INFORMATION REGARDING OUR 2012 CLINICS WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY.
Open Water Swimming Clinics
These special 1.5 hour clinics are designed to improve your open water swimming experience. Improve your confidence in the open water in just one session. All clinics begin promptly at 7:30 a.m. Please arrive between 7:00 and 7:15 to check in.
Who should attend?
These clinics are geared to open water swimmers and triathletes. Beginner and experienced swimmers will gain valuable tips designed to assist you in becoming a more efficient open water swimmer.
What will be taught in this class?
- Open water sighting
- Direction control
- Drills
- Drafting in the water
- Race strategy
- Mental tips to assist you feel more comfortable in the open water
Our Instructors:
Ken Classen
University of Denver masters swimming coach Ken Classen has been coaching swimming for the past 14-years. Ken has helped many adult swimmers from all skill levels reach and obtain their goals for fitness and competition. His work has been recognized by the Colorado Masters Swimming Association (COMSA) “Coach of the Year” award. His specialty is open water swimming with over two decades of competitive open water swimming experience. Ken has helped open waters swimmers train for there first open water leg in a triathlon to ultra marathon swimmers tackling events such as Catalina and English Channels. His own resume includes many of the nation’s top open water events, including a fastest overall time & finish during the 2009 Alcatraz Challenge. Ken was a collegiate scholarship swimmer at Metropolitan State College of Denver.
John Hughes – July 17th
John is a former collegiate swimmer who won the 1650 in the former Big 8 conference. He has worked extensively in the Navy as a diving medicine physician and authored the swim training and high altitude sections of the Than Navy Seal Physical Fitness Guide. John is often found leading the pack out of the water at local races. He is an accomplished open water and masters swimmer. Currently, John has an occupational medicine consulting service in Littleton and serves as the medical director for the National Renewable Energy Laboratories in Golden, Co.
Jessi Stensland
A New Jersey native, Jessi lives and trains in Boulder, Co. After finishing a successful NCAA Division I swimming career and graduating magna cum laude at George Washington University in 1998, she dove head first into triathlon. The following year, Jessi grabbed her first overall win along with a silver medal at the 1999 ITU Amateur World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
In 2000, Jessi entered the professional circuit. A strong swimmer who quickly developed strength on the bike, she hit the ground running. Her first professional win came in 2001 on one of the toughest bike courses on the circuit, at the St. Kitts International Triathlon. Since then Jessi has had 20 career wins both nationally and internationally. In 2004 she won the Half Ironman Mexico, her first attempt at that distance. The highlight of her career however was the Olympic journey which culminated with the 2004 US Olympic Triathlon Trials where she finished 4th among the American women.
Currently you can find her traveling around the country with her company MovementU. MovementU workshops focus on how the body is meant to move, how to create change in your body to achieve efficient movement within each sport, how to be offensive in keeping the body injury resistant and ultimately performing to its potential. More information can be found at the MovementU web site.
Melissa Mantak
Kathy/Peter Alfino
The Alfino’s have been involved in the triathlon scene since the early 80′s. They are both USAT certified triathlon coaches and co-owners/founders of Mile High Multisport, LLC. They also manage the Grant Ranch swim venue. The Alfino’s are 12 time Ironman finishers with Kathy qualifying for the Ironman World Championships on three separate occasions and placing 3rd in her age group in 2010. Pete is a level 1 USA certified swim coach and has taught masters swimming in the Denver area.
