Join our pool-to-dock course and swim outdoors in London's historic docklands
Open Water Swimming Coaching for Beginners
Open water swimming coaching for beginners takes place on our pool to dock programme. The majority of adults on our course are first time open water swimmers. Whilst for others they have tried a few open water swimming sessions on their own and found it to be harder than it looks without coaching.
Our courses take place at the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre by Canary Wharf. Hot showers, changing rooms and wetsuit use are included, so please just bring your swimming pool costume or shorts.
We do require all adults joining us for this course to be able to swim at least 50 meters without stopping. We find adults make the most progress when they can swim front crawl enjoyably in a pool first. If you can swim less than 50 meters front crawl in a swimming pool then please join our 5 x one hour head up breaststroke into front crawl programme first.
Open water swimming lessons London
Swimming in the open water is a different experience to swimming in the pool. First of all, dock swimmers will wear a wetsuit that is specifically designed for open water swimming. These wetsuits have more flexibility and generally more buoyancy than surfing wetsuits, so all adults should be able to float on their backs without needing to move their arms or legs. You can read our beginner’s guide to open water wetsuits blog if you click here.
The wetsuits keep us warm, enabling us to swim in temperatures at the Docks as low as 11°C and feeling rather warm swimming when the water temperature is above 16°C. (Swimming pools are generally heated from 28°C to 30°C). When you first get into the colder water you will most likely notice your heart rate and breath both begin to increase. We will teach you how to control your heart rate and breathing. By being able to breathe will in water, have both a safe and enjoyable open water swimming experience.
Our pool to dock course will also teach you how to breath effectively in the colder water. We will also coach sighting to see where you are going as part of your stroke. Turning around a buoy, drafting and efficiency techniques will also be covered on this 4 x one hour group course. If you would like to take your swimming technique further then we recommend our one-to-one lessons. With one-to-one lessons we can be more specific with your individual swimming aims. Click to watch our open water swim coaching video.
Pool to Dock group coaching 2021 course dates
We will confirm our group coaching course dates in early February for the 2021 open water swim coaching season. We operate outdoors from May through to August, with the majority of our sessions being in May and June. Depending on the Covid situation, we may start the season slightly earlier than planned. Please register your interest in the form below for the latest information.
During the 2020 season we ran 3 groups and 3 coaches simultaneously, with each coach working with a maximum of 6 swimmers per group. This enabled us to have groups of similar ability swimmers together with a specialist open water swim coach. We aim to run the same format in 2021 and booking early helps us to arrange this.
Pool to Dock one-to-one swim coaching dates
Pool to dock one-to-one swim coaching dates will be confirmed later than our group courses, around Easter time in 2021. We usually have one-to-one coaching available for early morning and evenings during the week, as well as Saturday mornings.
Our sessions take place at the Docklands Sailing and Watersports venue near Canary Wharf and all sessions include the use of a Huub wetsuit available for you to borrow.
