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Testimonials

1-2-1’s

Hi Christine, yesterday was great, definitely improving and tried to remember as much as could. Managed to front crawl for the entire 900m (150 swim to start line and 740m race). Definitely a noticeable improvement.

Just wanted to add that your teaching method is EXCELLENT. I really enjoy our sessions, you are an amazing teacher.  Dan (September 18)


Hello Christine
I just wanted to thank you for such a wonderful session yesterday. I
cannot describe the deep joy it gave me to learn so much in such a
short time and feel I now have the grounding to swim properly.
Completely enthused, I have ordered fins and board and am looking
forward to getting in the water again.
It could have been quite daunting for a 60+ woman to unlearn bad
habits and taken on new ones, but you are a very good teacher and made
it all very comfortable for me.
Thanks again and I will come back for a refresher.
Sue (October 18)


Swim Technique Days

Dear Christine and Sophie,
I just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you for such an enlightening and informative course! I felt really comfortable throughout even though I was a complete novice and feel I have definitely learnt the technique to enable me to progress with my freestyle swim. I’ve hit the pool and no longer feel like a fish out of water so I will be back next spring for some more coaching.
Thanks again,
Natalie (October 2018)

Hi Christine,

Just want to say thank you for a great day, I really enjoyed it and your professionalism shone through. I’m looking forward to working on all the stroke technique improvements you suggested and then, hopefully, have a go at one of your intermediate courses next year. I want to get back to the times I was swimming in 2012 first!
I’ll be recommending SleekerSwim to everyone :).
It was great meeting Sophie, too.

Take care,
Andra


Swim Technique Course

Thank you so much for the Swim technique day, I really enjoyed the day & have lots to work on over the winter. I would thoroughly recommend the course for anyone looking to improve their swim technique. Michael Skaife.


Swim Technique Course

Hi Christine Many Thanks for the coaching and the constructive analysis of my current swimming technique, I thoroughly enjoyed the day on Sunday. Also the video clip and explanation of strengths and faults and more importantly the hints to improve are really great for me to focus on ironing out over the winter months in the pool. I will post a positive like and comment on facebook also write a testimonial for you. I think along the coaching, the post course feedback also the value for money is excellent. I will certainly recommend you to my swimming colleagues. In the new year once I have started to iron out some of the current faults I may request some further analysis/coaching before we move into the new season. Once again thank you. Ray Boggiano


Swim Technique Course

I arrived at the course on 22nd January 2012 as a breast stroke swimmer not able to swim even a couple of lengths front crawl without feeling exhausted and ended the day feeling I’d made huge progress in my crawl technique. The way you broke down all the elements of the stroke so that I could see exactly where I was going wrong was fantastic. The feedback on the videos of everyone in the group was a great way to learn and I think you have the balance of theory and practice in the pool just right. I also enjoyed the supportive atmosphere you created. I’ve been practising what I’ve learnt and although I need to work on my stamina, I now feel confident that I’ll be able to achieve my goal of swimming one mile front crawl in the Great North Swim in June. Thank you so much! Kate


Windermere Guided Swim – August 2015

Dear Christine and Sophie,

Just a note to thank you both for the mega swim. I was so very well taken care of by you both and you are both such super positive, inspiring people. This is us setting from fell foot by Archie.

With much gratitude

From Andy Tomkins


Open Water 1-2-1 – guided swim October 2015

Dear Christine,
A delayed email to say a huge thank you for being such a brilliant guide for my lake swim last Friday. You were so professional and encouraging, I am so thankful and really can’t recommend you enough to my fellow swimmers!
Thank you again.
Best wishes
Victoria (London)


Triathlon Coaching

Coaching with Christine,

When I approached Christine about coaching my aims were to improve my times over Olympic distance and race a couple of qualifiers. I had never worked with a structured training plan before and tended to base my training on the weather. I had been racing for about 5 years and decided that instead of having a gym membership I would try being coached. The program stated off by finding my current fitness levels in all disciplines and then building a program around these. Amazingly during our first few months together I went from swimming 6.34 for 400m to 6.04 and that was 2000m in to a set, something I couldn’t believe I had achieved. It wasn’t only my swimming that improved massively. I broke the 50minute mark on a 10km at the end of an Olympic distance race for the first time and took nearly 2 minutes of my 10mile time trial PB.

Christine fitted my program around my really hectic job and was amazingly tuned in to how I was feeling, knowing that if my communication with her vanished that I was tired and the plan needed adjusting. The 1-2-1 sessions really helped with my running and introduced me to running drills for the first time and my swim times speak for themselves. Breaking my foot in November was a bit of a problem during our time working together but Christine was even able to coach around this switching the focus to my swimming and core stability. Before I started working with Christine I didn’t realise that being coached would not only improve my performance in all 3 triathlon disciplines but I also would also gain a friend and training partner. I can’t speak highly enough of Christine as a coach and if it’s something you may be interested in Christine is definantly the right person to speak to.

Emily B, Kendal.


Really enjoyed tonights session. Doubly so because I’ve just been going through my numbers (isn’t data great!) and comparing them over the year. Back in June after quite a lot of swimming in the first half of the year and an open water mile in Coniston (34min) I did a CSS test, logging 400@9:00 and 200@4:26 for a CSS of 2:17 (and I’m not sure the 9mins was accurate either). I recall I was pretty disappointed and losing mojo fast.Taking the 400TT I did the other day at 7:51 and assuming a subsequent 200 time of 3:55 which I’d do easily; those times give me a modified CSS of 1:58. A 19 sec improvement, which on reflection is just fantastic in such a short space of time.

I did wonder after the TT whether I’d really be able to swim 1500 at 1:58 pace without a pull buoy, and tonight conveniently gave me the opportunity to try! I know the middle two intervals were a little slower but I definitely believe if I’d set my bleep correctly I could have done 4 sub 8min 400’s. Aside from the absolute improvement in times, the confidence boost this has given me, knowing that I can do significant distances, unaided in the pool at a decent and consistent pace (and without needing CPR at the end) is massive.

So time once again to say top job, and a skip full of thanks for getting me so far in only 4 months to boot. And winter training has barely begun.

Awesome! Martyn Newby Bridge, Lake District.


Christine coached me remotely for 6 months from the beginning of 2013 to prepare me for the Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon. Much of my training took place in an outdoor pool in the heat, dust and humidity of the Arabian Peninsula – quite unlike Scotland! Christine was always on hand to coach my swimming and was responsive and flexible to my changing environment and the challenges it presented (nutrition changes, weather changes thwarting training, and jet lag). I highly recommend Christine as a coach – her professionalism, encouragement and support helped me achieve my triathlon goal. Thank you.” Anne-Marie, July 2013


1-2-1 Swim Coaching

Thank you very much. The swim did feel really good, so thank you very much for what you have done. That’s the first time I’ve got out of the swim somewhere near the front and not felt totally shattered. Really looking forward to the Triathlon. Rob Abraham – Lake District


Swim Technique Course

Just wanted to send you a special thank you and congratulations on a really fantastic course. I’ve been trying to improve my swimming for years and I learned more on your day than I have for years. The programme was excellent, Nicki’s coaching FANTASTIC, and the follow up exceptional. For the first time ever I’ve ‘got’ what people mean when they talk about swimming over a barrel and finally understood breathing and rotation. My first try out in the pool felt amazing (by the second I was worrying about losing the learning! – but that’s life). And, just to add to your feedback Christine, I have twigged that what I need to focus on now is getting some power out of what my hands are doing when they are in the water. So a GREAT BIG THANK YOU – Kate – County Durham


Open Water Group session & 1-2-1’s Open water.

Just a short note to “thank you” for the time spent during both group sessions and 1-2-1’s over the last couple of weeks. You have transformed my swimming technique and restred my open water swimming confidence completely. I’m amazed at the changes, I have made o my stroke in such a short space of time and found your swim drills extremelt useful both in the pool and in the open water. Thank you and see you again soon. Gary (Cheshire)


1-2-1’s

The swim went very well thanks, it was a lovely day for it. I did the 500m so I could compare it to my previous swim. Thanks to your lessons I managed to knock about 3 minutes off my previous time & think I could do a bit better still. Matt (Kendal)