The holiday season is the perfect time to relax, recharge, and refocus on family and festivities and your swimming goals.

With warmer waters, longer days, and a more relaxed pace of life, it’s an ideal opportunity to enhance your skills and fitness while enjoying the magic of the ocean.

Here’s how to make the most of your Christmas holidays and emerge a stronger, more confident ocean swimmer.

1. Prioritise ocean-based sessions

The holiday season often comes with more flexible schedules, making it an ideal time to increase your ocean swims.

Take advantage of calmer early morning conditions and swap the pool for the ocean, but be sure to swim with a buddy or join a local ocean swimming group for safety and camaraderie.

Hitting the ocean more will expose you to different conditions, which can help you build confidence and increase your skills in navigating waves and currents.

2. Focus on technique

Use the slower pace of the season to refine your technique. Small adjustments can lead to significant improvements in your breathing, body position, or stroke efficiency.

You can practice these drills in both the pool and the ocean. Some things to try include:

• Sighting drills to help you swim in a straight line.
• Efficient stroke mechanics to help conserve your energy.
• Drafting to help improve speed and efficiency during group ocean swims.

Check out our article ‘5 drills to improve your sighting’ for tips and tricks.

3. Experiment with cross training

The holidays and the extra time and flexibility they bring are the perfect opportunity to try cross-training activities and diversify your routine.

Try adding activities such as yoga, pilates, and strength training to your routine to help increase flexibility and core stability, which is crucial for efficient swimming both in the pool and the ocean.

4. Rest and recover

The holiday season can often be a whirlwind of events and family gatherings, but don’t forget that rest is a crucial part of training and improving your swimming ability.

Allowing your body to recover with adequate sleep, staying hydrated, and stretching is crucial to improving your swimming and fitness goals.

If you are feeling a little stressed, you can also try meditation, which can help you de-stress and improve mental focus.

5. Embrace consistency

The holidays often come with extra free time, which can be used to build a consistent swimming routine, especially before the new year rolls around.

Aim to get in the water at least three to five times weekly. Consistency improves your fitness and allows your body to adapt to the unique conditions of ocean swimming, like waves, currents, and varying temperatures.

6. Partake in a holiday swim event

Holiday swim events are often plentiful at this time of year and offer a fun way to challenge yourself and involve the whole family.

These events can help you gain experience, test your fitness and get amongst other like-minded people who love ocean swimming just as much as you.

It’s also a great way to gauge your ability and pinpoint what you need to improve.

7. Connect with the ocean swimming community

The holiday season is the perfect time to connect with others in the ocean swimming community.

You can attend meetups, join local swim groups or just get the family involved.

Swimming with other like-minded swimmers can help grow your swimming ability by learning from them.

You can check social media for swim groups near you or our website’s Groups page.

8. Set new goals

Use the holiday season to reflect on your swimming journey and set new goals for the year ahead.

Setting goals can help make you a better swimmer and provide motivation on those early mornings and long weeks.

Some examples of goals include:

• Improve 1km time
• Perfect bilateral breathing
• Tackle a longer ocean swim, e.g. jumping from 2km to 3km.

9. Nourish your body

Holiday indulgence is great, and enjoying all the festive treats and extra drinks with mates is essential.

However, it is also the perfect time to get your fueling on track to make it easier to stick to throughout the year.

Practice hydrating regularly, as dehydration can sneak up on you, especially during warmer months.

Eating a well-balanced diet rich in proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates can help support your training and recovery and give you enough energy for the day and your swim.

10. Expand your comfort zone

Use the holiday season to practice swimming in different conditions.

If you usually swim in calm bays, creeks, or beaches, try tackling locations with small waves or slightly stronger currents.

Learning to navigate these different ocean environments will enhance your skills and confidence, making you an overall better swimmer.

Always be sure to check the weather and tide forecasts before heading out.