Who is fitter, runners or triathletes?
So I think I would say triathletes because a lot of
runners or not a lot of runners, runners, some runners can't
swim. OK, they might say they can
swim, but they can't swim. So there's, there's a, there's a
massive difference between swimming fitness, running
fitness, biking fitness. So I think in answer to your
question, let's just to go straight into it, triathletes
are fitter because they got to do 3 disciplines.
Yeah. Now, I'm not saying that runners
couldn't be as fit or aren't as fit because some of them,
remember some triathletes are run just runners as well.
So it's a funny one, but I'm going to answer triathletes.
Yeah, no, I think you're quite right.
So I did a run on the weekend and I went out with a friend who
was a cyclist and he ended DNF in because it's a completely
different type of fitness. I think all his his legs locked
up, he couldn't, he couldn't use them because it's just different
muscles. Even though he's he's definitely
100% fit to them. Yeah.
But like it's just a completely different, mechanically
different. It is, yeah.
Yeah. And it's like, again, you don't
know what's going to happen in a, in a triathlon anyway, you
know, whether that's a mechanical with your bike or
mechanical with your actual body like you just described.
So. But then again, if you like look
at it from a high rocks point of view.
I know we're not talking about high rocks, but there's so many
runners who'll just get into high rocks and you know, they
might not have done any of the in the disciplines in high
rocks, but there's so much batter than the triathletes
because they're running, they're faster runners, for instance,
and they can nail, nail the loops of the, the, the high
rocks course like. Yeah, no, you're right.
I suppose it's like when when you see MMA fighters can go into
boxing, boxers can't go into MMA.
No, no, no. So it's it's a similar thing
then I suppose like so I like that.
So like I suppose what is fitness?
And then you've got the people who do triathlon, they are fit
in different disciplines and they are different fitnesses.
Well, how do you see the the different the different types of
fitness? But yeah, it's the the three
disciplines are so different, but each one complements each
other. So like that swimming aerobic
base will complement the bike and they'll give you that
ability. When you become better on the
bike, understanding the gear changing and understand the
zones and understand how to ride uphill and downhill on the
flats. The swimming fitness will always
bring you through. Now I was saying to you off off
camera earlier about my running, like my running's gone through
the roof because I've learnt how to zone to run.
Just because I was a swimmer, that's not helped my running.
I couldn't run around the block when I got into trathlon,
believe it or not. I literally struggled.
You're a national swimmer. I was a national swimmer and I'm
thinking like what? I'm fit like, you know, I, I
know I put on weight over the years after retiring, but why
can't I run like I can swim And then I see the same like, and I
drop a couple of names now. So I've worked with Jamie Bosch
at Cardiff a few times. He was actually not a bad little
swimmer. And Colin Jackson, who couldn't
swim at all, right? So Colin comes to me and has
lessons and he's like bearing in mind being to, you know, won
Olympic medals or whatever, or national medals.
And he gets in the pool, he can't swim.
And he's like, why can't I swim, You know, And, you know, coming
up with all these random things. But I know so many runners who
were the same, like Paul Gray's another one who I know quite
well. And he wasn't the best swimmer.
And he's like, I'm fit, you know, I'm really fit, but why?
And it's that ability to be able to relax and, you know, in the
water, first of all, but also, you know, try and transfer that
fitness with technique. OK.
So of course, going back to my running, it was about my
technique, but it was also understanding how to run and
keep running slowly and build an aerobic base, being relaxed and
walking if I need to, you know, and it is totally different, you
know. So the disciplines are totally
different. So what, what could what could
runners learn from endurance swimmer or, or the cycling or
the triathlon? What could they learn from sort
of dipping their toes in other disciplines?
I think with regards to swimming, I mean swimming is
such a non weight bearing exercise.
You know, it's great. You see a lot of runners do Aqua
jogging. So they, you know, they, they
get in if they're injured, they're in the water, they're in
deep water. Some of them wear the running
belt and they'll jog and they usually use it just for injury.
But actually, I've heard and read stories of people actually
training for marathons, jogging in water, and it actually makes
you fit. It's mad.
I'll have to dig it out and send it to you.
Yeah. But also learning how to swim or
getting better at swimming. If you're a good runner, you
know, and your or your sport is running will then transfer that
that fitness and that, you know, ability to be better in the
water or transfer to your running.
And I see it all the time, people who are coming, who are
good runners, who come and have lessons versus they want to do a
triathlon. They're coming to me weeks and
months later saying my running's got better.
You know, I'm, I'm better now because I'm now learning how to
exhale and inhale and in water and control their breathing.
You know, it's almost like hypoxic work for them because
they never, they've never put their face in water.
You know, then they're just so used to running down the street
or running on the track and inhaling, exhaling without even
thinking about it. And yeah, their breath will, you
know, they get out of breath and their breathing will increase.
But actually the ability to relax in water and exhale,
inhale in water will make you better than, you know, in your
aerobic. Your aerobic fitness will go up
like so. That's nuts.
I never thought about like that. Yes, because I would you'd
assume that it's all about building that engine, you know,
the your cardiovascular fitness or what it or the Zone 2 maybe
maybe even mechanically as well with your skeleton and your
muscles. You can hold your body better
because you're sort of working the upper body.
And I didn't think about the breathing part though.
Yeah, I mean, and swimming's obviously remember it's the only
sport, rowing's very similar, but swimming is the only sport
where you're using all your muscle groups.
So you're literally using all your muscle groups.
But then it's non weight bearing, as I said earlier.
So you're, you know, you're all your muscles are requiring
oxygen. So it's the ability to regulate
doing, doing the exercise. And of course, if you're a good
fit runner and you become good at swimming, then you're going
to see results with the with the running.
So yeah. What does swimming give a runner
that running doesn't? That's an interesting question.
What does swimming give a runner that running doesn't?
That's a thinker. That is, that is a thinker, you
know, because you're all half naked in both sports.
So, yeah, all the flesh on display.
But no, I, I think, you know, they're very similar with
regards to, you know, it makes you fit, it makes you healthy,
gives you, you know, definition in your muscles.
You know, they're very similar, I think very similar.
Yeah. Yeah.
But do you know, just go back to what we've said about the
breathing, I think, I think that that if anything, because in
running you can push hard and you can just breathe out your
ass. You can't do that in swimming.
You have to control it. So so maybe it just gives you
control. That's what that's what I see
also, I think. I think another good answer
probably would be that, you know, there's no bad feeling
than be in the ocean, especially if you're in Greece or abroad
somewhere and you're on your own swimming or with your mate swim
and you're still, even though you're with someone, you've got
that lovely feeling of like there's nothing else other than
you in the water. And that's something, you know,
that I suppose people ask me when I did the world record
swimming, like, what did you think about when you're in the
water? And I think maybe because it's a
bit like, because I'm ADHD as well, I just don't really think
about ending. I just switch off.
It's my ability to have a bit of quiet time, I suppose, and let
my brain just, and all of a sudden 20 minutes will go by,
half an hour will go by and all of a sudden there's an hour
session done. And I've just been swimming up
and down the pool or swimming in the sea and I've just switched
off, you know. So yes, I suppose that's my
answer for that is that the difference is, you know, even
though you're getting the same fitness and physique and and you
know, the both benefits for health, you're getting that
switch off as well from being in the water.
Yeah, it's primal, man. And it's primal.
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Now let's get back to the episode.
You touched on your world record there, and we touched it at the
start. Like explain to me, how the hell
did you end up swimming for 24 hours?
So Covad hit and I, I was obviously business just closed.
My wife's a health visitor, so she was off working.
I only had my son at the time. And of course they turned around
and went, oh, you've got to home school.
And I was like, Oh my God, I dropped out of school at 16.
I'm like, not home schooling like, you know, so I was
thinking on my word, what am I going to do here?
So my home schooling consisted of my son getting in the
swimming tank with me in the garage.
And I was just swimming, just keeping fit, you know, no
business to, to run. And he was just playing around.
He was only young at the time. So he was circling around me as
I'm swimming in the current, like just messing around.
But we did that 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes just a messing around
over lunch. We go back in the pool.
Yeah, right. And then I came up with the
idea. I thought, you know, all these
people are doing these challenges for NHS charities and
all this sort of stuff. I'm going to and I turned the
temperature off because I didn't want to use like, you know,
electric. I turned the temperature down.
So I've gone from 28° where we were sort of always like that
for, for my clients, turning it off and it was either in about
19°, which isn't super cold, but you know, cold for swimming if
you're not in a wet suit. So Charles came home one day
from work and I said, I'm going to do a 12 hour swim, right.
This is before the 24 hour idea. And so she comes home and she's
like, what are you on about? Now here we here we go sort of
thing and and I said what I'm going to do, people are doing
these 12 hour challenges and they're trying to raise money
for NHS charity. So I'm going to swim.
If you can take the day off work, you can be my nutrition
support. You and Bobby can help.
I'll set it all out, right. And I'll have different swim
hats for every, every, every time I hit a mile, right.
I want you to, you know, give me, give me a new swim hat.
So I'll have my numbered miles. I'll go live on Twitter, people
can donate, I'll have all the nutrition.
So it was a proper plan to it. And so that's what I did.
So I swam, I went live on Twitter, 21 miles in total.
So that was the idea. I was going to swim the length
of the English Channel and I set the pace.
I worked out the pace to one minute, 49 per 100, which is
basically 9 Iron Man swims back-to-back all day.
And I said that I was, I know it seems bonkers now thinking about
it, but this, it got worse because I thought, well, I'm
going to have to go to toilet. You know, I don't want to just
go in the pool because it's not good practice.
So I said to myself, right, I'll do the, I'll do like half an
Iron Man swim. I've give myself a couple of
minutes so I can get out if I need to or take my nutrition on
board and then go again. So there were, there were my
sort of rules to it. So I was allowed half an hour,
half hour blocks all the way through.
So I do 25 minutes swim, 5 minute rest, go toilet if I need
to. So that's what I did and I
clocked up 21 miles and it was, you know, buzzing.
I'd raised like 5 and a half, £1000 for NHS.
It was great. So after the fire break, I know
during the fire break I opened back up for business and clients
were coming and going. You're mad.
You are like swimming for that long.
Fair play on your shoulders here this, here that.
And it was always this running joke as as a swimmer, like how
long, you know, you go to school when you were younger and they'd
be like, oh, how long could you swim for that and how far could
you swim? Could you swim?
And swimmers always should say, well, you keep feeding me, I'll
swim all day. And I always used to say that.
And I I'd never actually challenged myself to do that.
So it was a good time to challenge that as well in my
head. And that that is true.
Like, you know, my heart rate was only about 100 the whole
time. So I'm like taking on board mad.
You know, you're in that horizontal position and you
know, your heart rate's naturally lower anyway, right?
But when you're an efficient swimmer, it's even more even
lower. If you're slowly plodding along.
It's just like resting heart rate, right?
So you don't actually need loads of fuel.
It's like that fine line with not going too high with the
blood sugars, etcetera. But yeah, so loads of people
were like, you're mad, you are you mad?
You know, I was doing 12 hours. That must have been a world
record. And I was like, yeah, I didn't
think of that. So anyway, look, course, you
look on the Guinness World Record website and there's a
girl called Myra Santos, right, who'd done 24 hours non wet
suit. And of course she'd already done
this. And I was like, fair play to
her, like, you know, but no one had done a wet suit.
So no one had put out there that they've done 12 hours or 24
hour, whatever. So I applied to Guinness and
they were like, no, it's not. You can't do marathon swimming.
It won't get basically it won't get ticked off.
I can't remember the word they use now ratified.
So you won't get ratification because you have to have the
Channel Swimming Association to approve it and Channel Swimming
Association won't approve wet suit long distance swimming.
It has to be skins. I'm like, I'm doing it in a
pool. Like what?
Like I don't understand the problem.
It's for charity for God's sake. Anyway, they weren't interested.
They said anyway, you didn't have the judges, you didn't have
this, you didn't have that. So I was like, right, fine, OK,
So I put it to bed. I was like, whatever, I've still
got a world Rackle because no one else has done it.
Like, you know, and then I was just like thinking about it and
thinking about it. And then when we, we, we shut
down again in the lockdown 2. And I thought to myself, when we
open again, I'm going to do 24 hours.
I thought, go for it. Let's put the wet suit on.
Let's just do it. And I applied to
officialworldrecord.com. So it's not Guinness.
It was official worldrecord.com, which again is like, you know,
they're two separate organisations but do the same
thing. They both got a book and they
both, you know, and I thought if they're not going to approve it
through Channel Swimming Association, then I'll see what
these guys got to say. But in the meantime, I'd also
asked Wauser, which is World Open Water Swimming Association,
if they would get involved. And of course, they said the
same thing. So the guy, Steve Muchanos, I
think his surname is, he actually invited me on his
podcast all the way in California to talk about why,
what I was doing, why I was doing it, which was fab.
So that was an online thing. And he was just like, listen,
Dave, if I say yes to you, all the people who've ever done
endurance stuff in wetsuits are going to go, well, why didn't
you approve mine? I swam across so and so so and
so, so I understood. So I was like, that's fine.
But official world record approved, 24 hours would be,
would be a good shout and we'll support it.
So you have to have two judges. You have to have a proper timing
system. You have to have a rest time.
You have to proper, you know, So I was like, great.
So I went back to the old stomping ground, Cardiff Met,
told them all about it, Sport broadcasting team up there.
So the guys up there were great. They had a student who wanted to
cover it as part of their dissertation.
It was great. So it was like sort of helping a
couple of people out. Seco got in touch.
They were like, yeah, we'll give you the clocks.
So we had yeah. So we had official clock for the
total time and one for rest time.
The judges were all lined up, everything else.
So as soon as we open back up, we'll we're going for it.
And but I didn't do it in my garage.
I did it at all swim, which is the South Wales Endless pool
supply. Well, they do Jacuzzis and all
stuff like that. So Jane, who owns that business
very kindly said I could use her pool, which I was really pleased
about because I was swimming for 24 hours using the electric.
Actually, I didn't need to use my electric belt when she
watches this. Like she was like, oh, right,
OK, that's why you wanted to use me.
Now she was good as gold. And of course, I needed to make
sure that everything was in place.
So I had to have paramedics on site.
I had to have a support team, one or two family members in the
support team who would need to make decisions if things went
wrong. There was loads of things I had
to follow who very kindly supported me with the wet suit.
So I was the first ever custom made wet suit that they ever
made. Yeah.
So Dean was like, who's Dean Jackson, the owner?
You still fit in it? Yeah, I can stop it.
Do you know what? I'm too small for it now.
I was actually a bit overweight then.
Like, yeah, I'd fluctuate like hell, but I'm not a really good
weight now. But back then I was in an exile
suit. So I'm in a large suit now.
But fair play to Dean. He was like, you're going to be
able to do this, Dave. And I was like, yeah, if I'm
saying I'm doing it, I'm doing it, you know, I knew I could do
it, and I knew I'd done the 12. But going through the night was
going to be the interesting thing, you know, because of
course I did it through the day. And yeah, so he supported the
suit. I think it cost him about £700
to make this suit. It was fab, right?
All new panelling and they actually all off the back of it,
didn't call it the world record suit, but they used, they called
it the Varman Glacier suit. After I did the records.
It was very similar to what I wore, which was wicked.
And yeah, when it came to it then.
So on June the 11th, 2023, I think it was, or was it
20/22/2022, 02021? My God, it's gone so long.
That's so long ago. My word.
My God, I did it. Yeah.
Started at 9:00 in the morning and it was a long, long day at
the office. Oh my God, 12 hours, 30, I got
to think 13 hours. And talking about nutrition
earlier I'd Cardiff Sport Nutrition were great.
So I approached them and told them what I was doing and they
were like, yeah, we'll support you.
We've got to come up with a drink that you're going to use,
you know, no feeding, it's drink all the way.
And I was like, really? So I was like, OK, fine.
So I put my trust in them. So I'd been training with this
like pink solution they made me, which was 500 mils of this drink
every half an hour. So I had little bottles with
enough powder, just fill it with water, shake it.
And that was all I was having. And I just couldn't get my head
round that I was just going to be drinking for that.
It was just like, and of course I'd trained with it, but every
time I was doing 234 hour swims and a couple of night swims, I
was never going the full distance obviously or nowhere
near just clocking up the mileage.
And I just had this thing in my mind couple of days before.
I was like said to my brother, my brother Dan and my
brother-in-law Matt, who were like my main support guys.
I was like, are you going to have to have something to nibble
on? Like, you know, some crisps or
some penny sweets or something like, you know.
So anyway, of course they all rocked up with flapjacks and
they what for them as well. So there was like little treats
on the side as well as my nutrition.
Worst mistake ever made as a coach.
Yeah, I've learnt so much. I, I literally nearly messed the
whole thing up because I what I was doing, I was taking just
enough like sort of slow release carb in the drink to sort of
maintain with that low heart rate, right.
But of course, all of a sudden I was adding sugar and at 13
hours, the paramedics, Gavin, the one guy, he was a client of
mine. So he volunteered to help out
him and his son, fair play to him.
So they alternated the whole night and he came and he did my
blood and he was like, your bloods are through the roof day.
He said, if it's like that, next time I check, you're going to
have to stop. I'm going to have to tell your
brother to call it like, you know, I was like, you're not
stopping this. And he was like you like you.
I think my blood Sugar's like 14 or 15.
It was like way too high. And I was like looking at the,
there was a Velindra poster because I was raising money for
Velindra and there was a poster on the wall and the Velindre V
was coming out at me. I was like hallucinating, but I
didn't tell him. I was just like, like, whoa.
And it was just because my blood sugars were, and I was like a
little bit dizzy as well. And I was thinking this is not
good, right? You know, So I said, right, turn
it up. I was holding about two minutes,
20 per hundred. I said whack it up to 130 per
100, which is a decent pace. I'll just swim for half an hour
on that. Burn it off.
So that's what I did.
So I absolutely went for it for half hour.
My my heart rate went up. I was hot and of course you're
in a wet suit. So it's like going for it.
I was like, I got to do this just to sort of settle back in
because it battered my shoulders half hour on a certain pace.
You know, it was it was a silly sort of mistake.
But anyway, check my bloods and they were back down to seven and
then they dropped again then the next time.
So it was great, but it was a big lunar because it's sort of
halfway through mess my mind set up as well.
So I was just clock. I was what clock watching then
from 13 hours and it's a long day.
Then when you've still got all that time left, I'm like, Oh my
God, 18 hours. I got out, I had a bit of physio
treatment and I did contemplate and stopping.
I was like, I don't know if I can do this.
And my mind was going and Hope and Ross and a few others girls,
guys who work for me, they were like, you OK?
And I was just like. You know, when you just like
hang on, contemplate in life, you're like, what am I doing
this for? Like, you know, am I, am I going
to hurt myself if I carry on? And I just kept thinking like,
I've started doing it. I promised Dean that I was going
to do it with the suit. I promised Belinda I was going
to do it. I wanted the world record title,
even though I had it anyway sort of thing, you know, and I had
put it out there all over social media.
So it is an ego thing as well. What it comes down to in it, you
know, and you know, and, and I thought, right, crack on.
So that was that. But then 19 hours started
getting light outside. And then when the light started
coming through the glass because of Jane's Place is like all
glass. So of course it was dark.
It was horrible. My team had gone quiet as well.
Now, at one point they were having pizza and bottles of
beer, right? And I'm like, really, I'm
swimming and all I could smell is pizza.
I was like, you bastards, like, you know, so but my mind when
the light came up, I was like, right, I'm on the home
stretcher. And all of a sudden then it was
it was home stretch and I did it.
Came just at the right time. Then 24 hours and one second it
was. 24 hours and one second. Jesus Christ.
Yeah. Did you have to get a distance
or was it just time? No, so my distance, because of
the pacing, we worked out I did 57,000 meters in the pool.
So which was, yeah. So it was basically 2 channel
swims made. More than that, more than that,
yeah. So.
So it's a lot. Yeah, so I've done a 24 hour
challenge myself. It was up there, the world's
biggest GPS drawer of a cock and balls.
That's class. 70, it was it was a run.
And it's you find that like when it when it's it's night time,
it's like 4:00 AM, you just get you're battered, it's boring.
You can't see anything. Like you're just tired.
All you want to do is go to bed. But when that sun comes back
out, when you see that light, it's like you get rejuvenated.
It's like Popeye drinking his spinach, like, isn't it?
Yeah. It must be like the hormones
inside your brain going right. It's wake up time now and you
can see it through. I can't believe that you're
hallucinating as well. You've ever had that?
Before never. And and again, like I said, I
learned so much as a coach because, you know, it's so
important to follow the plan now, whatever the plan is,
whatever, you know, obviously I was on a low heart rate there
almost in a fat, you know, in the fat burning zone, I suppose.
So those glycos levels were just raising all the time, you know,
But my point is, you know what, whether you're a Sprint, a
middle distance, long distance, you know, you've got to stick to
the plan and also stick to what you've done in training.
I've had so many guys over the years with like the electrolytes
and people go on about make sure you get the electrolytes in now
leading up to your race and make sure your carb loading.
Well, hang on a minute. Is that what you're used to
doing, especially if you're an older person who's got into this
later on, you know, whether it's a midlife crisis or whether you
just decide to do it as a challenge, whether that's Iron
Man half rather than whatever, actually, yeah, there is science
behind carb loading. But if you're not used to it,
are you going to have the shits or are you going to have a bad
belly, you know, and knots in your stomach, or are you going
to hallucinate like I did because you're not used to it?
You know, it's just, it's really interesting.
You, you've got a good point there, because that's what they
say before a race, like when or if it's a running race, it's
like, don't forget to carb load. You've got to have these pastors
and all this and on the day have a bit of a bit of scrambled egg
or something like that. But that's not why I'd usually
have before a long run anyway. I'd usually go out.
I'm more comfortable going out with nothing in me and I'll just
have a gel or two on the run. But now I'm loading up before I
go out and I do always feel uncomfortable.
I'm 50% of the time I'm getting a stitch.
So let's just do what you use. It's what you're used to, you
know? 100% like I ran earlier.
I did an interval session earlier which was ending up
being 10K but split up. And I've been lately I've been
having, I don't know why it keeps coming up, but there's
stuff on TikTok. You know what it's like when you
start strolling and they're talking about like brown bread
with honey. And I love honey and honey's
actually like it's, it's just so good.
My Mrs. Azit in like a gel, like tubes, just honey and you can
literally RIP it like a gel and just have it and it really
works. For endurance events, that
sounds. Wicked, basically a gel.
So you know, it's, it's yeah. And it 100% works.
And so I've been having a piece of toast with honey or I've been
having a bit of Greek yoghurt with a little bit of cereal
mixing with honey. And I'll do that before my run.
And that is absolutely works for me.
I'm not saying no, that's gospel for everyone.
But then like you said, it's on the run.
Like, I've just done Brighton Marathon and it was my PB
marathon. I've worked hard with the
training, don't get me wrong, and I'm lighter.
But I truly believe that because I was taking my 100 grams of
carbs on, you know, throughout the race, making sure I was
getting that in with enough gels.
Like I'd have 3 or 4 gels normally on a marathon.
I was literally like 3 gels every hour, like banging them in
and it made a massive difference.
Like I ran the whole way. Yeah.
Whereas normally I get to 25 K and I'm like, oh, here we go.
Hips bonking, walking, head gone.
Like all of this, like, you know, all this business and I
didn't have any of that. I was like, Oh my God, like the
machine is coming here. I can feel, you know, the, you
know, I could feel it and it's because I feel properly.
So yeah. Yeah, did you, did you see the
body coach? What's his name?
Joe Wicks. Do you see him recently saying
you don't need to eat, I'll do his.
You don't need to drink and you don't need to eat on a marathon.
It's like you're talking about your ass, mate.
Like honestly. Yeah, big time.
Yeah, yes. Biggest thing ever What's what's
your most unpopular opinion when it comes to running or endurance
training? Unpopular.
Yeah, do. You know, I'm always really
careful with being controversial with stuff like as in like, you
know, I don't like piping up about it because it again, we go
back to what we just discussed, like it's not one-size-fits-all,
you know, So like some people will pipe up about like this is
the way to do it, you know, and my, my biggest annoying thing in
the swimming world is when swimming coaches and triathlon
coaches and I don't, I'm putting this out there because I'll be
controversial because I can. They talk about bilateral
breathing for open water swimming.
On Earth is up. So breathing out both sides.
So breathing every three. So didn't if you had swimming
lessons as a kid, but you would have been taught to breathe
bilaterally. So 123.
So you breathe to the right, you do 3 strokes, you breathe to the
left. 100% agree that it's great to give the swimmer balance and
be able to be breathe to both sides and practice to both
sides. So a child, for instance.
It also helps with adding rotation to both sides.
So we're going off sort of subject a little bit here.
But so many triathletes come to me and my coaches for lessons
and they go, oh, well, my coach says that I need to bilaterally
breathe in open war because I've got to breathe to both sides.
Like the ability to swap sides, yes, but don't just do it for
the sake of it, OK? Don't just do it because the
textbook in the library says that the best way to swim from
crawl is breathing every three. You know, if you're breathing
every three all the time, you're just going to disrupt your
stroke and end up snaking through the water, smashing if
you haven't got a blue line or a lane rope to follow.
So that was, that's so in my industry, that's my bugbear.
That's something I don't agree with.
It's the ability to swap when you need to.
So if I'm a right breeder, so I'm breeding every two to the
right. Yeah, nice and relaxed whether
I'm racing or not. And I think, well, the waves are
hitting me in my face here, I'm going to switch.
So then I would introduce 123 and then I just stick to the
left. So that's where it comes in, the
ability to swap, but not swapping all the time.
So it's like you do you, that's what it is essentially you do,
if it works for you, don't stress yourself out trying to
force yourself to do something that doesn't work for you
necessarily. Like yeah, I get that you're
talking about, you're talking about swimming strokes then.
So I used to do a bit of swimming back in the day, just
as a bit of training and I was always fine on the the 50m pool
down in Cardiff. I'm thrashing it out, you know,
I'm thrashing my arms. I'm trying to go as hard, fast
as I can. And then you just get like a
lady in a mid 60s, seventies, just glide past me doing like
less than half the stroke rate I'm doing.
What am I doing wrong? How can I improve my swim, make
me improve my swimming? Now what's the one thing I can
do? So she's creating something
called distance per stroke. So everything you see above
water is what you know when you see that Lady swimming, Daniel?
Like how is she making it so easy?
It's that iceberg analogy that you know, the big part of the
iceberg's under the water, the small parts on top.
So everything above water is the small part, the relaxed recovery
phase, the beautiful phase, the easy phase.
So that's where she's resting. Ending underneath the water is
where the power is happening. So she's pulling faster and
she's creating a better paddle than you.
So you're probably pulling with a straight arm all the way
round, and then you're spinning your arm over because you need
to get another pull in. Whereas she's recovering nice
and slow and controlled. She's entering, she's gliding,
she's creating distance per stroke, and then she's putting
the power in with a paddle. Now you won't see that unless
you film it or go underwater with your goggles on.
And that's essentially what it is.
So she's creating this rotated stroke.
So she's gliding and then she's powering through the water,
gliding and powering. Whereas you're going, I'm going
to keep up and you're blowing, you know, you're blowing out
your arse, you're adding too many strokes.
You know, it's less is more in swimming.
And even if you say, well, what about the sprinters in the
Olympics? Well, you see the aerial shot of
the 100 freestyle final right in In the Olympic Games, every
single one of those swimmers is creating distance per stroke.
They're not just spinning their arms around to go fast.
You'll see the glide. If you slow it down, you'd see
them glide and their arms nearly catching up even though they're
going fast. But to the naked eye, you think
they're just spinning. Well, that's it because you'd
assume that their, their arms are doing this as sort of like
180° to each other constantly. But I've seen saw something
recently. It's it's it's almost like
you're you're tagging your next arm in.
Is that right? Yeah.
So what you're describing is a drill called catch up.
So what we're looking to do for the most efficiency in swimming
is a catch up style stroke. So catch up is that as you
described, which is a drill, but a catch up style is nearly catch
up. So we're just plodding along and
we're getting this power and slow in it and power.
So you're resting up front, but that's causing, sorry, it's
giving you balance, balance, balance, balance, balance,
balance, power, balance, balance, balance.
So you're almost leaning on this imaginary pole out in front and
it's mad. When you get it right, you'll
feel it. And you're like, ah, right.
Because it's one of those things I reckon if you can just sort
your technique you'll you'll almost double your speed
straight away. Like if you've got bad.
So many people come to us and they're like, Oh yeah, I can do
2 minutes per hundred in a wet suit and I've hit a brick wall.
I can't get any faster. So I'm like, right, two things.
Well, you obviously need to analyse your stroke.
So we need to look at rotation, what your legs are doing because
they're probably relying on the wet suit to keep their legs up.
And, and again, that's another bug bearer of mine in the
triathlon industry. So you know that people say
you're in a wet two, you don't need to kick, right.
Well, that's ridiculous, isn't it?
You know, if you're not kicking, your legs are just going to be
flaying about and nine times out of 10, your legs are going to be
opening wide like this. So we're going to look at what
their, what their legs are doing, are they creating this
distance per stroke? And that's when we can start
seeing some better results from it.
So yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the easiest discipline of
a triathlon? For me, swimming.
Yeah, obviously for you. Yeah, swimming.
What do you reckon? Like what's the easiest one to
not master but to pick up? I think my reason why my
business has become so successful is because swimming
is the hardest and most technical, OK.
And you need the most help. You do, yeah.
Yeah. Whether it's a Sprint all the
way out or super Sprint, which is 400 meters, Sprint 750 all
the way up to, you know, Iron Man distance, which is 3.8 K.
You have to have good technique to be able to get out of that
water with and feeling efficient and feeling ready to get through
transition onto the bike. Like anyone can ride a bike or
run, can't they? You can walk if you need to or
you all learn to bike to ride a bike as a kid, right?
Whether you're clipping in on the cleats or whether you're
using the, you know, pedals. So, you know, I know there's
obviously a very small minority who can't ride and run, but
generally speaking, everyone can run and ride.
So swimming's the hardest and that's why everyone needs the
most. And and you know what, all these
ex rugby players and footballers, they're all getting
into trathlon because it's it's something to get their teeth
into. They're learning something new
with the swimming technique and etcetera.
Lot of people can swim, but can they swim properly?
You know, Alfie always said to me because he couldn't swim at
all. And when he all of a sudden he
learned with me, he was like, I can swim a mean 25 meters now.
He could blast it down the pool because he was strong, powerful,
but actually he couldn't keep it going because he didn't know how
to create distance per stroke. And that relaxing.
So what I like to say now to a lot of my guys who come through,
especially if they're big lumps, girls and boys, they're like who
have come from powerful sports, you know, sort of, you know,
fast twitch sports is that they can do a mean 25 meters without.
How can they learn to relax through 4000 meters and still be
efficient to get on the bike? Yeah, I've got to say it's
learning, Yeah, learning to slow that down and like just hit and
pace it. So you said which one's the
hardest? Which one's the easiest?
But again, I think running's easiest because of course you
can walk. You know, you know you can, you
can walk. Whereas the bike I I've, I've
actually had two mechanicals in five of my Iron Man's and 1
ended up as ADNF. Unfortunately, at 90 miles, my
bike failed me. Yeah, mate, honestly, my
brother-in-law will be listening to me.
We'll listen to this, right? I'll tell him to listen to it
and I'm going to give him a shout out now Matt Mat, because
I didn't change my tyres before the event.
He said to me if you change your tyres I was like I'll be fine, I
don't need to change my tyres, they're fine.
Like you know and 9092 miles in Tenby.
So I've done most of it. This 112 on the bike and I was
ready to get and I was actually on for a PB bike and I had to
blow out the tyre wall ripped open.
So not just the inner tube bursting, the whole tyre split
open. I hit a pothole and it was a hot
day. 2023 Iron Man Wales. And so people who were who do
listen, who did, who did that race or know it was a hot day.
There was tyres exploding left, right and centre in transition.
So the races were over before they even started.
Some people were getting out of the water and because they you
rack your bike, you know, the day before sea in, in a
triathlon and because we had such heat, I think it was like
28° or something ridiculous. If you've got too much air in a
tyre, they'll burst right? I think I was there for that one
to watch. Yeah, no, I was.
I think I was down Tenby watching that.
Yeah, so I get to the transition in the morning like happy days,
my tyres are fine, 92 miles on the bike and I got off the bike
of the first ever puncture. This was now right, Bearing in
mind I've literally done loads, never had a puncture in my life.
I was like here we go. My first ever puncture on Iron
Man went to go and change it tyre.
So I had to DNFI was gutted do. You not have a spare tyre.
No, so the the, the crew come round, so they what they call
the sweep vehicle. So you have one vehicle that
comes in like the mechanic who sort of assists you.
So you obviously, you know, your time's dwindling down all of a
sudden and you've got your wristband on which they can
scan. So if you decide to DNF, they
scan the barcode to sort of stop your race.
So for safety and everything else.
So the first guys come up, the mechanic, they're like, we got
in a tube. They was like, I don't need an
inner tube, I need a tyre. Oh, we haven't got a tyre.
Sorry. I was like, so I waited an hour
and a half on the side of the road for the sweep vehicle to
turn up where they rack your bike on the back.
And he said you DNF. I said, well, I have to like I'm
not walking the rest I, I'm not going to get there.
You know, it was basically the, the last few hills left, but
it's just brutal. So I was like, yeah, DNF.
So I get in the back of the car and there was another guy in
there. He was our age and he was
sobbing, loving, first ever Iron Man, trained all year for it and
his guts had gone so I didn't even get into the conversation
with him really because he literally was in tears.
This guy, it felt so sorry for him.
Did it smell as well? I think I didn't know what had
gone on, but he just lost his head.
His stomach was cramping. He was in a right state and all
this. He said, Oh my family, a year to
watch and I felt so sorry for him.
But I didn't feel like that because I'd done three previous
Iron Man's. I was like, I've got away with
this many and never had a mechanical, but you would laugh.
So the year later, because our club had 10 new people sign up
that year, I'm am Wales gave us a free place and I'm going to
say it on camera now. I was meant to sort of offer it
out to new people. Whatever.
I thought, I'm having that free place.
I'm going again next year. I'm not paying.
I'm going again. Can they give it to you?
To charity. Though you can do what you want.
You can auction it out or you can like give it to the newest
club member or whatever. I'm having it.
I built this club so so I get the free place and I said to my
Mrs. I'm doing it again. She's like, Oh my God.
She said, I want you to promise me now this is the last one
because I've had enough. She's had enough.
She carted the kids around watching me bloody do it.
I know it's the business, but she said.
I've had enough of watching you do it.
Leading cause of divorce. Yeah, so, so I'm, I'm not, I'm
going to go TT this year. So I'm buying a new bike, all
this business. So I bought myself.
It was a second hand TT frame, brand new wheels, brand new
seat, brand new helmet, brand new everything.
It was all brand new, right? Lush.
I get to 70 miles going up Heartbreak Hill, all the crowds.
You know where I'm at now. Yeah.
Going after Saundersfoot Hill, riding up.
I'm like loving life again. On for a PB time.
Seat post snaps. I swear I fell off the back of
my bike. You couldn't, you can't write
it. The bolt snapped on my seat,
right? And I was there all witnesses.
So this is not bullshit, right? I fell off the bike.
The crowds caught me. And of course, you're not
allowed assistance from the crowd, really.
But I was like, I don't give a shit, guy.
He's like, you know, I'm finishing this race.
Someone give me some zippy ties or something.
The bolt had snapped. So I'd lost all the like all the
layers of I'm not a cyclist so I'm forgive me for not knowing
what these things are called, but the little brackets under
your seat that sort of like sit on the, on the frame itself or
the, the post, I should say. So the bolt had snapped.
So basically what we'd done, the one of the locals came over with
these large zippy ties. So you gave me 6 wicked zippy
ties, massive things. And I zippy tied the seat to the
post, but it was just wobbling and it was always there and on
ATT bike now I had to sit on this bloody thing.
Well, I was like and in the end I just ripped the seat off and
threw it and I rode out of the saddle for 40 odd miles to
finish, right. Yeah, it took me, I was on for
sub seven hours and I did it in 8 1/2 hours.
So I added about an hour and a half to my time, which is what I
was gutted, but I thought there's no way I'm stopping.
I promised her this was my last one.
I got through it through my bike in the transition with no seat
on it. There's I got pictures, I'll
send them to him later. There's pictures of me pushing
my bike up on the 2nd loop of Heartbreak Hill in Saunders foot
with no seat. And I'm like this and people are
like in the background you can see him.
And I thought there's no way I'm stopping.
Like there's just no way. I can't.
People won't believe that I've had a mechanical two years in a
row. Like, you know, it's just that
was what kept going through my mind and fair play Liam Lloyd.
And if you had Liam Lloyd, he's a he's a quite he's a pro
triathlete Welsh guy and he's got his company called Tri
potential. So give him a shout out.
But anyway, Liam, good guy. It happened to him in long
course bike. So it's the same sort of Dist,
same problem. But it didn't, He only had 10
miles to go. And he gave me a shout out after
the Iron Man. I was buzzing about it because
he was like, us Welsh are built differently.
We can ride that course without a seat if we want to.
And he put it on his social media and I was like loving it.
I felt a reply. Yeah, I did 40 miles mate, you
did 10. But mate is a long tie.
I was crying, my eye, honestly, I was in tears.
I had cuts where the zippy ties had stayed on the post because
I'd zippy tied it on and then ripped the seat.
The zippy ties are still on the post.
So of course where I was riding, it was catching all the inside
of my legs. And you know what it's like with
a sharp zippy tie. I had blood.
I was cut to shreds down here all up in my groin, and I got
into transition. I sat there for about half an
hour because I, you know, I was just like, I don't care.
I'm going to finish this race. I got time.
I think I took six hours, 43 minutes for the marathon.
I just walked and ran and just, I just in tears.
I was fucked. Excuse my language.
And yeah, but I got it done. And then last year was my the
only year where I've ever watched it.
And last year was when I stopped drinking because I had a skin
full and I am drunk since. And I'm doing it again this year
because I'm thinking, well, hang on a minute, I'm 3 stone lighter
now what can I do that? Was the missus say.
She's not happy, she's happy and not happy, but she, she knows
I'm on this new journey. And it sounds a bit selfish, but
it's the first time in 36 years where I've not had alcohol in my
diet and, and I just want to see what I can do.
You know, I'm like my, my marathon PB, I've just done APB
on the half distance 70.3 in Majorca.
Like I'm talking an hour and 3 minute PB, you know, massive,
massive. So my PB for Iron Man is 1352
and I want to go sub 13. Some people are saying you're on
for sub 12. I'm like whoa now hang on a
minute. You know, like I'm not
interested in my top age group and all that business.
You know, these guys, some of them are going 10 1/2 hours and
that's not happening, right? But if I can get anywhere, if I
can get 12 something, I'll be over the moon and I know I can
just put it to bed then and just still be involved in the sport
and enjoy the sport and do short distance stuff.
But this is my last year for Iron Man Wales.
Yeah, bullshit, bullshit. Every Iron person they say every
fucking single year. This is my last one.
You do with Matt Pritchard.
Do you coach him at all or you just mates?
So yeah, we still, we've got a couple of things up our sleeves.
So originally this, we became friends, we joined Ion together
at the same time. So Robin Snowden, Taylor's Gym,
we joined at the same time. We did have a bit of history
from our club in days back in the day and sort of knew each
other then, you know, right. Yeah, right.
Little ravers. But we didn't know each other
really well. It was just higher on the dance
floor, like, you know, shirts off, ginning and whatever else,
you know. And then both sort of, you know,
Matt properly and Ion and we ended up in the same classes
together and we've done a couple of high rocks together and we
just hit it off. And because he's obviously, he's
four years sober this year and, you know, we've just become
really friendly, like, you know, really he's one of my best
mates, like, you know, and then it's just because we've got so
much in common, you know, he'll tell me stuff, I'll tell him
stuff. And yeah, we, we're doing Iron
Man Wales together this year. So I'm helping him with his
swimming. Obviously he's a good, good
swimmer. He's come to realize that
actually if you swim daily then you get better because that's a
big thing with a lot of these guys.
They think I've got to do the bike and I've got to do the run,
even though they're good at it. But I'll do 2 swims a week.
I'll be fine. You know, you've got to swim to
be able to get a swimming. And Rick Pritch has just
realized recently he hurt his knee.
So he did. I think it was throughout March
he did a Sprint, Rathlon every day, but he walked the run part.
But he swam in my unit every day.
So every morning he was there at 5:00 in the morning opening up
for us. Oh, you gave him the keys to do.
You gave. Him a key, he got his own key,
so he was doing his swim. So he was 750 meters swim and he
was only doing 7. So he was like, what, 10-15
minutes of swimming? But he said to me at the end, he
said, I feel so good now swimming.
I'm like, because you're swimming every day, you know,
your body is now used to that feel of the water.
Your buoyancy is better, your rotations better.
You got that feel for the water, as coaches say and swimmers say.
So, yeah, so we're doing that. But we were meant to be doing
this year. He was on about doing the Irish
Sea. So he was going to swim from
Holyhead and you'll have to get him on for this.
I'll see if I can get him on to have a chat with you about it
from Holyhead to Dublin. It's choppy, that water.
Oh yeah, yeah. Well, only relays have done it.
No one's done a solo. So I said when he said to me, I
was like, I'm serious. And he went, I got to do it.
So he's basically proposed to Kira as misses in Dublin after
riding the route. I don't know what the route he
was, but so you forgive me for not knowing the exact route, but
he's run and road. So he's he's done the Wales to
Dublin ride and run, but he's not Swami, right?
You'll have to Google what he actually did for those two
disciplines, but he won. I really want to swim in.
I'm like, it's going to be hard. I said, I said to him we'd have
to do it together. We'll do it as a relay.
No, no, no, you're not doing it. You're not doing it.
I'm doing it. You can be on the boat.
So, you know, I'm like, right. OK.
So this is going to be a long one.
So the plan was to do that this year.
But he's got a couple of other gigs going on with them, with
his other stuff, with The Dirty Sanchez stuff.
So he's had to put a pin in it for now.
But I know next year he's on about doing that.
So that'll be interesting. Oh, mate.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we were on the journey.
We were building up and he was, you know, he was getting fit and
fitter and fitter. And then I'm and Wales very
kindly said to him, you know, we'll get you on board if you're
up for a coming, you know, coming to our place and stuff,
you know, get him on the, get him on the circuit.
So he was buzzing for that. So with that's his goal this
year. But yeah, we've hit it off.
You know, we're good mates. We've just done this cycle over
in the Pyrenees together, so we. Yeah, I saw on the socials it
looked like a laugh. Brilliant opportunity.
So Neil Navara, who's he's like the chairperson or one of the
chair people at Ospreys Community charity, they very
kindly invited me to join in with Pritch and Shane Williams
and Ian Goff and a few of the other faces from the Ospreys
team. That was an opportunity.
And I know some of the guys anyway, from working with them
with trap in the trathlon over the trathlon years.
And so it was good to catch up with those guys.
And yeah, I, I was buzzing. I was in the top group.
I was riding with these fast boys and like Shane's a little
whippet on the bike. Like him, he's.
Still fit in a yeah. Fair play, but Pritch is a dark
horse. I'm telling you what he was
like, oh, should we go in the second group?
I said get in the top group, come on.
And he was leading the top group and I was taking, you know,
having a go as well. He's a fit bloke, you know, fit
bloke. Considering what he's put
himself through over the years, he is fit.
I saw a photo of him literally today or yesterday.
I was like fair dudes to the guy.
He's looking pretty ripped. He is fit.
In the last few years, the last four years maybe, when he
stopped the drinking and he's gone.
I think it's a massive, massive impact.
I've seen such gains from not drinking like, you know, you
sleep, obviously the weight. You know, I was saying to you
earlier off camera I was 123 KG and now 98 KG.
Now I was chipping away at it. I think I got to about 117 KG
before I stopped drinking. Just diet in.
And then of course you'd drink on the weekends and it would
fluctuate. The water weight is always like
this. Stopping the booze has been a
game changer. You sort of not lose your
appetite, but you don't have this craving all the time for
the shit. You know?
You don't have to have this. You know you can you, you've got
the choice in your mind to eat clean, have a treat, but you
just want to eat clean, you know, drink water, eat clean.
I do like the odd a can of monster.
That's my little go to. That's my vice as.
Well, I live a monster. I love a monster.
Oh, mate, Honestly, I'm like my Mrs. Like, here he goes again,
obsessed about something else. But yeah, but.
But my point is, is that you know, it's easy to keep the
weight off when you're not drinking.
Yeah, but it's not just a couple of beers because it's what it's
what it's after. Then you have a poor sleep, then
you're waking up groggy or bit tired, then you're having the
fry up, then you're missing your training session.
Then it rolls into the next day. And you know, I don't know about
you. Like when I used to go out, it
would take me about 3-4 days to get over it because it's it's
the booze and everything that comes along with the booze.
You know what I mean? So it's almost, I remember
looking at my life and it's going like everything I'm not
happy about in my life. And I was like, why am I like
this? Why am I traced it all back?
Everything came down to booze. Everything I say if I just stop
that I'll be fine. Do.
You know what was interesting? I used to think it was a bit of
a macho thing, I suppose, Like people talk about anxiety and I
used to think to myself, I'm not an anxious person, you know, I
don't get anxious, you know? And I had an ADHD assessment and
it came back, you know, and people will argue, oh,
everyone's got ADHD and all that.
I struggled in school, you know, I wasn't good in school.
My mind would wander. I was always a little bit hyper.
And of course, swimming helped me so much because I was always
in the pool. But yeah, the I've lost my trail
of thought now. ADHD What was it for boozing
anxiety? Anxiety, sorry.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I, I, yeah, got me back.
I've only done it twice this interview so I'm doing it right
there so. That's the ADHD.
He's yeah, I'm trying to think of so many things 100%.
And so, yeah, so the anxiety thing, it was a big thing for me
and I was I and it was getting worse as I was getting older.
And of course, yeah, I was drinking too much.
I was clocking up ridiculous amount of drink through the
week, but only lager, not like Alcoholics or drinking whiskey
and all this business. I was lager obsessive about
having a beer on the weekends and he would get more and more
and more, but I'd wake up on a Monday morning a smashing.
I'd be like, Oh my God, you know, and I'd really the minds
because I'm good at mindset. I was like, Oh, shut up.
Like, you know, you're fine, you know, And actually when I gave
into it, I was like, I'm just proper.
I'm so anxious all the time, you know, and I'm putting this show
on all the time. But actually deep down I wasn't.
I was just faking the person that I was being all the time,
if that makes sense. And I was then.
But of course the vicious circle was, oh, I'll have a drink
because I'll sort my head out. So I'll get to Wednesday and
I'll have a couple of beers. Thursday I'll be a little bit
anxious, but then no, Friday I'll be back on the beer.
So I'll be fine. And there was this like this
through the week. And of course, when that when I
actually admitted that was what was going on to myself, that's
when I started realizing, Oh my God, I got a bit of a problem
here. That's why I stopped, you know,
I stopped and that's. But you were able to stop
because you finally worked the bloody out.
I worked it out. Yeah, I know.
And so many people, you know what you wouldn't believe?
My missus keeps saying to me, I'm going to end up being a
counsellor because a couple of men obviously going to mention
names, guys I went to school with or close friends actually
have messaged me for a coffee and said, oh, I can't believe
you've been eight months. Like how?
How like fair play. Used to love a beer.
How have you done done it? And I, I've recently met with
one of the guys the other day, like, and I just said I just
wanted to stop, like it was time to stop.
And I've I've had my fair share, like me and Fritch were saying
it when we were away. I just feel like I've had my
fair share, like I don't really need to do it anymore.
Like, and if you feel like that, then what the heck you doing it
for? Like, you know, you know, and I
feel so much better for myself and my my missus is trying to
work out the day who's sober. Like, which is we because we met
like, you know, we were clevers and she only knows me really is
the person who likes a booze, like, you know, likes a drink
and, you know, likes to go wrecked.
But actually, were our relationships better, better
with the kids? You know, I'm a better coach.
I got more focused with the work, with the business, you
know, and again, I was always focused and had my my vision
with the business. But now I know exactly what's
going on, you know, and things have been sorted out in work
because of it as well. So yeah, it's interesting.
That's good, man. It's good to see like, because
it's that realization, isn't it? And now you can see.
Oh, bloody life is so much better without it.
But like when you're in it, you think I cannot live with without
it. Like, it's nuts, isn't it?
I lost my dad to alcohol as well.
He was an alcoholic. So he's been dead 10 years now.
Yeah. And he, he swore I wouldn't have
said he was an alcoholic only until he retired and we realised
how much drinking was going on. And that's not why I stopped
either, by the way. You know, I stopped because of
me, not because of what, the example that was lead, you know,
from my parent, you know. Yeah, my mum nagged him and my
mum's nagged me and my brother and sister about drinking
because she drinks as well. So you can't nag if you're a
drinker as well sort of thing. I always say that to her.
But you've got to do it for you. You can't do it just because
your mate's doing it. Oh, fair play, you've done it.
I'm going to do that. You've got to want to do it, you
know, and got to want to stop. And then, and I'm not judging
anyone for still drinking, you know, I take my hat off to them
if they're drinking like I'm, you'll laugh like I'll be
drinking zeros, I'll have 4 cans of 0 and drink them like they're
proper lagers. Sometimes 8 cans and my Mrs. is
like you've just drank 8 cans of Australia 0.
Like what's the matter with you? I'm not watching the rugby, you
know. But you hit the nail on the head
there. You've got to want to stop
because it doesn't matter how much people nag you, that won't
do anything. If anything, their nagging is
going to stress you out. So you're going to keep doing it
or do it more. You've got to get to that point
where, and I like to say this, suffering is the biggest
catalyst for change. When you've had a fucking tits
full and you're up to your eyes and you've got no more.
I can't live like this, like and then and then you, you need to
change like that's Brill, man. We'll start wrapping it up
nowadays because it's been a good old chat.
Like I've enjoyed it, but we'll try, we'll try and circle
background now. We'll try and end it on where we
started. And it was sort of like what can
endurance runners or runners learn from swimmers basically.
So if there's anyone out there that's listening that wants to
sort of build their endurance without sort of breaking
themselves, what are the first 3 three things they should be
looking at doing? Obviously you need a good coach
because there's a lot. There we are, love it the plug
straight away. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, you don't have to have
me. You probably can't get me
anyway. I'm too busy.
And expensive. Yeah, no, a good coach.
I mean, like across all sports, as sport and health and fitness
is growing, more and more people are becoming coaches, aren't
they? You know, they get into a sport
and they do a level 1 in that sport and they become so good
coaches is the first thing you need.
You know, look at their background, look at the
knowledge and understanding of the sport.
Now they don't have to be Axe swimmers really to be able to be
good coaches. My mum's not an Axe swimmer and
she's a fantastic coach and, you know, one of my mentors from
over the years and that's what I've learned a lot from.
But yes, I'm an Axe swimmer and I've learned, I've learned from
so many people. So look at who, who you go into
for swimming lessons, OK, Or swimming coaching if it's a
group swimming lesson, right? You know, and it's loads and
loads of adults and it's only half an hour and they're going
to get you doing all the strokes and all that.
It's no good. OK, you I, I'd advise going to 1
to one swimming lessons. So yeah, get the good coach.
But one to one you're going to pay a bit more, but you're going
to get far much. You're going to get so much more
from it. You'll progress quicker.
You won't lose interest then. And then if you're a runner or a
cyclist or whatever, you'll then see the benefits quicker.
That complements your main discipline.
You're going to end up throwing loads of money away if you go
into groups. Now I know some people can't
afford it, you know, etcetera, but if you can just stretch
yourself a little bit with the budget, then that would be a big
advice for me, you know, as a second one.
And then thirdly, you know, don't give up on it.
You know it will come. It's these click moments in
swimming like everything in life, you know, eventually, all
of a sudden, like I always say to my clients, it's like
learning to drive. All of a sudden, you know, when
you first did clutch control on a hill and you were like, hang
on a minute, I'm not going to be able to get this or trying to
indicate as well as turn the steam reel.
It's the same with swimming. All of a sudden it just becomes
natural muscle memory and you go, ah, right.
I know what I'm doing now, and it's the most beautiful feeling
in the world when you get it. And then all of a sudden your
fitness will go through the roof in the water, and then your Zone
2 and all the other things that you want to work on with your
running and your other disciplines.
It'll complement it and make it better off the back.
Yeah. Dave Tonch.
Thank you my man. Thank you for coming down.
Where? Where can people follow you?
So at Dave Tom Swim on Instagram or at Heathwood swimming on all
social medias. Yeah, and I'll see if I can get
down to Tenby. Watch you do the Iron Man this
year. Looking forward to it mate.
Thank you very much man. Thanks.
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