I have been really pleased, with the progress that I am making in the pool.  My swim times are getting faster and my endurance is increasing. I attribute a lot of this to getting stronger.

Upper body strength is not something I have ever really had or developed.  It is not something that I have previously focused on.  To be a better, long distance open water swimmer however, I have recently begun to work on it. I have been doing two things.

Firstly, I have started to lift weights twice a week.  I am an older athlete and weight work is very important as you age. I wrote about it here.

Secondly, I have been swimming a lot using paddles.  Swimming with paddles really works the muscles of your back, chest, arms and shoulders.  They provide resistance, so you really feel yourself pulling the water backwards.  This feedback that you get during the pull phase of the stroke, also helps improve your technique.

The paddles that I use are Strokemakers.  I bought them online here.  I use quite a small sized paddle; much smaller than the guide on the Strokemaker website would suggest. I use a Size 1.  I use this size because I only want to increase resistance in the water slightly.  Too much resistance might injure my shoulders and also changes my form.  I suggest leaving the larger sizes for the professionals and college standard swimmers.

If you don’t have any paddles, I highly recommend that you get some.  They will really help develop your strength and your stroke in the water.