Open-Water Swimming & SUP Coaching for London
Living in London doesn’t have to mean pool lanes and guesswork. SHACADEMY is founder-led private coaching for adult swimmers and paddlers — open water, cold water, and paddleboarding on inland water and rivers — arranged individually rather than sold as a timetabled class.
If you’re London-based
Coaching worth the short journey out.
Most people who get in touch from London want one of two things: to swim outdoors properly rather than nervously, or to become a genuinely capable paddler instead of someone who can just about stay standing. Both start the same way — a conversation about where you are now and what is getting in the way — and both happen on real water with a coach who has spent more than a decade running an inland open-water venue.
For London-based clients, sessions can be arranged at suitable venues in Surrey and selected London locations, depending on activity and venue availability.
Swim coaching
Swimming, open water and colder conditions.
Private adult swimming coaching, the pool-to-open-water move, and cold-water progression for swimmers who want to keep going as the season turns. It is the same coaching described on the main swimming page — this page simply covers what it looks like if you are travelling from London.
- The pool-to-open-water transition — as much about the environment as the stroke.
- Breathing without the baggage: fewer rules, a rhythm you can actually hold.
- Technique, sighting, stamina and staying calm when the water gets busy.
- Cold-water introductions and winter swimming development.
- Preparation for a first open-water event, a triathlon swim or a personal challenge.
SUP coaching
Paddleboarding, from first session to long days.
Private SUP lessons for complete beginners, and coaching for paddlers who want more than balance. The focus is inland water and rivers — where the experience is deepest — rather than coastal specialist coaching.
- Private paddleboard lessons, without a queue of other beginners.
- Technique, confidence and efficiency — paddling further for less effort.
- Board control, turning and staying settled in moving water.
- Touring, distance and endurance preparation for a longer journey or challenge.
- Progression from flat water towards races, expeditions and winter paddling.
Where sessions happen
Real water, sensibly chosen.
For London-based clients, sessions can be arranged at suitable venues in Surrey and selected London locations, depending on activity and venue availability.
Surrey and the Surrey Hills remain the practical base: suitable lakes and rivers, established venue relationships, and water Skip knows first-hand. For most London-based clients that is a short journey out, and it buys a far better session than the nearest convenient water would.
Selected London locations can work for some coaching, depending on the activity, access permissions and what the venue itself allows. Where a venue is not suitable or not available, we will say so rather than make it fit.
Nothing here is a claim about a permanent London base, and no session is offered at a venue whose own access arrangements do not allow it.
Who it’s for
Beginners included, experience welcome.
Beginners
Adults starting outdoor swimming or paddleboarding from scratch, including people who never got on with lessons the first time.
Returning swimmers and paddlers
You used to do this, something interrupted it, and you would rather not start again by guessing.
Training for an event or challenge
A first open-water event, a triathlon swim, a distance paddle or a personal challenge with a date attached.
Experienced participants
You are already capable and want targeted improvement — breathing, efficiency, colder water, board control — rather than a general lesson.
Common questions
What London-based clients usually ask.
- Do you offer open-water swimming lessons for people based in London?
- Yes. Plenty of the people SHACADEMY coaches live and work in London. Coaching is founder-led and arranged individually rather than run as a timetabled London class, so the session is built around what you are trying to achieve. Most London-based swimmers travel out to a suitable Surrey venue, which is a straightforward journey from south and south-west London.
- Can I book private SUP lessons from London?
- Yes. Private paddleboard lessons and SUP coaching are arranged the same way. The focus is inland water and rivers — flat-water technique, board control, confidence, distance and journey preparation — rather than coastal specialist coaching.
- Do I need to travel to Surrey?
- Often, yes, and that is deliberate: Surrey and the Surrey Hills are where the venues, the working relationships and the water knowledge are deepest. Selected London locations can work for some coaching, depending on the activity, access and venue availability. Tell us where you are based and we will be straight with you about what is realistic.
- Can you help with breathing in front crawl and open water?
- This is one of the most common reasons people get in touch. Coaching starts by removing the rules you have collected about when and how often to breathe, then finding a rhythm you can actually hold — in the pool first, and then in open water where sighting and other swimmers make it harder.
- Do you coach beginners as well as experienced swimmers and paddlers?
- Both. Complete beginners are welcome, including adults who never got on with swimming lessons and people who have never stood on a paddleboard. Experienced swimmers and paddlers usually come for something specific — a stroke that costs less effort, colder-water progression, a cleaner turn, or preparation for an event.
- How does a coaching enquiry work?
- You tell us what you are trying to achieve, where you are now and what is getting in the way. Skip personally reviews every coaching enquiry and comes back to you about the most useful next step. Nothing is auto-replied and nothing is booked before that conversation.
Tell us what you’re trying to achieve.
Tell us what you're trying to achieve and we'll explore whether SHACADEMY is the right fit. Skip personally reviews every coaching enquiry.
Start a coaching enquiry →The first private coaching session is £150. Sessions are arranged individually and remain subject to suitable venue, permissions and operating conditions.