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Swim Specific Training Days: Sunday 19th October 2008 and Sunday 11th January 2009

Driven to Tri are running two 'swim specific training days' on Sunday 19th October 2008 and Sunday 11th January 2009 at the University of Bath Performance Centre. These sessions, coached by Elite triathletes Harry Wiltshire and Peter Freedman will offer athletes the chance to develop their swim technique in preparation for winter's training and the 2009 season.

Each day will be held at the University's 50m pool and will include 3 hours pool time, underwater video analysis, swim technique development and a chance to learn from some of the country's top triathletes (see below for a full schedule). The price of each day will be £95 to include lunch, video analysis, full use of facilities and drills to take away and help you progress.

The timing of these day camps gives you the perfect opportunity to start your winters swimming with a bang. For this reason we are offering you the chance to sign up for both days for only £150. With 10 weeks between the camps this gives you the chance to get your swimming videoed twice, see the improvements you have made to your stroke and look at further areas for progression with the Driven to Tri team.

What you'll get:

N.B. You will be able to purchase a copy of your videoing with comments from the team for £20. This will come complete with our drills CD and will be sent out 10-15 days after the camp.

Entry

Click here for the registration form. Mail the completed form to the address on registration form and either enclose with a cheque or pay online - by clicking here. Cashing of an applicant’s cheque or receipt of online payment confirms the applicant’s place in the camp.

There is a limited number of spots, so if you don't sign up now, please register your interest by clicking on the following link and entering, "I'm interested in the Run Day" in the comments section. Click Here.. This way we can send you a reminder closer to the time. Please contact us by the same method if you have any questions or require further information.

Probable Schedule

9.30am: Meet and Greet

On arrival at the University please park in one of the pay and display car parks. Once parked, please proceed to the Sports Training Village. There is a map of the University here. You will be met in Reception by the Driven to Tri team. If you are running late please contact us on 07888 675 239 so that we can advise you of the best place to meet us. Athletes who have paid online will be asked to sign a disclaimer on arrival which can be found on the camp booking form (click here).

9.45-10.45: Talk on Swim fundamentals

This will be a basic introduction to swim technique. We will look at what makes an efficient stroke, how to successfully develop this and also engage in some dry land exercises to demonstrate efficient technique.

Developing an efficient pool stroke is a pre-requisite to successful open water swimming. However, as many of you will know, an efficient pool stroke does not guarantee open water success. We will therefore move onto discussing stroke adaptations for open water swimming and why these are needed.

11am- 12.30pm: Swim Session

The first 30 minutes of this session will be spent videoing you swimming. Initially you will be videoed underwater and overwater swimming 100m Frontcrawl. Whilst each athlete is being videoed we will discuss their technique. This is a great 'hands on' chance to continue the discussion on swimming fundamentals so don't be afraid to analyse, compliment or criticise other athletes' strokes, it will be of benefit to the whole group.

We will then move onto an open water skills session. Areas covered will include sighting, turning round a buoy, drafting, positioning within a group and stroke adaptations for open water. This will be a great starting point for open water triathlons.

12.45 - 1.30: Lunch

Lunch will be provided along with a brief talk on nutrition. If you have any special dietary requirements please inform us within the next week by e-mail or phone. During the lunch break the coaches will be available to answer questions.

1.30 - 2.45: Stroke Analysis

Here's the fun part, a chance to watch your swimming on the big screen! We'll analyse each swimmers technique one by one, looking at your strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement and tie it all in with the swim fundamentals discussed in the morning session. Watching yourself and other athletes swim and engaging in debate about their stroke, will allow you to gain a greater understanding of the principles and practicalities of efficient frontcrawl.

3.00 - 4:30: Swim Session

This is a chance to work on the areas identified in the stroke analysis session. We'll work through some generic drill progressions to further develop the swim fundamentals. We'll then break into smaller groups to allow us to focus on specific areas of improvement for your stroke based on the video analysis work. You may be jumping out to watch demos or running through your technique on dry land, so bring a towel to use on poolside and a drink to keep you hydrated!

4.45 - 5.30: Discussion on structured swimming training and Q & A

This session is intended to introduce you to planning a structured swimming programme. We will look at how to plan a training programme, what percentage should be drills/fitness, how to progress your swimming programme and where to go from here. We'll finish with a summary of the day and will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible in the time available.

5.30: Finish: Time to go home!

We'll be around for at least 30 minutes after the close of the day and would be more than happy to answer any further questions you may have, or chat briefly about your swimming or triathlon training.