Home Chat General Chat

Swim Straight In The Open Water

Hi folks and greetings from NZ
KinEli Publishing have put together a downloadable multimedia guide
Swim Straight In The Open Water
Why swim 1650m in a 1500m swim?!
To find out more go to
http://www.swimstraightintheopenwater.com/

all the best from Napier NZ on a sunny spring morning

Ken Maclaren

Comments

  • gingertrigingertri Posts: 277
    for a second there i thought it was going to be free! how is this different to getting advice from the forum? just curious thats all!
  • ooooh... cold posting on the forum trying to sell stuff?

    Let the Spam/Not Spam debate begin...

    I vote................. SPAM
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    schpam

    kineli, 'kin 'el.
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Will they pronounce "Buoy" as "boo-eee". That's always worth paying for, is it just the americans that do that.
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    I don't know about that one Jack but they might like to be paid by a "chick" that should arrive on their "disk" and after a training session go out for a "bear"
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    I think that they've missed the pint - i do swim straight, just generally not straight in the direction I should be, I tend to swim straight but at a slight angle. If i could sort that then I would only swim the distance, but as it is I swim lots further than that...
  • by Conehead » 26 Aug 2009 01:47

    I'll tell you what the kiwi is trying to charge you for.

    1. Familiarise yourself with the location of the bouys BEFORE you get into the water.
    2. Once in the water, bouys that you thought were so large and visible they could be seen from low earth orbit suddenly dissapear. So find an object behind the bouy (landmark) and use that to 'find' the bouy in your sighting stroke.
    3. Sighting - must be practiced in the pool. Try a technique called 'turtle-ing'. Instead of placing your face in the water to breath out, look forwards with just your eyes above the water line. A good rule of thumb is around 10 strokes before sighting, the less you have to 'sight' the better as it inevitably breaks your stroke slightly.
    4. Drafting and following the person in front is all cool, assuming they're going in a straight line.
    Hang on... you charged me for that a couple of months ago!!

    p.s. are you doing any of the long distance swims at Dorney over the next few weeks? I'm entered for F3 on the 29th and Blue seventy on the 12th... Sadly cant do the Votwo race though since I'm planning on still being drunk from that Saturday night.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I opened this thread thinking it was legit thread..... so troops do I wield my powers of green or not????
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Nah. ****************************** useful information has been added as a result.

    Anyone searching and randomly landing on the page would realise that *************************, and probably get answers to the questions that they were searching for. So the world has been done a service.

    [Dear Reader, I've edited this post to remove what, on reflection, were some unfair statements, which while true for a lot of spam, weren't appropriate in this case.. do read on to the end of the thread!]
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Wise words Jack
  • Magnanimous as ever Jack
  • KenMacKenMac Posts: 14
    ooo some harsh comments all the way to NZ there!
    But there are way to many forums around the triathlon world to get too involved in.
    but hey never one to turn down a challenge, Jack would you like a free copy to try!
    Just email us your details and we'll get you one but this is the catch you'd have to talk about it here after.
    cheers

    Ken in NZ
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    Jack,


    over to you mate!!!!
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    hahahahaaaa!

    that's gold, we've been pwned!
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I think Jack should accept and then do a critique on the document then report back to us all...
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Would I be right in assuming that the Ken Mclaren is the Ken Mclaren that used to race semi pro back in the late 80's and early 90's in the UK,before emigrating to the other side of the globe and who also used to have a column in 220 towards the late 1990's.
    Wrote a few books that occassionally appear at car boot sale etc? Just wondering.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    Only the man himself can answer that one.... perhaps he could let us know...
  • Hello Ken,

    Glad to discover that you aren't actually spam, of course you'll understand that forums of this kind often get attacked by people who only want to hawk their wares without contibuting to the community. I think you'll find this one of the most welcoming forums for genuine triathlon enthusiasts of all levels on the internet.

    I look forward to reading both Jack's review of your course and your future input on the forum!
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    shadowone1 wrote:
    Only the man himself can answer that one.... perhaps he could let us know...
    If it is the same person then once he retired from racing I believe he went onto race commentary at various races and seemed to make a better job of it than those professionals on BBC sport.Maybe the old gaurd is starting to make a come back,the original 220 editor has a letter in this months mag,old columnist making noises,and shaking things up.This is great.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    by ewanamacdonald » 27 Aug 2009 13:42

    Hello Ken,

    Glad to discover that you aren't actually spam, of course you'll understand that forums of this kind often get attacked by people who only want to hawk their wares without contibuting to the community. I think you'll find this one of the most welcoming forums for genuine triathlon enthusiasts of all levels on the internet.

    I look forward to reading both Jack's review of your course and your future input on the forum!
    It did suffer until I was granted special magical powers....
    If it is the same person then once he retired from racing I believe he went onto race commentary at various races and seemed to make a better job of it than those professionals on BBC sport.Maybe the old gaurd is starting to make a come back,the original 220 editor has a letter in this months mag,old columnist making noises,and shaking things up.This is great.
    Jon,

    Its good to have threads like this again, its opening up the forum again. It had gone stale for a while. Keep it coming!!!
  • Maybe give the book to someone who can swim........
  • ShaggyShaggy Posts: 140
    I have a little Kineli booklet on training with a heartrate monitor that came free when purchased from heartratemonior.co.uk. Nothing fancy, but genuine stuff. Little biog from Ken MacClaren as described in earlier post. Not bought anything else from Keneli and can't say anything about quality of this though, other than it would seem to be a bonafide product.

    Look forward to reading the review, got to give him credit for fronting up a review copy.

    Ade
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Whoops!

    @Ken:

    Firstly, apologies for my intemperate use of language!

    I wasn't really focusing on the specifics of the products and services that you are offering, but the general question of whether the posting should be deleted or not. I may have been a little bit harsh by referring to this specific instance, when I was really talking about things in general - egregious hawking of services, with no context, on the forum.

    However, Ken, you do deserve to have your knuckles rapped. If you look around the edges of the web page you will see a lot of paid for adverts. These are the people that are paying for, and so supporting, this site. And your copy was more suited to a place in this area. What would happen if every one with a product and service to sell took your approach?

    I realise that you have a lot of experience and a lot of advice to offer. By engaging in a helpful and professional way - offering advice and the benefit of your years of wisdom - you will undoubtedly increase your profile and ultimately the success of your business. Effective soft marketing. All you need to do is put a link to your site in your signature, so it appears on every post. Yes, it requires a bit more time and effort, but is likely to be more successful in the long term. If you just want to place an advert, then just contact the marketing department of 220, and I'm sure they'll happily sell you a few page impressions.

    Thank you for your very kind offer of a free copy, which I do appreciate, but I feel it would be wasted on me. I doubt that I can sight my way out of the bath at the moment! So I don't think that I could really do it justice.

    Why not P.M. SaltBar (see his thread on his recent OW swim race)? I think he would be a far worthier recipient than me, and would also be more than capable of writing a review of it, certainly far better than I could.

    Apologies again, and I wish you every success in your coaching efforts!

    Cheers
  • KenMacKenMac Posts: 14
    all accepted...
    I had a rethink yesterday and did concede to myself on a bike ride that asking for a reviewer first may have been a better option and I'm crap at marketing anyway! So knuckles are wrapped..
    Anyway you'll appreciate that there are a bundle of forums out there and we are based over here in NZ so much out of the loop of many things.
    KinEli Publishing is way too tight and too small to do the paid for advertising although we do a bit on google ads so you may well see the Swim Straight Guide appear on the right of the screen.
    Well if you don't want the guide the offer is out there...
    But I would prefer it to go to someone who feels the need to improve their open water swimming not someone who leads out of the water.
    ....and yes I am the same Ken Mac who was on the UK scene all those years ago so folks have got way too long memories. I gave up traveling and commentating with the arrival of my daughter several years ago.
    I did get to ride my bike in the sun this morning in what is our equivalent of late Feb.
    So who is the forum suggesting for the free guide?
    Ken
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Lovely resonse Ken!, thank you.

    I've edited my original post and removed the wording that I realise was both inappropriate and wrong, I hope that's OK (the forum won't let you delete a post which has responses).

    Anyway, I was suggesting that Saltbar_active would be a most appropriate recipient of a copy for review purposes.

    See http://www.220triathlon.com/forum/3km-swim-race-report-t47385.html

    - It's a nicely written story
    - It's from a guy who's entered a 3k OW swim because it was there - not because he is a good swimmer
    - He's brought up the rear of the field despite the late hour (well, next to last) and the temptations of giving up on a previous lap (i.e. he had the opportunity to quit, and didn't, which you don't get in a straight or out and back event)
    - He specifically mentions problems with sighting!

    So a guy, good at reporting, enthusiastic and dedicated, and is more than ready for some expert coaching.

    As I said, send him a PM and see if he would like the offer.

    -
    Marketing is hard. The best thing to do is leave it to the professionals (they're not that much good at it either, though). Concentrate on what you are good at - being a coach, dispensing good advice, all you need to do is chip in with a few comments here and there. It will give you an opportunity to explain your methods, your personality will come through, as you've shown and above, and it will allow people to judge you on your own merits, and I am sure that they will be positive. Your track record of success will already make people interested in what you have to say. It will soon convert to some good opportunities I'm sure.

    I bet if you look at your website hits, they will have gone up now, not because of your original posting, but the positive tone of this thread!

    Anyway, good luck, and, despite the time difference I sincerely hope that we see more of you on the forum - there is a real shortage of people with both experience and success at the higher levels providing advice - as is the nature of the thing, there are more beginners with queries than experts with answers, so you can make a big impact!
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Nice reply Jack.Saltba would be a worthy advocate to test the swim straight theory.Had a browse of the Kineli website and I seem to remember that the t shirt Ken is wearing was given to subscribers as a gift maybe origin should go back to that rather than pumps and goggles.
    Ken glad to see that NZ has been beneficial to your families health and did you ever get rid of that box of t shirts from your garage?
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I've edited my original post and removed the wording that I realise was both inappropriate and wrong, I hope that's OK (the forum won't let you delete a post which has responses).
    Jack you only need to ask kind sir and I will remove....
  • Not on the topic of the book but on the topic of swimming straight... how do you sight, really?

    I've only this month progressed from pool to OW training. Have only done one OW swim before. In the pool I do bilateral breathing, I've been experimenting with:

    pull-breathe-pull-breathe-pull-sight-repeat

    in the open water, no breathing on the sight stroke so I don't have to raise my head as high. Gives me the same 2 breaths every 6 strokes that I'm accustomed to.

    Thoughts?
  • ShaggyShaggy Posts: 140
    I use 'crocodile eyes' and breath out together (nose/mouth still under water) every time I count 5 entries for left arm. Because you don't lift head right up your stroke doesn't change that much. Breathing in always on rotation to side.

    Learnt from Mr. Kiddle on one of those rookie days, works a charm. Practise it a bit so you can do it as often as you need. You can do it every stroke and it slows you down as little as possible.

    Ade
  • Having tried this in pool, I assume the breathing out through the nose and mouth is to prevent water from rushing in when you're sighting head-first? I can't do the crocodile eyes in the sea, have to lift my head higher above the waves.
Sign In or Register to comment.