English Channel Training with Michael Klim by Steve.

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Last year, I planned a holiday to get out of Australia and see Bali for my version of Eat, Pray, Love which was actually going to be Eat, Eat, Eat however, in November 2022, I was asked by my Skipper in Dover if I was still going to attempt to cross the English Channel this year. COVID-19, had stopped me from going over in 2020 to attempt the crossing and to be honest, I hadn’t consciously recommitted to restarting this journey again.

Nevertheless, this bucket list feat had not been ticked off and I knew I’d regret it if I threw in the towel. My adventure of Eat, Eat, Eat was now going to become Eat, Train, Hurt. Little did I know my path would cross with Michael or ‘Klimmy’ as many of us Aussies know him as. Klimmy for us Aussie Millennials is still a household name and we all remember watching his FINA and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games podium finishes during our schooling years.

Each Balinese morning, I would scooter to the pool, download my TrainingPeaks set and start swimming away but what I really needed at this point was stroke tweaking, a boost to the confidence and some ideas on how I could become way more efficient and effective with my technique. So I decided to tee up some sessions with Klimmy. For those who have never met him, he would have to be one of the most genuine and talented people I have ever met not to mention community focused.

 

My first session started with him observing my swim technique after being invited to join in with the swim squad. My lazy kick and core required work and there was definitely tweaking for my stroke and roll in the water to target at our next session. The next session, I spent 1.5hrs breaking my stroke down into staged drills; sculling, bilateral breathing, hypoxic sets and catch correction. Already, I could feel massive improvements when we pieced everything together and started swimming again not to mention muscles I hadn’t worked hard in a while. A days grace allowed me to practice learnings and implement them in our last session. The last session was another 1.5 hours working on kicking, side-balance in the water, increased shoulder reach and fluidity of all components when added together. I was absolutely chuffed as I actually got to swim with Klimmy for the warm-up and then he was film director with the GoPro recording what I could work on when I got back to the land of Aus.

For those who are coming to Bali and maybe hesitant with such an opportunity staring you in the face, “DON’T BE!” My background isn’t in swimming but rather triathlons, HIIT workouts and competitive running. What I have taken out of this opportunity is honestly priceless not to mention the banter in the pool also. I definitely have my next ticket to Bali booked to learn more and swim with this legend. I encourage you to all give it a crack as well, you won’t regret it!

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