Building your ability to sustain your threshold pace in a swim is an important capability for triathletes and open-water swimmers. These sessions further develop that ability by progressing your fitness by completing reps at a fast pace that you can sustain. This session will benefit triathletes of all distances up to Ironman 70.3, as well as other open-water swimmers.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, and 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.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
The inspiration for these workouts comes from an article by Steve Tarpinian in an old issue of Triathlete.
Option A
- 300 WU;
- 8x 25 Drills;
- 8x
- 50 FAST 20RI;
- 100 FAST 30RI;
- 300 CD (2,000)
Option B
- 500 WU;
- 12x 25 Drills;
- 10x
- 50 FAST 20RI;
- 100 FAST 30RI;
- 300 CD (2,600)
Option C
- 800 WU;
- 16x 25 Drills;
- 12x
- 50 FAST 20RI;
- 100 FAST 30RI;
- 300 CD (3,300)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 300m swim (Option A), 500m (Option B), or 800m (Option C). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Follow this with a set of drills. Option A completes eight, 25m reps of drills (twice through the four drills below). Option B completes twelve, 25m reps of drills (three times through the four drills below). Option C completes sixteen, 25m reps of drills (four times through the four drills below). Take a pause of about ten seconds after each drill. It’s a chance to grab a drink, review the programme, and think about the next drill you will do. If you need 15-20 seconds or longer you are welcome to take it because the rest duration isn’t physiologically critical to the aim of this set. Having a quick break is neurologically critical though, so make sure you don’t just roll straight from one rep to the next.
- Kick On Side (KOS) – left-hand side
- Kick On Side (KOS) – right-hand side
- 6/1/6
- 6/3/6
The main set is made up of eight (Option A), ten (Option B), or twelve (Option C) reps. Each rep consists of two sub-reps of 50m and 100m respectively. Take a 20-second Rest Interval (RI) afterward the 50m sub-rep and take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) after the 100m sub-rep. Swim these as fast as you can maintain.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 300m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) 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.
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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Before diving in, ensure you can comfortably swim 800 meters or yards continuously and cover a total of 2,000 meters or yards within a single workout.
