Cyprus Blog 24

Appreciation post…..

Lastly, this trip wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the below amazing groups of people…

Aaron Black and Amber River Leodis Wealth for sponsorship for our very smart training t shirts

Robbo and the lads off shore in the North Sea x 3 blind cars raised money for the heart monitors and water sports

Maria Lawson and Ward 24 at North Tees Hospitals raised money for the watersports

We had lots of amazing fundraising people in our local area and club, too many to mention!

Veronica Taylor and new assistant Mark Sowerby for being our dedicated photographers for the trip!

And finally, a big mention to Guy, Shirley, Dan Fawkes and Alex Roberts for devoting their time, expertise, energy and enthusiasm to ensure that this trip ran smoothly and is one to remember for everyone!

It’s time for my Cyprus blog to end and it’s been a pleasure … Melissa 😁

👏🏻 🌟 👏🏻🌟👏🏻🌟👏🏻🌟👏🏻🌟👏🏻🌟


Day 9

Wednesday 6th November

The final pool session is complete!

9 days of swimming morning, night, and land training in the middle. Even when resting, they weren’t really resting! They were in meetings about nutrition, heart rates, relaxation and psychology to name a few. Then don’t forget those sea swims, run’s, football, catch and volleyball games

62,000 metres completed in the pool by our dedicated and incredibly passionate swimmers!

They have been amazing day and night and barely a grumble or an argument between them! Other guests and coaches have actually gone out of their way to praise our guys for their behaviour and manners which is awe-inspiring in itself!

In the pool the swimmers attempted their own world records this morning, in disciplines including 100m or 200m front crawl or breastroke, some with hand paddles and fins and some without. They performed amazingly well, with PB’s to sum up their time here!

We don’t want to leave, no one is ready to go and we could stay in this beautiful sunshine for another month! All good things must come to an end.

Bring on Swim Camp 2025!


Day 8

Tuesday 5th November

Well, who else can say they spent Bonfire Day with Guy Fawkes!? 🤪

It certainly isn’t November temperatures here, we are slowly cooking!

The swimmers had some 6 legged friends in the pool with them this morning, boystrous beetles in abundance. We witnessed some high pitched screams at 7am as they went for their morning dip!!!

The swimmers today, were trying to stay below the heart rate threshold in order to stay in the aerobic zone through their recovery swim, to chase out the lactic acid in their systems. x 42 50 swims were on the cards!

Last land training session today saw the swimmers combine their new skills and stretches together. They were all actually sad it was their last set and expressed
how they wanted Dan to join us for land training every week!!! He has been amazing with our swimmers and they have learnt a lifetime of skills from him.

As our last sunset rests upon us, we were back at the pool to watch, the race is on!
x 3 75 individual sprints in fast suits trying to beat their best times so far! Monitoring their times through the 50m and 25m along with heart rates and BPM.

The results are starting to show, in race times, mental attitude and fighting spirit.

Last dinner together and we are all feeling blessed to have rode this journey with our swimmers, families and friends.

Last but not least, wishing a very happy Birthday to Veronica! 🎈


Monday 4th November

Day 7

There seems to be a spot of illness running through the camp and some haven’t been well at all.
Despite of this the rest of the swimmers were still on this morning for a swimming set to challenge all.

Land training was a mixture of motor skills, coordination response times and a focus of explosion and power.

They then moved to a gorgeous, tranquil spot high above the beach where we could hear the waves crashing and the birds singing. Here we enjoyed a little bit of zen!
Swimmers layed down on their towels on the grass for passive relaxation and visualisation psychology led by Guy!

Two local girls from Limassol joined in with our pool training tonight, which gave use more to compete against and measure up to in our 50m sprints! Heart rates were definately though the roof for some!! 🤪


Day 6
Sunday 3rd November

Today is a well needed rest day for the swimmers, if they dont want to, they don’t even have to get their toes wet!
The sun is back out, and it’s heating up again!

A tense game of volleyball began this morning with a mixture of swimmers and family, some of us might have been better at ducking, like something out the matrix!

11am the water sports began!
First, it was a go on the Crazy Sharks ring – ride, being pulled through the water by boat as fast as possible. Twisting and turning, their bodies were launching through the waves and the boys ended up closer than close, sat on each other’s knees, belly laughing!!

Next, jet skis were out in force and there was a battle through the mighty waves. Guy and others were in their element as they took the seas to show off their driving skills!

The less thrill seekers of the group, took up paddle boarding for a while, to get a closer view and conker some fears!

After lunch, some had a splurge, with a spot of retail therapy down in Paphos shopping centre, followed by a leisurely walk down to the harbour where the sun set beautifully whilst enjoying a beverage! To save our legs, we decided to be bus explorers, jumping from one route to the other in record times, while Mark was excited to have found ‘a new app for that’!!!!

A well needed rest and adventure day, making the most out of this amazing opportunity!
Back to the pool tomorrow! 🏊


Day 5
Saturday 2nd November

‘By last night we had swam the equivelent of the English Channel’ Guy Fawkes

Long warm up this morning as Cuprus turned a little chilly and blowy this morning – don’t worry Maria and Shelly are there to rescue our towels as they are still sunbathing in all weather’s!

A super hard endurance test session commenced with a tough 6 x 200m all with MVU (Maximum Volume Uptake) in mind. Guy wanted the most out of them this morning and they get to keep their timesheets to compare with as they progress through swimming.

The time keepers, Veronica, Aaron and Melissa were amazing this morning, dedicating their morning to keeping track of swimmers times through their 200m swims. with 100m times taken too.
The stress may have brought their blood preassure to the maximum but they enjoyed the thrill of it!

The swimmers were amazing, excellent times and highly consistent throughout! You should be very proud! 🌟

Beach land training today (well why not!)
Running along the sandy shore, splashing in and out of the fresh waves, is something to take advantage of whilst here. Guy certainly pushed them doing floor exercises as a warm up then x4 50 – 75m sprints followed by x3 sea swims 75m, 100m, 125m, respectively. Guy, the machine led them all!

Tonight’s swim session gave them a treat and a laugh! Wearing racing suits (that are now banned) from back in the day, some of them looked like giant jelly babies! Long course 50m sprints were on the agenda in front crawl and best stroke to get a feel of their body through the water while wearing them.

We had a huge storm tonight, it absolutely lashed it down and lighting struck sensationally for over 2 hours! Definately no sitting outside tonight!!


Day 4
Thursday 1st November

“We’ve had a brilliant session this morning”
Guy Fawkes

Skills session this morning all equipment including snorkels, hand paddles, floats and fins were in use giving much delight to our swimmers to finally get all their kit out!

Good sleep produce good moods and the swimmers were up for it today! A quick meeting about today’s plans commenced and another talk about sessions.

Land training took a miss this morning due to unforseen circumstances, so it was time for a sea swim! Guy got his kit ready, then he and the swimmers made the short walk down the steps to the golden beach surrounding us.
All swimmers embraced the mission of 1500m sea swim amongst the colourful fish and soft waves. The group were guarded by some expert paddleboarders (Alex, Robbo, Mark and Isla) in order to direct them around the small rocky island and back safely. The group stayed together and waited for the last member at short intervals before setting off again.
They all made it back safely to shore and we were all proud of them and their group spirit.

No rest for the wicked and a leisurely volleyball session between swimmers took place before the dad’s joined in and showed them no mercy and proved to them how it was to be done!! No prisoners here!!

Thunder crackled around the swimmers as they made their way to the pool for pre swim stretches, whilst a drizzle of rain cheekily fell on our sunbeds!

Tonight’s swim session was focused purely on their own maximum heart rate and the levels that they can push their bodies to, to achieve it, through sprints. This session was the hardest yet and Guy certainly pushed the levels of their exhaustion limits to the maximum.

The night commenced with a family favourite game of UNO while we waited for our delicious meal, an early night for most as we are all super tired.


Thursday 31st October! Halloween!!!!

Day 3

The day started with a talk on poolside about swimmers attitude, why ŵe are here and getting what you want out of this amazing experience. Digging deep, reaching goals and new highs to go with he inevitable lows of training hard and wanting more.

George brought the halloween spirit to the pool with his skeleton swim hat and skull themed towel! Parents talk moved to the comfy sofas where we listened on how to support our swimmers in their safe space after a hard day’s training, achievements or when feeling low and deflated. Guy spoke passionately about the club, his past, his experience and wealth of knowledge around swimming and coaching.

Working on strength endurance in land training today, we moved to the tennis courts for a more flat surface and some well needed shade.Bear crawls, stretch cords, TRX straps and push ups featured along with questionable language and groans from a few, from half way though! Reap the rewards guys!!! Dan’s passion for this training shows and he encourages our athletes to perform on dry land and give as much effort as possible!

Teamwork skills included balancing and lowering with a helium stick focusing on. working together and communicating.

Not as much rest today as back at the pool for 2:30 pm for a team pre swim stretch session. Some of the visiting children and parents got to take a rare advantage of a spare lane and dive blocks, it was amazing swimming with the warm sun, blue sky and trees around us! Bliss! Today’s session was a combination of heart rate tracking and fast sprints.

HaLLoWEeN night commenced and Will kindly got coach Guy a matching mask that he thought represented his humour and personality!


Wednesday 30th October 2024

Day 2

Early start for the swimmers meeting in reception at 6:40 am for swimming in the Olympic pool at 7am!

Main set this morning was x10 500 swims on all strokes, an intense workout based on long distance, there was even positive vibes from doing 500 Fly! With English swimming clubs either side of our lanes their competitiveness came out!

After some breakfast, the swimmers had a meeting with coach Guy about heart monitors, their diet and expectations of it, the 4’rs – repair, recovery, rehydrate and rest.

Land training commenced with Dan with a ‘core’ focus set for our swimmers. This morning was mighty hot and they certainly needed their bottled water and high spirits! 3 lads got extra jumping squats for having their heads turned by another teams volley ball session!!!

After a relax in the sun the swimmers were ready for round 2. They are all feeling it now and emotions are running high.This session was 5600m an intense workout focused around their heart rates working at a threshold pace of 85% maximum HR.

Time for dinner and ‘wear something white’ night and the boys have claimed the comfy chairs at the bar!!!


Tuesday 29th October

Day 1

Breakfast as a group was delicious, pancakes, pastries, fry up, cereal, cheese, ham and much needed tea and coffee for the grown ups!! Enjoy those pancakes kids when Guy isn’t looking!!!!

Quick meeting in the shade of the ever warming up Cyprus sun! Talking about training, times, pushing through the pain, reaching new levels, learning to control emotions and what’s to come from this trip!

Land training with Dan Fawkes an RAF reserve who has given up his time to beast these kids on the field at 11am. Judging by their red faces and sweatyness he definately put them through their paces, still smiling though!

Next, was time to chill (for the adults) with a relaxing beverage & a sun lounger while the swimmers enjoyed the ice cold play pool, a spot of handball and some serious slides!

Time for the big event… pool session time!
2:40 pm we commenced our walk to the GB Olympic training pool for Athens 2008… impressive! Guy planned a mega swim and the kids completed a World Championship set which included every swim to compete in.

4700 metres completed as the sun set around us! Caitlin was the biggest achiever in this session and gave the boys a good run for their money!

Veronica Taylor and Mark Sowerby were busy finding the best places for photographs of our squad as the beautiful sun set around us. This did include Mark climbing down the underwater man hole to access the underwater view areas!

It was time for a well earned dinner break and relax and on the menu was BBQ (lots of chicken) and some Salsa dancing outside !

Early night for most as we get ready for an early rise and more swimming tomorrow!


Monday 28th October “Commitment to your chosen path will lead you to success.” Guy Fawkes October 2024.Today is the day. Cyprus is calling us.The weather looks glorious and the swimmers are ready for their intense course! We’ve arrived at the airport for lunch as a group everyone is in good spirits and ready ready for the adventure. Guy opened his post birthday gift and is in full coach mode already checking on swimmers food intake! All boarded on time and a smooth flight throughout, lots of seat swapping and delicious toasties / sandwiches demolished and Will even managed to finish his MIchael Phelps book! Landed at 9:15pm Cyprus time and very strong smelling coach delivered us to our final destinationQuick bite to eat on arrival in the beautiful reception area and we were were ready for bed!!! Thankyou to Aaron and Amber River Leodis wealth for the incrediable sponsorship of our Cuprus tshirts… picture of him and Caitlin to follow as they were too busy shopping and we lost them!! 🤣Let’s see what the first day brings more swim updates!