The water you love shouldn't be the thing holding you back.
Open water and wild swimmers are some of the most passionate and committed people in any sport. They get up before dawn. They swim in cold water year-round. They drive hours to reach their favourite lakes and coastlines.
But passion alone doesn't give you the technical foundation to go as far as you want, as safely and confidently as you deserve.
That's where coaching changes everything, because what I understand from two decades of elite swimming is this: The water doesn't have to feel like something you're fighting against.
With the right technique, the right breathing patterns, and the right understanding of how to move efficiently through it, the water becomes the place you feel most free. That's exactly what the Academy gives open water swimmers.
Is Cold water and challenging conditions affecting your breathing and your confidence?
The cold water gasp reflex, the shock of immersion, the feeling of breathlessness in rough conditions, these are physiological responses that proper technique and breathing control can significantly reduce. But without coaching, most open water swimmers never learn how to manage them properly!
Sighting and navigation in open water is harder than it looks! nobody has taught you how to do it efficiently!
Lifting your head to sight disrupts your stroke, costs energy, and slows you down. Most open water swimmers develop a sighting habit that works well enough but there's a significant difference between "works well enough" and the efficient, minimal-disruption sighting technique that elite swimmers use instinctively.
You want to go further but aren't sure how to train safely for it
Whether it's a 10km lake crossing, a channel swim, or simply pushing your regular route from 2km to 5km distance progression in open water requires a specific approach to training load, pacing, and preparation that most swimmers piece together from guesswork and online forums.
Your technique is costing you energy you need for longer swims
Inefficient stroke mechanics are manageable over short distances. Over 3km, 5km, or more, they become the difference between finishing strongly and struggling to the bank. The technical adjustments that make the biggest difference to endurance swimming are almost never covered in general open water swimming content.
The mental challenge of open water swimming is real and undercoached
Anxiety in open water, the psychological challenge of distance, managing the moments when conditions change and the mind wants to stop before the body needs to, these are coachable skills! The same mindset tools James used across three Olympic Games translate directly to the mental challenge of open water swimming.
The technical coaching to go further, safer, and with complete confidence.
Founding member places are open now. Join the James Guy Academy and access the technical swim coaching that transforms triathlon performance — from an Olympic gold medalist who knows exactly what efficient swimming looks like.
Need More? — see what's inside
what's inside for open water and wild swimmers
Six coaching areas that make the water feel like yours.
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Stroke efficiency for open water endurance. The technical mechanics of swimming further with less effort. Body position, catch efficiency, drag reduction, and the stroke adjustments that make the biggest difference over distance. Not speed-focused endurance and sustainability focused. The difference between a stroke that lasts 500 metres and one that lasts 5 kilometres.
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Breathing technique and cold water adaptation. How to control your breathing in cold water, manage the gasp reflex on immersion, breathe efficiently in choppy conditions, and build the respiratory confidence that makes challenging environments feel navigable rather than threatening. This module alone changes how most open water swimmers experience cold water.
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Sighting, navigation, and open water skills. Efficient sighting technique that minimises stroke disruption, navigation strategies for different open water environments, how to handle currents, tides, and conditions changes and the open water awareness that lets you swim confidently and safely in unfamiliar water.
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Training structure and distance progression. How to build distance safely, structure your training weeks for endurance progression, and prepare specifically for target swims, whether that's a 5km lake event, a channel relay, or your first kilometre in open water. Elite periodisation principles adapted for open water distance goals.
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Open water mindset and mental resilience, The psychological tools that let you push further than your comfort zone, manage anxiety in challenging conditions, and develop the mental toughness that open water swimming at any distance demands. James' elite performance psychology applied to the specific mental challenges of wild and open water swimming.
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Monthly live Q&A with James live access. Every month, James runs a live session inside the Academy community. Bring your open water questions, your target swims, your technique challenges, your specific conditions. Real coaching, in real time. This is the direct coaching access that most open water swimmers have never had.
What changes when you swim with the right foundation?
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Open water feels less uncertain and more within your control. The technique, breathing, and sighting skills in the Academy give you a framework for any conditions you encounter. The unknown becomes manageable when you have the tools to handle it and that changes everything about how you approach the water.
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You go further safely and sustainably. With efficient technique and a proper training structure, distance goals that felt out of reach become achievable steps on a clear progression. Whether your target is 2km, 10km, or a channel relay the Academy gives you the foundation to get there safely.
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Cold water stops being the barrier it was. The breathing and cold water adaptation module specifically addresses the physiological and psychological responses that hold most open water swimmers back in cold conditions. Members consistently report that their cold water confidence improves faster than they expected once they have the right tools.
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You join a community of people who love the water as much as you do. The Academy community brings together swimmers from every discipline and the open water and wild swimming members form a particularly passionate and supportive group within it. The shared experience, the route recommendations, the challenge encouragement it's a community built around the love of swimming and swimming in open water.
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You have direct access to an Olympic champion every month. The monthly live Q&A with James gives you coaching access that simply doesn't exist elsewhere at this price point. Bring your specific swim, your specific challenge, your specific ambition and get answers from someone who has spent 20 years mastering the water at the very highest level.
Be one of the founding open water members. Shape what comes next.
Founding Member Benefits
From £37-£100/month
🔒 Lifetime Founding Member rate – your price will never increase.
↻ Cancel anytime – no long-term commitment.
📹 30-minute welcome call with James and the team.
⚡Instant access to every module and Academy pillar.
💬 Weekly live Q&A sessions with me James Guy!
🏆 Founding Member badge and community recognition.
🎁 Bonus live coaching for Founding Members during the first three months.
💡 Shape the Academy with input on future content and features.
📤 Upload you race swim videos, stroke shots, pool sessions etc and receive a full technical breakdown with personal feedback from me!
👥 Join a driven swim community of swimmers, parents, coaches, master's athletes and triathletes, all on the same journey! To swim FAST!
The James Guy Academy is for swimmers who feel most alive in open water and who want the technical foundation, the breathing confidence, and the mental resilience to go further into it than they ever have before. Founding member places are open now. This window will close in 30 day's and the founding rate and benefits close with it.
James Guy MBE was crowned Aquatics GB Champion Athlete for 2025 as a memorable season of aquatics achievements was celebrated at The Aquatics GB Awards in Newport Nov 25
The 30-year-old has won three Olympic gold medals as well as three silvers having topped the podium twice in Tokyo in the 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m mixed medley and once in Paris – defending the 4x200m freestyle crown alongside Duncan Scott, Tom Dean, and Matt Richards. Guy won his first Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow back in 2014 in the 4x100m medley, kickstarting a career which has also seen him become a six-time world champion.
As a youngster, James Guy MBE was inspired by the magnificent achievements of the legendary Michael Phelps. Now he has told Team England’s Commonwealth Games rookies his philosophy to becoming a champion – having swum faster than his hero in Rio.
After two silver medals in the relay events at the Rio Olympics, James Guy says that to be part of the Olympic team for the second time is ‘something truly special’.
Frequently asked questions
The water has always been calling you further. Now you have the coaching to answer it.
The James Guy Academy is for Triathletes and multi sport athletes who refuse to accept the ceiling their current coaching puts on them. If that's you — the founding member window is open now. Don't let it close before you've made the decision that changes your swimming.