Open water swimming is exhilarating—but safety must come first. In episode #107 of Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide, we talk with Barry Healey of BC, Canada about an event in his town.

Get into the new open-water course and check out the ISCA Open Water Festival. The upcoming festival with a 5K swim is hosted at Smith Mountain Lake State Park in Virginia.

Progress is being made on the insurance issue.

• New free open‑water swimming course (read.swimisca.org) and the East Coast Open Water Festival at Smith Mountain Lake

• Introduction of a university division for collegiate squads and how to register

• Ongoing insurance work and why coaches and need to stay informed about liability risks

• The July 18, 2026 Across‑the‑Lake Swim disaster – what went wrong and the key safety failures

• New mandatory safety gear: high‑visibility swim buddies and why they're now required for all open‑water events

In Heavy Or Not, #106, we bring a dream into reality for long-time Southern Illinois University Head Swim & Dive Coach, presently retired, Rick Walker.

Open Water Festival Sign up at https://swimisca.org/event/east-coast-open-water/

News Release about College Teams at https://read.swimisca.org/courses/open-water/lessons/isca-hosts-open-water-festivals/topic/press-release-college-swimming-gets-an-upgrade-in-september-with-a-5k-and-open-water-knockout/

Coach Walker has been a leading force for USA Open Water Swimming Teams in recent years — and he helps with Pan Am Aquatics and speaks to coaches at WAFSU.org / UCSSC seminars.

Let's get to the core of the dream of what Open Water events mean for athletes and coaches. Get the details on the upcoming East Coast Open Water Festival and how a new college and university division is being created. Plus, you can get involved.

• Open water as an additional collegiate season – benefits for Title IX compliance and athlete counts.

• East Coast Open Water Festival at Smith Mountain Lake (Sept 2026) is with a new college & university division.

• Race formats: knockout 1,500 m, 5K, 1‑mile, splash‑and‑dash (swim + run) and more.

• How open water training boosts pool performance for distance and sprint swimmers.

• Resources & future events: online prep course (reed.swimisca.org), May Jamestown meet, coach/parent participation.
  
  

• New Open Water Course, for free, for limited time:
  https://read.swimisca.org/courses/open-water/

Over think much.... or not.

Brian Holliday, once a frustrated swimmer in the UK, now an author and creator, shares how he reinvented swimming by focusing on mind‑body awareness instead of traditional technique. He reveals the journey from personal struggle to his "Intuitive Swimming" method and why the industry resists it.

You'll learn:

• Why over‑thinking kills learning and how awareness of the body changes swimming.

• The key mind‑body‑water connection: floating, balance, and whole‑body movement.

• How Brian reverse‑engineered swim strokes and built a three‑step online course.

• The clash with conventional coaches and the challenges of marketing his approach.

• Insights from his book Why Front Crawl Feels Hard and how it can help swimmers of any level.

"When you quit copying the coach and start listening to your own body, the water stops being a test and becomes a teammate – that's when you really learn to swim."