Introduction

My name is Jennifer Dutton, and I have been coaching swimmers of all ages and experience levels for almost thirty years. I keep certs with WOWSA/ASCA (Open Water level 5), Red Cross (LGT/CPR/AED), and USMS (Coaching level 3). I have a regular weekly group (the Fighting Manatees) here in the Upper Keys, and we welcome visitors any time! My husband, Andy, and I host multiple swim camps for adults here in January then we head to Lake Geneva and NEK Vermont in July.

This year I hosted my first-ever Women in Open Water clinic at Wellesley College in October, and hopefully this will become an October tradition.

I have written a short book about open water swimming, called The Water is Open, which is available at Amazon. It has a bit of my story intertwined with training tips for a swimmer preparing for an 8-10 mile swim; I also have booklets of workouts in digital form, which you can find in the Store page of this site.

I work with pool swimmers, triathletes, and open water swimmers. I love practicing the details required to swim well in the pool, and currently work with several top-ten age group swimmers on technique, taper and training plans. I do write the “Triathlon” workouts for USMS online; I have worked with this demographic for many years and they keep me on my toes.

I am an avid and accomplished open water swimmer myself, so I am passionate about sharing that experience. My own swims include Lengthwise Swims (no wetsuit) of Memphremagog (25 mi), Lake George (32mi), Keuka “Y” (34mi), Lake Tahoe (22mi), Lake Lugano (19mi), Torch Lake (19mi), Lake Geneva (43 mi) and Lake Constance (40 mi), and most recently 20 Bridges (Around Manhattan) in June 2025.

I love to help people swim their best, longest, and (maybe) fastest swims, and I get to work with folks from all over to design workouts, compose season plans, and analyze technique using video with both “virtual” and in-person coaching. My focus is based in technical work designed to keep swimmers’ shoulders healthy, strong, and able to go the distance- whatever that distance may be!