Swim Clinics
Aqua Sphere Open Water Swim Clinics
Included in your 2012 Interior Savings Across the Lake Swim race registration are FREE ENTRIES to the Aqua Sphere Open Water Swim Clinics. We are excited to have Aqua Sphere sponsor the clinics again this year. They will be on site handing out gear to try as well as spot prizes and a draw for a FREE Aqua Sphere wetsuit at the final clinic. The clinics start Saturday, June 2, 2012 and are on each consecutive Saturday until July 7th, 2012. Please be at the Gyro Beach Swim Loop no later than 6:45am.
The Aqua Sphere 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 a timed loop – an opportunity for everybody to swim the established 800m Gyro Loop for time and with other swimmers. We post the swim times on this site to allow swimmers to monitor their progress.
Note: You must be registered for the 2012 Interior Savings Across the Lake Swim in order to attend the swim clinics for free. If you are not registered and there is room left, you are welcome to come down and join us, but there will be a small charge.
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 clinics are cancelled. We’ll also Tweet it – so follow us: @atlskelowna
Have a question about the clinics? Contact our Clinic Organizer at: clinics@acrossthelakeswim.com
Introduction to the Gyro Swim Loop
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. Boat traffic is also almost non-existent at that time so there is no noise or waves.
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, with the buoys moving due to wind, waves, and the depth of the water. We have been working with the City of Kelowna to ensure that the loop is measured at least annually to provide accurate distances for swimmers.
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. Safety buoys ensure that power boats and water skiers do not come close to the swimmers within the Gyro Swim Loop.
Tips for Using the Gyro Swim Loop
First and foremost, heed the safety recommendations on the posted sign. They are:
- Do not swim alone. There are no lifeguards on duty.
- Wear a brightly colored swim cap, and keep an eye out for wayward watercraft.
- Lock your valuables in your car. Consider carrying (just) your car key inside your wet suit.
- Wetsuits strongly recommended most of the swimming season.
- Always swim in a clockwise direction.
- Consider your conditioning and abilities when swimming this loop, as well as the weather conditions.
- 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 double workouts 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 in 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…
