The Swim Fitness Builder (SFB) is an eight-week training plan to build fitness for a swimmer currently confident in swimming about 600-800m to be able to swim 1,600m confidently in a session. This is the seventh week of the training plan. I am providing the workouts from the training plan for FREE, through my website. If you’d like them as a training plan on TrainingPeaks, there is a link to purchase that towards the end of the article.
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.
Spread the following sessions through the week. If you only have time to include two swim sessions, utilise the first two workouts. If you only have time to include three swim sessions, utilise the first three workouts. Spread them evenly through the week, eg:
- 4 sessions Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday;
- 3 Sessions Monday, Wednesday, and Friday;
- 2 Sessions Monday, Thursday or Monday, Friday
Check out last week’s article for the previous week’s worth of workouts:
Session 25
- 400m W/U;
- 12x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 16x 50m Swim, 10sec RI;
- 200m C/D (2,000m)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 400m swim. 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. There are twelve, 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set. Do the drills below twice through:
The main set is made up of sixteen, 50m repetitions. Swim them at a pace you can maintain for all reps. Take a ten-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
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.
Session 26
- 300m W/U;
- 4x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 800m Swim;
- 200m C/D (1,500m)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 300m swim. 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. There are twelve, 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set. Do the drills below:
The main set is made up of a single 800m repetition. Swim this continuously.
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.
Session 27
- 400m W/U;
- 8x 25m Drill;
- 8x 100m Swim, 15sec RI;
- 200m C/D (1,600m)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 400m swim. 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. There are eight, 25m repetitions. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set. Do the drills below twice through:
The main set is made up of eight, 100m repetitions. Swim them at a pace you can maintain for all reps. Take a fifteen-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
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.
Session 28
- 300m W/U;
- 8x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 2x
- 200m 20sec RI,
- 4x 50m 10sec RI,
- 200m C/D (1,500m)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 300m swim. 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. There are eight, 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set. Do the drills below twice through:
The main set is made up of two Broken 200s. A Broken 200 is actually 400m – made up of a 200m rep of continuous swimming. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI). Then complete the second half of the set with four, 50m reps and take a ten-second Rest Interval (RI) after each 50m. Then it’s time for the second rep.
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.
Keep an eye out next week for the final week of this programme, or get it sent directly to your inbox by filling in this form:
Get Weekly Swim Workouts Direct to Your Inbox
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
Get the Training Plan on TrainingPeaks and get access to my fortnightly coaching calls:
- 8-Week Swim Fitness Builder Training Plan (4 swims per week) – Start Any Time
- 8-Week Swim Fitness Builder Training Plan (3 swims per week) – Start Any Time
- 8-Week Swim Fitness Builder Training Plan (2 swims per week) – Start Any Time
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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The 20 Most Popular Swim Sessions from www.CoachRay.nz
With over 200 articles covering swim workouts published when this ebook came out, I condensed it down to the Top 20 most popular swim workouts. As viewed by people like you, the readers of my website.