Paralympic Bronze Medallist and Coolangatta Gold short course champion, Tommy Gallagher, has swum in his fair share of choppy ocean water, and he shares his top tips on how to adapt your stroke to choppy conditions.

“When swimming in choppy conditions you want to change your stroke slightly compared to when you are swimming in the pool or in flat conditions,” said Tommy.

“In choppy conditions, you want to shorten your stroke slightly, increase your stroke rate and change your technique to start swinging from the side rather than the traditional pool swimming technique of shrugging from your shoulder and having a high elbow.

“Also, keeping your head straight and sighting forward is important as you don’t want to be bobbing from side to side, but rather up and down.”

Tommy’s top tips to adapt your stroke in choppy conditions

• Shorten your stroke
• Increase your stroke rate
• Change from a traditional technique of high elbows to swinging out to the side

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