Video analysis with UK Ironman champion Joe Skipper

Back in August 2017, UK Ironman champion, Joe Skipper, drove down from Norwich for a video analysis with me at Felixstowe. It went very well and Joe subsequently went on to win outright in Almera and to consistently post improved swim times in his races, including a superb 7th overall at Kona 2018.

With Joe soon jetting off for an extended period of warm winter training in (where else?!) Perth, Western Australia, it was my turn to travel for Joe’s follow-up VA in Norwich.

The session went brilliantly, though walking backwards fast enough to film the last underwater length was tricky! We saw a couple of areas for improvement such as more relaxed exhalation, developing bilateral breathing and a couple of tweaks needed on Joe’s catch - completely different issues on each hand!

It’s great to see that Joe subscribes to the Swim Smooth Guru for his day-to-day swim guidance and follows and advocates Swim Smooth coaching. His engagement with the session was outstanding - he really knows his stuff but is also open to new ideas and challenging himself to make changes, however ‘minor’. For me, it was a great chance to test my own skills in identifying fine details and finding ways to improve the stroke of an elite athlete. (And of course dusting off those backwards speed-walking skills!)

Joe is aiming to get himself up with lead pack coming out of the water in his IM events - equating to moving from around 1:22/100m to 1:16/100m pace over 3.8k. From what I’ve seen of Joe’s ability, determination and openness, he can definitely do this - and with the input of Paul Newsome at Swim Smooth Perth this winter things could get really interesting!