I went on the Total lmmersion swim course with Julian.From my
point of view it was extremely worthwhile.Starts with teaching you about
your balance in the water and certainly gives you the confidence in
water thereafter.Then goes into showing you where the power should come
from,ie the core of the body and follows by using the arms with fist
gloves to emphasize the use of the core of the body.Emphasizes all the
time the key to technique and not brute force and a large degree of
ignorance in my case.95% of the 2 days are pure drills taking you
through the balance ,core power use and finally the arms.
T he first morning they video you as you swim now (not a
pretty sight),and then finally at the end of the 2nd. day they do the
same.All bar a couple had reduced their storke rate per length by subtle
amounts.l went from 17 storkes to 13 for a 25m. length.Key points that
came out for me were the balance and use of the core of your body for
the power and the entry of the hand into the water,which was completely
wrong in my case previously.Albeit an expensive course,was worthwhile as
l could thrash around for the next 2 years without knowing what the hell
to do.The drills that they show you need working on each time you swim
and they have one guy who is sound triathlete and has experience in
other sports as well.
There were 4 instructors to 12 pupils,all of whom l found very
sound in their reasoning.Be interested to see what Julian thought as a
much more experinced triathlete and swimmer.Hope that helps,regards John
R.
[John Robinson]

Just a quick note to confirm all John has to say about the Total Immersion
courses; a very worthwhile 2 days for anyone who want to swim better at any
level.
There were swimmers on the course of all standards with totally different
aspirations, which is exactly what the course is structured to cater for.

Furthermore John is being too modest....he might be a relatively
inexperienced swimmer but he was a damn sight better than me right from the
first video session (he managed 25m in 17 strokes, I took 21) with what
appeared to be a fairly smooth and competent stroke yet still managed to
knock two strokes off over the weekend.

The biggest change for me was that my 'drowning kitten' style was cleaned up
remarkably resulting in a final 15 stroke length....all with much less
physical exertion. Im not sure Ill be much quicker but the whole Total
Immersion philosophy focused on increased confidence and optimised effiency
with increased speed being almost seen as a fortunate by product.

Which suits me fine cos Im never gonna be an Ian Thorpe anyway but hopefully
those 'never again' moments in the first 100 metres of an open water swim
will be history!!

Julian 

Results from Roger Shooter plus Blyth Tri results

6 april circuit of dales TT 50miles

1 gethin butler 2.00.18

47 roger shooter 2.26.57 (serves me right for going for a curry the night before!)

20 april circuit of bassenthwaite TT 32.8miles

1 ian stott 1.10.57

23 roger shooter 1.18.08

27 april teesdale mountain TT 40miles

1 dave cook 1.54.09

Still waiting for confirmation of Tadcaster Tri results, see whowhere page

16.05.03 

Just to say I survived the long course triathlon world championships in Ibiza yesterday. It was mega-hot but apart from that it was a wonderful day. The race organisation (totally closed roads, etc) was the best I have known, as was the support - Brits everywhere (especially on the three run laps through town) shouting support and waving union jacks - a truly amazingly experience.

I expected to be last but wasn't. (I expected to take between 10 hours and 10 hours 30 mins, but I my time was just under 8 hours 54 mins. You can see the full results on www.homedeferro.com. (You´ll find me in the 50-64 age group results.) I certainly expected to be the last Brit in my age group, but wasn´t - there was one an hour behind me. (I have had to come into town to find an internet cafe to check my time.)

The British team organisation was brilliant and I really enjoyed the parade of nations on Friday and the team photos on Saturday. I think we had the largest age group team of any country. And we won the most medals (11 medals including 5 golds).

There were parts, which were less enjoyable, mainly swimming so far in salt water (the neck of my wet suit rubbed my skin raw due to the salt), the fact that all the run was on concrete, and the heat. I did put a bit of suncream on between swim and bike but I am VERY burned and sore.

Next year the world championships for long course triathlon are in Sweden - I´m thinking about it.

Peterlee Tri click here for results John Robinson finished 30^th in 1.14.43 & Jon Cooper 58^th in 1.21.43

Congrats to Chris Shouksmith 1st F45 at both the Meanwood Trail Race and the Ashbourne Powerman Duathlon

OPEN WATER SWIMMING AT RIPON has now commenced. NYP TRI has slots allocated on Tuesday and Thursday from 1600 onwards. Please do not try and swim at other times as they are allocated to other users. We are currently the only users that do not pay a fee to swim in the lake and we do not want to lose this privilege. For the new members I would recommend parking in the small car park next to the quarry entrance. The gate does get locked and in the past swimmers who have taken their cars in have been locked in. DO NOT SWIM ALONE, even if you do not have a swimming partner please bring someone to watch you swim.

Race Dates - Wearedale 1st June, Prince Bishops 29th June, Teesdale 31st August. Cleveland Short Course 8 June.

Scarborough, Cleveland Long Course, and Hunmanby are all on the same day Sun 6 July 

The 15th and last Tadcaster Duathlon took place over the full course in mild temperature, light but strengthening wind and even some sunshine!

The team had 6 finishers (apologies if I've missed anyone) but were beaten to the team prize by Leeds Bradford who placed 2nd, 3rd and 6th.

Results:

1 Brian Field Otley CC 1:52:40 (1st Vet)

8 Andy Senior 2:00:08 (2nd Vet)

9 Craig Maude 2:00:49 (3rd Vet)

15 Julian Read 2:05:06

16 Kevin Moment 2:05:44

74 Gary Coulthard 2:32:30

91 Raffi Aghanian 2:56:49