ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT: SEA SWIMMING  (Body section, Guardian 04/08/07)

HEALTH BENEFITS

Good overall workout – you use most muscle groups and you’ll see an overall improvement in your entire physique, particularly shoulders and upper arms, whilst glutes and quads also get a good workout. Best strokes for overall body toning are front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.
Excellent for your cardiovascular system – the heart and lungs benefit enormously from improved blood and oxygen flow.

Reduces stress – swimming helps you relax as it forces you to regulate your breathing and also allows more oxygen to flow to your muscles
Helps with recovery from injury and is it’s also a great exercise for pregnant women as it strengthens shoulder and abdominal muscles
Minimal injury risk – your weight in water is 1/10th of what it is on land, so there’s minimal stress on bones, joints or connective tissue - research at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found that swimming can help build and maintain healthy bones and joints.
What the expert says…

Julie Bradshaw MBE is one of the world’s top open water swimmers. She holds fifteen world distance records including the fastest butterfly crossing of the Channel and was recently inducted into Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. She is secretary of the Channel Swimming Association, lectures in Exercise and Sports Science at Loughborough University and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the university.

Increase your distance

Sea swimming isn’t necessarily all about long distances, but it’s easier to cover the ground when you’re in the sea as you don’t have to turn around after every few metres and there isn’t (usually!) anything to bump into.

It’s worth building up your swimming distances in the pool over the winter if you intend to swim long distances in the sea, and you can also improve your general swimming fitness with a bit of running and rowing machine work, or any other aerobic and endurance work.
Acclimatise

In Britain you’ll need to wear some kind of wetsuit for most of the year, although it’s often possible to swim reasonably comfortably in the south of the country without a wetsuit in summer. You’ll need to acclimatise though - start off in April/May using a wetsuit and swimming hat, and as the summer progresses you can maybe wear a shortie wetsuit and then a swimming costume. Reverse the process as summer moves towards autumn.

Be positive

Whether you’re swimming a few hundred yards or several miles, have a positive mental attitude and be realistic about what you want to do. It’s also good to get into a rhythm both physically and mentally, which can make time appear to drift by – I’ve known an hour seem like five minutes on some of my really long swims once I get into it. Combine this with the freedom of being out in the open ocean and the challenge of being in the midst of the natural elements, and a long sea swim can be almost therapeutic, making sea swimming mentally as well as physically rewarding.

Don’t worry…

about being super-fit – in fact a bit of body fat can be a distinct advantage in colder waters as it will provide some insulation. That said sea swimmers are no longer the big fat blobs they often once were!

Feel good

Regular swimming will build muscle strength and improve cardio-vascular fitness and endurance, and it can also be used as an excellent form of cross training. Mastering the elements whilst sea swimming can also build both confidence and self-esteem. And its well recognised as being an ideal way to assist recovery from other sporting injuries (injuries from swimming are very rare).
Watch out… for hypothermia in particular. Listen to your body, if you start to feel cold get out of the water. You also need to be wary of sunburn and use a high factor waterproof sunscreen on areas like your neck, shoulder and the back of your legs. Dehydration is another consideration, particularly if you’re swimming in sunny and/or warm conditions – even though you’re in the water you need to drink regularly. For longer swims you may need to apply Vaseline to areas of possible chafing (especially if you’re wearing a wetsuit). Even without a wetsuit you should apply Vaseline around the edges of your swimming costume, under your arms, the bottom of your swimming cap etc.

GETTING STARTED

Most people graduate to sea swimming from the pool, so it’s important to be aware of the fundamental differences between the controlled environment of a swimming pool and the natural environment of the sea, from obvious points such as the lack of guide lines or lane ropes to keep you on a straight course to the fact that weather and swimming conditions can change in minutes.

There is no body specifically dealing with recreational sea swimming but many swimming clubs incorporate sea swimming into their summer calendar, such as West Dorset (www.wdwarriors.org.uk), whilst Brighton Swimming Club (www.brightonsc.co.uk) organise sea swims year-round.
The British Long Distance Swimming Association (www.bdsa.org.uk) organises several events each year and their website has useful tips and contacts, but it’s aimed mainly at experienced long distance swimmers.

The Amateur Swimming Association (www.britishswimming.org) also organises long distance open water swimming races (open water indicates that they are not always on the sea but may be on lakes or rivers) but as with the BLDSA these are invariably for experienced competition swimmers.
The Channel Swimming Association (www.channelswimmingassocition.com) is the obvious place to seek advice should you want to go for it big time and follow in the paddle strokes of Matthew Webb and David Walliams.

Swim Treks (www.swimtrek.com) organise swimming holidays at various locations around the world for most standards of swimmer. A typical day might involve swimming from one Greek island to another with full boat support (note that average daily distances are no more than 5km), followed by a chance to relax after the swim, perhaps visit a historical site, then chill out in the evening over dinner before more of the same the following day.

EQUIPMENT

A swimming/triathlon wetsuit will set you back around £200 – 250 – look for Aqua Sphere or Swim Skins. Swimming trunks cost from £8 and swimming costumes from £35 (look for Speedo) whilst surf shorts (£35-plus, various brands) do look cooler on guys but create a lot of drag. Good swimming goggles (£10-plus, Speedos or Zoggs) are vital, as are earplugs (£3.99, Zoggs) to helps prevent ‘swimmer’s ear’, a bony growth in the ear canal.

You’ll also need a waterproof sunscreen, swimming cap (get a bright one so you can be seen by other water users – from £8, Speedos or Zoggs) and a jar of Vaseline just in case!

DISADVANTAGES

Fear of the unknown – even small fish can give you a start when they appear out of nowhere, and jellyfish are horrible things to swim into
Uncontrolled environment – hypothermia is an obvious risk, as are changing sea conditions and the effect of wind, rips and currents.
The cold – sea swimming is invariably colder than pool swimming and this will slow you down, so don’t overestimate the distance and time you think you can manage.