Had a really good 1-1 coached open water session with Graham last year. He gave me some really good tips to focus on to help improve my technique and confidence. He is really patient and explains things clearly.
I would thoroughly recommend Graham to anyone looking for advice and guidance on all aspects of open water swimming, from general water safety, places to swim, open water techniques and also racing tactics.
During 2020 he helped our son progress from being an absolute beginner with little open water confidence, to taking part very successfully in his first mile event in Ullswater.
We are looking forward to seeing more of Graham this summer!
Graham was very knowledgeable and filled me with confidence. I used to swim as a kid but was keen to get back in the water and do some open water swimming. He had loads of top tips and was very thoughtful and professional. I intend to have a further session to build my confidence further once the water gets a bit warmer this year!
I bought a coaching session with Graham for my wife, who is relatively new to open water swimming. She wanted to try river swimming, and having been on one of Graham’s introductory sessions at Derwent Reservoir, we arranged a one-to-one session for the River Tyne at Hexham.
Graham provided all the necessary paperwork in plenty of time for us to complete it, and we turned up on a sunny but breezy day. Graham took my wife through the format for the session, explaining the health and safety elements, and getting a feel for what my wife wanted to achieve on the day.
Eventually, in they went, cruising across the river to the “swimming side” as the rowing club were out in force on the near side. They were soon making their way up the river, stopping every so often to give and receive instruction, working against the flow of the river. I could see Graham taking short videos, which he would send to us later that day so my wife could see her action and take reference for the instruction Graham was giving throughout the session.
After turning around it didn’t take long to return, taking advantage of the river flow. My wife emerged from the water having thoroughly enjoyed herself, and found a new confidence in being able to join a session of fellow swimmers in the river in the future.
Graham’s guidance was invaluable, tailoring the session to the swimmer’s ability and overall requirements.
I would definitely recommend Graham, whether you are a novice wanting to get started, or a more experienced swimmer wanting to learn from the best.
Many thanks Graham for your time and expertise.
Our junior triathletes have progressed so much while working with Graham. He is an amazing coach for all levels of open water swimmers. Graham is professional and plans meticulously. He creates a safe, fun, challenging and stimulating environment. Our athletes learn so much from his experience and it makes such a difference, not only to their confidence but also to their sighting, turning and group swimming. We will certainly continue to develop our open water skills with Graham each season. NSP Junior Triathlon can’t recommend him highly enough
I had a 1:1 session with Graham last year. I had been having shoulder issues and was working towards doing Ullswater end to end swim(which was sadly cancelled). Graham was very encouraging and gave me a way of changing my stroke that had greatly helped my shoulder problem as well as giving me a bit more power in my stroke. I’ll certainly be heading back for more lessons from Graham in the future.
Having previously taken part in an excellent group skills session with Graham at Derwent Reservoir, I booked a 1-1 session at Tyne Green Hexham last year. Graham has a great knowledge of the local area and gave good advice on judging conditions and swimming safely. He helped me with technique and confidence while transitioning from pool swimming to open water and was able to recommend other local swimming spots and events to look out for.
Very supportive coach both in pool and open water. He has an extensive swimming background and understands the needs of swimmers at the various stages in their swimming journey. His stroke analysis is very thorough and he clearly highlights ways of developing a more efficient technique.
Graham did a 1:1 pool session for me shortly after I signed up to do a channel relay. He kindly spent time ahead of my session allaying my fears over the phone. In the pool he gave me lots of things to work on without overcomplicating things or trying to change too much in 1 session. The session was fun and so helpful in starting to develop my freestyle stroke.
Booked a session with Graham at Chollerford after wanting some safety advice on where to enter/also just general info about swimming there to give me and my friend more options than Tyne Green. Really good info shared in the session, but also links and websites provided afterwards that were super helpful. My friend isn’t a strong swimmer so Graham spent time giving her pointers to try and build her front crawl technique before the two of us headed up the river. He gave me breathing tips to try and improve my technique along the way. Far more comfortable to return to Chollerford to swim there in future now, which is exactly what we wanted! I’m sure both me and my friend will be practicing the tips shared as soon as we’re back in the water (we’re soft ‘fair weather’ swimmers 😂). Will also deffo be looking out for upcoming groups
I had a 1:1 intro session with Graham today. It was really good and gave me more confidence. He gave me some pointers for improvement that I could never have learnt by myself. Graham puts you at ease, is friendly and professional.
I had a 1:1 open water session with Graham yesterday and He’s very good at what he does. Explains everything clearly and breaks it down bit by bit to make sure you get a good understanding, as well as why you’re doing each thing. He has corrected my stroke technique which I can now practice in the pool ready for next year’s races!
