Cross Training for Swimming with the Bellyak
As a kayaker, swimming is to be avoided at all costs. If you swim, it means you came out of your boat because you didn’t roll. Your friends then have to round up all your gear, help you get to shore, drain your boat, and get started again. Plus, there’s the odd custom of having to drink a beer out of your shoe to pay penance to the river gods. It’s exhausting! After swimming in whitewater a few times, most kayakers hit the pool. Not to swim laps, but to perfect their roll.
Why would you Swim on a Bellyak
If you’ve already read this far, you know the bellyak combines the best elements of swimming and boating into one awesome 8′ long piece of lifestyle enhancing polyethylene. Say that 10 times fast. Not only does the bellyak help swimmers to develop a better ‘catch‘ as it forces you to keep your elbows high, it also allows you to swim in places you may not have thought about before. Think shallow rivers, brackish water, poop-filled lagoons, dirty swimming pools, and algae filled lakes.
Other reasons bellyaks are a great tool for swimmers:
- They build specific strength
- Improve stroke technique
- Develop Core Power
- Give your brain a break from swimming laps
- Give your eyes a break from staring at the bottom of the pool
- Help give the lower body a break in case of injury/fatigue
A Swimming Escort’s Dream
No, not having The Rock as your Baywatch style lifeguard. The bellyak is also the perfect craft for a swimming escorts during open water swims and training.
Open water swimming has exploded in popularity over the last few years, with events popping up nationwide. What is open water swimming? Open water swimming takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes and rivers. Most open water swimmers employ some form of escort boat to provide water, snacks and safety. Typically, these are kayaks or paddleboards.
Bellyaks and Open Water Swimming
Bellyaks are a great alternative to kayaks and paddleboards for one HUGE reason. No paddles. Adam Masters – founder of bellyak – has a healthy fear of paddles. He’s typically one of a few prone river paddlers in a sea of kayaks, all with their paddles at face level. So he knows what it’s like to be in the water with the potential of a paddle to the face at any moment. Open water swimmers get this too! A bellyak, on the other hand, is powered with webbed gloves worn on hands. So – at a push – the most you’ll get is a gentle caress to the face.
They also make a great surface area for storing water bottles, energy gels and extra equipment. Plus lots of room for tired swimmers to perch while getting their breath back.
Let’s swim over there! Why? Because it’s there!
Nice mountain view to quench ones thirst
Let’s go this way now
So, if you’re looking for fun, new alternative to cross training for swimming, or if you’re an open water swimming escort, the bellyak may just be the tool for you. If nothing else, it will make a good summer floaty for your off days.
