By combining the longer 250m reps with 50m sprints to finish, this workout will see you finishing your races strongly. This session is perfect for Ironman and Olympic distance triathletes or people doing longer Ocean Swims.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, most weeks I will load three options up for you to do. Option A is for swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres. Option B is for swimmers who are after a workout between 2,000 & 3,000m and Option C will be greater than 3,000m.
Option A
- 200m WU;
- 8x 25m Drill;
- 4x 250m 30sec RI;
- 8x 50m on ½T+10sec;
- 200m CD (2,000m);
Option B
- 600m WU;
- 8x 25m Drill;
- 6x 250m 30sec RI;
- 8x 50m on ½T+10sec;
- 200m CD (2,900m);
Option C
- 1,000m WU;
- 8x 25m Drill;
- 8x 250m 30sec RI;
- 8x 50m on ½T+10sec;
- 200m CD (3,800m);
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 200m (Option A), 600m (Option B), or 1,000m (Option C). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set of eight repetitions. Do the drills below twice through:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
Coach Ray’s Top 3 Swimming Drills to Get You Swimming Smooth
After the set of drills takes the fins off.
The first main set is made up of four (Option A), six (Option B), or eight (Option C) repetitions of 250m. After each repetition take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI).
For the next set complete eight 50m sprints. Start each of these reps on a time based on half of your T-Time plus ten seconds. For example, if your T-Time is 2:00 that will mean that you start each rep every 1:10: as half of 2:00 is 1:00, and adding 10 seconds onto that makes it 1:10. Read more about T-Times here.
T-Times for Swimming
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the cooldown (like the warm-up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
You can repeat this session in a few weeks’ time and track your progress by measuring how much faster you are now swimming the distance.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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If you enjoyed this workout, I published a similar session 12 months ago.
Saturday Swim Session – Long Reps to Enhance Your Stamina
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