Swimming & Open Water Coaching
Private adult swimming coaching in Surrey, open water progression, and cold water and winter swimming development. Coaching begins with what you are trying to achieve, not with a lesson plan.
What this covers
Adult swimming, open water and colder conditions.
Most people arrive with a specific ambition: a first open water event, a triathlon swim they would rather not dread, or simply wanting to swim without it feeling like hard work. The starting point is where you are now and what is getting in the way.
- Private adult swimming coaching, at your pace and without an audience.
- Swimming technique — small, durable changes rather than a rebuild.
- The pool-to-open-water transition, which is as much about environment as stroke.
- Preparing for a first open water event or a first triathlon swim.
- Open water confidence: sighting, breathing, pacing, and staying calm when it gets busy.
- Understanding the environment — water, weather, depth, temperature, and how a venue actually operates.
- Cold water introductions, approached as informed participation rather than a challenge.
- Winter swimming development for swimmers who want to keep going as the season turns.
- Personal swimming challenges, where the goal is yours rather than off a syllabus.
Sessions are usually in Surrey and the Surrey Hills, where the experience and the working relationships are deepest, though SHACADEMY may travel where the work genuinely suits.
Private coaching starts from £150. See coaching & pricing →
Colder conditions
Cold Water & Winter Swimming
The aim is to become a more capable swimmer in colder environments — not simply to tolerate colder water. Two related needs, both handled unhurriedly, for individuals, couples, friends or suitable private small groups.
Getting started in cold water
An informed introduction for people new to cold water swimming: how to prepare, what equipment actually helps, reading the conditions in front of you, sensible acclimatisation, building confidence, and the practical judgement to decide when to get in, how long to stay and when to stop — with appropriate safety cover in place.
Developing as a winter swimmer
For outdoor swimmers who want to keep swimming as conditions get colder: understanding how the environment and the risks change through the season, developing skills and judgement rather than relying on willpower, and becoming more confident and more independent as a winter swimmer.
No claims are made here about health, therapeutic or wellbeing benefit — that is not what this coaching is for.
How it’s approached
Informed, not heroic.
The focus is on informed participation: understanding what cold water does to breathing and movement, recognising your own responses, choosing appropriate kit and exit points, and building confidence with sensible safety cover in place.
Why it’s different
Experience on both sides.
Scott “Skip” Innes began in frontline swimming teaching and lifeguarding, then spent more than a decade building and running an inland open water venue — writing the open water procedures, training the lifeguard teams and watching thousands of swimmers meet cold, dark water for the first time. That perspective tends to shorten the learning curve.
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. Scott personally reviews every enquiry.
Start a coaching enquiry →Private coaching starts from £150. Sessions are arranged individually and remain subject to suitable venue, permissions and operating conditions.