you WILL NOT be thinking about swimming slow and breathing out. You'll most likely set off like a scared rabbit and forget to breathe at all. This anxiety can unexpectedly catch people out as they don't experience it during training, so they don't have any issues until the actual race day.

5. As you're close to entering the water, use a key word or term such as 'SWITCH ON' or 'FOCUS' as a trigger to bring your attention back to 2 simple things... swimming slow for the first 200m and make sure you're blowing out bubbles.

6. Once in the water, if someone bumps into you or swims over you, you'll lose focus and this can trigger panic. If this happens... SWITCH ON and go back to breathing out and swimming slow.

7. Very few people have panic attacks after the first few hundred metres. Once you're through that part of the swim, you'll be fine. SWITCH ON... do those 2 simple things and you'll be great.

Any questions? Ask below... And if you're really nervous, come to 3 Sisters Saturday and we'll be happy to spend some time with you to help.

Good luck to all our customers and swimmers, it'll be a great day and one to remember! Make sure you smile 😊

New drop of Brooks Running Glycerin, Glycerin GTS and Ghost in store. Brooks have been our most popular seller over the last month, call in store to find out why! 😊

We’re in wrightington, just off junction 27M6. We offer free gait analysis and fitting if you’re purchasing with us 👌

We have limited stock of HOKA Speedgoat 6 Trail Shoes in store at only £69.99. Only a few pairs of men’s but have women’s in most sizes … call in store so see them and try for size 😊

We're up at Coniston next Sunday June 7th for the EPIC Lakes Swim Coniston Water 😀

🏊‍♂️ Swim the 750m, 1500m, 3000m or 5000m distance
🏊‍♂️ Swim with or without a wetsuit
🏊‍♂️ Swim any stroke
🏊‍♂️ Swim at your own pace

The atmosphere is always friendly and relaxed 😊👇👇

🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️ ONLY 1 WEEK TO GO 🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️

Join us for Epic Lakes Swim Coniston 2026, Sunday June 7th. You can choose the 750m, 1500m, 3000m or 5000m distance, swimming with or without a wetsuit. Swim at your own pace and choose your own stroke. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, so come along and claim your bespoke finisher medal 😃

We're fully booked tonight for open water swimming and registrations are closed at 230 swimmers. Please make sure you have your barcode ready at the gate when you arrive to keep traffic moving.

Please don't attend unless you've registered, unfortunately we can't take registrations on the night. Please do join us Saturday 8:30am - 10:00am 😊

The water is very warm! Tomorrow is the perfect night to join us for open water swimming 7-8pm. We'll have the usual small and large lap open and you can swim at your own pace. It's perfect for novices as you can stand up anywhere on the small (750m) loop and you can swim with or without a wetsuit.

OPTIONAL - Ironman 70.3 Practice Swim will take place tomorrow. For those of you wanting to take part and swim the full 1.9k against the clock, we'll be starting at 6:58 precisely! If you want to take part in the 1.9k swim, just sign up as normal, then be there at 6:50pm ready for briefing, there's no extra cost.

https://theendurancecoach.com/open-water-swimming/