I generally try to swim 20 – 25km per week through the “off season”.

Photo: Folkestone – a place that I have trained at in the past

In the lead up to a big swim the goal is to double that, getting to 40km to 50km per week, but that is really just through long weekend swims of 10km or longer.

It is tough to swim in open water in the UK as the water temperature needs to be over 12°C or 13°C for a safe swim over several hours. Some of the lakes, such as the Serpentine in London, get over 12°C in mid-April, however, the sea water in Dover really only gets over 12°C in mid-May. So I am often confined to the pool until Summer. I find that there is little point doing over 10km or 12km in the pool, so once I hit 10km I just try to go a little faster or keep a more consistent pace throughout the swim.

Anyway, here is my standard training week for the 15 weeks prior to the Manhattan Island Swim.