Two Weeks To Thailand
John Learns To Swim Just In Time... 26 year old civil servant John badly wanted to swim before a big holiday to Thailand. Here's his account...
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Swimming with Swans – Open Water 7 review
Swans UK asked us to try the latest edition to their range, the Open Water Seven and we received it just in time for our holiday to Rhode...
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Being vertical, for a change
If we're not too busy getting from one end of the pool to the other, it's good to practise staying vertical and in the same place. Since w...
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Play Comes First, But What Next?
On Teaching Children... I don't work with many children these days. But it's good to keep your hand in. This week I gave five short lessons to O...
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Posture And Alignment Or Awareness And Prevention?
Ian isn't interested in 'strengthening the core'. People who don't know very much about the Alexander Technique tend to think it's all about pos...
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When Movements Muddy The Water – And Gliding Makes It Clear
Some people are too hungry to improve their strokes so they can swim lengths for fitness, or do a triathlon. Not Mary and Brendan, who came from...
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About black people learning to swim
Of course black people can swim. So why discuss it? Every week we get an email from our web hosting company with a graph and a list of popular sear...
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Keeping Your Head Above Water
Swimming with your face out is not much use if it's the only thing you can do. But you need to be able to do it! Gill's been learning to swim ...
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Fish Fingers? Get Your Hands On A Dog And Improve Your Stroke
F.M. Alexander said that if we chase tension round the body, it ends up in our hands and wrists. This is true in swimming. In the Alexander ...
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To the Wall – What’s Your Approach?
Because the wall in a swimming pool becomes a destination, it's symbolic for people learning to swim. How we approach the wall says a lot about our...
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Sing When You’re Winning – and always in the first lesson
When learners first attempt to breathe out into water, nervous tension gets in the way. But relaxation and enjoyment are more easily experienced th...
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A Man Made Pool’s What You Make It, It’s Up (And Down) To You
"The pool became an aquatic yoga or dance studio instead of a sports hall, gym or treadmill...I left the leisure centre feeling free and remained s...
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Control Freak? Cant Swim?
Are you a non-swimming adult who describes yourself as a control freak? Successful at what you do, you're usually able to achieve you...
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Floating Is A Feeling – When You Think About Its
About 15 years ago I was giving lessons to Christopher, aged ten. Ten's a bit late for a child to learn to swim and it took him a while. For severa...
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Holiday Breaststroke – Getting away from getting it right
This week I've been working with Kerry and Roger. They hope to enjoy swimming breaststroke in long, deep pools on holiday in Cyprus next month. The...
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