Brenton Ford’s Marathon Swim Story
Hello and welcome to the 108th episode of marathon swim stories where we explore the human side of the super human feats of endurance swimmers. I’m marathon swimmer and coach, Shannon Keegan.
We had a bit of an unplanned hiatus the last few weeks, I hope you used the opportunity to explore some of the older episodes. I’ve recently returned from the Solstice Swim on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii where I had the privilege of sharing the water with Stefan Reinke and Ryan Leong and the rest of the Ala Moana Beach Swim Club. The water was a bit and hot and salty for my taste, but I was such a great opportunity to connect with people in person and get in some distance, I just couldn’t pass it up.
Now back in Southern Oregon we’re facing an extreme heat wave; it’s currently 113F outside, that’s 45C for the rest of the world. At this moment, I’m very grateful for my air conditioning and contemplating putting together an ice bath after this.
I’m looking to create a backlog of episodes to roll out while I’m on vacation next month, if you know of anyone who’s story you would like hear, or if you’d like to share your story, please reach out to me! Shannon@intrepidwater.com
For today’s episode – this was actually a conversation I had several weeks back with Brenton Ford – THE Brenton Ford of Effortless Swimming!
I stumbled onto Brenton’s content about 4 or 5 years ago when I decided to reengineer my stroke after seeing myself swim. I was swimming around Mercer Island and my kayaker had a GoPro – let’s just say that the footage was very revealing. Have you seen yourself swim lately? It’s extremely informative – the only way that you can find out if what you think you’re doing is even close to what you’re actually doing. I highly recommend it!
There are tons of resources out there, but you need content that resonates, that you can internalize – then you have to figure out how to implement those changes in your stroke – this is where a coach comes in handy. If you need help with your catch, be sure to check out Brenton’s 5 Day Catch Challenge! If you’re looking to swim further, I’d love to chat with you!
I hope that you enjoy this episode!
About Brenton Ford:
I’ve been a swim coach for the last 15 years, and have coached Powerpoints Masters swim club to 5 Australian National Club Championships. I was Australian Masters coach of the year in 2012. I started Effortless Swimming in 2009 as a way to help swimmers improve their technique. Since then we’ve had more than 6,000 swimmers attend our clinics and camps and our videos have been watched more than 31 million times.
As a swimmer I was a national finalist in the 200 IM and 400 IM and also competed in the 200 free, 400 free and 200 breaststroke at a national level. I started open water swimming as an adult and competed in the Rottnest Channel swim in 2018 as my first marathon swim.
