Gyro Swim Loop

Introduction

The swimming area at Gyro Beach in Kelowna has long been a favourite training site for open water swimmers, whether training for the Across The Lake Swim, or any of the many triathlons occurring in the Okanagan. The buoys that surround this area have always been big enough, secluded enough, and accessible enough to most Kelowna swimmers to train for events as short as a sprint triathlon, and as long as Penticton’s Ironman Canada race. Since most swimmers use this area in the morning, before the beach crowd arrives, parking is never a problem for swimming here.

One of the problems has always been the uncertainty of the distance of the loop, and how much that distance changes over even one summer, due to the buoys moving due to wind, waves, and the depth of the water, and how often boats illegally anchor to these buoys. And a safety concern on calm water mornings are the water ski boats occasionally cut too close to the swim loop, threatening the swimmers that are hard to see in the water.

The New and Improved Gyro Swim Loop!

Over the winter of 2008-09,  a formal training swim loop was developed that offers some great new opportunities for open water swimmers. The course has been GPS’d to be exactly 800 m, with all the buoys around the semi circle part being exactly 50 m apart. In addition to the 800m loop, we have added another measured and marked swim option, the Manteo Mile (a 1300m out-and-back course), providing training distances for everybody.

Open Water Swim Clinics

We are hosting open water swim clinics and time trials again this year each Saturday, starting June 5, 2010 (until mid August).

The open water swim clinics are led by qualified coaches, introducing or reinforcing special skills and tactics for swimming in the lake. The clinics are followed by time trials – an opportunity for everybody to swim the established 800m Gyro Loop for time and with other swimmers. We post the time trial swim times on this site to allow swimmers to monitor their progress. Registration is at 6:45am. There is an insurance fee of $5 per time trial/clinic or $40 for the season. The registration is followed by the open water swim clinics and the time trials. Note: Weather permitting. If the weather looks iffy, check the ‘Updates’ section at the bottom of the home page on this website as we’ll post if the time trials are canceled.

We have some great coaches lined up for this year’s swim clinics:

Brent Hobbs: Brent Hobbs is a lifelong Masters swimmer who specializes in open water marathon swimming. He also enjoys competing in Olympic distance triathlons. Amongst his accomplishments, Brent successfully swam the English Channel in 2008 in a time of 10 hours and 44 minutes. He is also the National Champion and provincial record holder in the mens’ 1500 m freestyle (40-44 year old age group). Brent is a member of the Okanagan Masters Swim Club (OMSC). OMSC welcomes novice to expert swimmers over the age of 18 and as “young” as 90 an opportunity to swim for fun, fitness, and competition (pool and triathlon). For more information, go to our website at www.okmasters.com.

Leanne Manlove: BSc, CSCS, NCCP, Director of Endurance Sciences,Pinnacle Elite Athlete Leanne specializes in performance coaching for endurance athletes. She has helped athletes of all levels, from entry level youth and age-group triathletes, to professional and national ranked cyclists, swimmers, runners, and triathletes, achieve their highest levels of performance.

Leanne received a Bachelor of Science degree, specializing in physiology, from the University of British Columbia. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, one of the most respected certifications for strength training available. She is also a Competition Level Triathlon Coach from the National Coaching Certification Program.

As a competitive triathlete, Leanne has participated in a variety of triathlon events from Olympic to Ironman distance. She has placed in the top ten in her age group at the Canadian National Triathlon Championships. She is recognized as a coach who can swim, cycle, and run alongside her athletes to push them to higher levels.

Nick Rabinovitch: ATLS Safety Director, Kelowna Master’s Swim Club Past President, Open Water Swim specialist B.Sc. – Biology and B.Ed. 15 years competitive pool swimming experience 15 years coaching a mix of pool, open water, and triathlon 10 years competing in triathlons and open water swims

Jon Smirl: Okanagan Masters Swim Club Head Coach Jon Smirl is the Head Coach of the Okanagan Masters Swim Club, Ogopogo Summer Swim Club and Ogopogo Youth Triathlon Club. He has over 20 years of competitive swimming experience and has competed in numerous open water championship and triathlon events. Among his personal accomplishments are: 3 years of consecutive victories in the Thetis Lake 3k open water race in Victoria as well as 3 top 10 swim finishes in the New Balance Half Ironman Triathlon, also in Victoria. He has also helped many swimmers achieve their own goals in both pool and open water/triathlon swimming events including helping swimmers win numerous provincial medals in Summer, Winter and Masters swimming as well as helping those new to the sport complete their first open water or triathlon event (anywhere from a sprint race to the Ironman).

Jon would like to encourage any swimmer who wishes to learn more about the sport of open water swimming or triathlons in general to come out to any of the practices he coaches at the H2O centre. For more information on the Okanagan Masters Swim Club check out www.okmasters.com and for the Ogopogo Summer Swim Club and Youth Triathlon groups please check out www.bcssa.bc.ca/ok/ogo/wordpress.

Rob Swan: Critical Performance A little about myself: I started swimming at 17 when I started triathlons and was luckily able to train and compete on the SFU Varsity Swim Team while attending university and completing my BSc in Kinesiology(Exercise Physiology). During and post university I have been competing as a triathlete at the provincial and national level with some success. I have now been professionally coaching triathlon and endurance sports for 8 years but started coaching in the mid 90’s. I really enjoy helping athletes of all levels to achieve their goals. I have been advancing my coaching skills through the NCCP coaching program and am currently a Level 3 Biathlon coaching with numerous Level 2 certifications such as Running, Nordic Skiing and working toward Cycling Level 2. I would like to take Level 2 Swimming program in the near future. I am also one of 3 Level 2 FaCT Certified Testing facilities in the region and am a specialist in Respiratory Training. I am also the only practicing certified FIST Triathlon Bike Fitter in the region. I am currently having a great time coaching many of the areas best Triathletes, as the TriBC Regional Triathlon Training Centre Coach for the Okanagan and the Biathlon BC Provincial Development Squad Coach, along with many newbie triathletes to Olympic Distance Specialists and Iron Men and Iron Women. I hope to compete in several local races this season in between the little spare time I have as a coach.

Contact me at 250-764-2615 or coachrob@criticalperformance.ca or on the web at www.criticalperformance.ca for more information or questions.

Tips for Using the Gyro Swim Loop

First and foremost, heed the safety recommendations on the posted sign. They are:

1. Do not swim alone. There are no lifeguards on duty.
2. Wear a brightly colored swim cap, and keep an eye out for wayward watercraft.
3. Lock your valuables in your car. Consider carrying (just) your car key inside your wet suit.
4. Wetsuits strongly recommended most of the swimming season.
5. Swim in a clockwise direction.
6. Consider your conditioning and abilities when swimming this loop, as well as the weather conditions.
7. Always keep the buoys on your right.

Matching the Loop to your Training

The Gyro Swim Loop has been measured to be exactly 800m, 50 m longer than a sprint distance triathlon. Two loops would be close to the distance of an Olympic distance triathlon, three loops would be 400 m longer than the half ironman distance or the Across The Lake Swim, 4 loops would be the equivalent of Peachland’s annual Rattlesnake Island Swim, and 5 loops would be 200 m longer than the Ironman swim distance.

When starting the loop and turning at the 100m buoy to do the Manteo Mile (then swimming back to the start), swimmers will cover 1500m (Olympic distance). Starting the loop, swimming the Manteo Mile and then finishing the Gyro Loop provides a swim slightly longer than half Ironman distance. Starting at (or warming up to) the 100m buoy and swimming the Manteo Mile three times adds up to an Ironman distance swim.

This Loop can accommodate whatever distance you are training for.

Sample Workouts

Download these workouts and put them in a Ziploc bag that you can bring with you. These workouts are designed specifically for the Gyro Swim Loop and will help you get ready for the Across the Lake Swim, a triathlon or any open water swim race.

• Download Brent Hobb’s Open Water Swim Workouts
• Download Jonathan Smirl’s Open Water Swim Workouts
• Download Pascal Sutherland’s Open Water Swim Workouts

Many people do couplets in the form of a swim-bike or a swim run, bringing their bike and/or their running shoes with them to utilize after the swim. Lots of variations are possible.

How to avoid getting your car wet and sand all over the place.

Carry some water from the lake in your swim cap to pour on your feet once you get to your car. Put your wet and now clean feet onto your Crocs or Flip flops, and while sitting on the edge of your bumper, trunk or tailgate, remove your wetsuit and dry off with a towel. Get out of your bathing suit (discreetly!) or sit on a towel while you drive home. Driving home naked is always fun—no one really knows why you are smiling. Or just lie on a warm rock until you are dried off. Throw your wetsuit in a swim bag until you can hang it up at home. Or leave it to age and ripen between swims on the floor mats somewhere…

Suggestions Welcome

If you have any other good ideas to improve the use of the Gyro Swim Loop, we would welcome them, and maybe we would even credit you for them, unless they are really good, in which case, we’ll call them our ideas…