Swim Workout

Saturday Swim Session: 200’s

This swim session is a great way to work on developing your sustained pace and stamina. 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;
  • 6x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 5x 200m Build 1-5 30sec RI;
  • 200m CD (1,700m)

Option B

  • 400m WU;
  • 6x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 8x 200m Build 1-4 30sec RI;
  • 200m CD (2,500m)

Option C

  • 800m WU;
  • 12x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 10x 200m Build 1-5 30sec RI;
  • 200m CD (3,600m)

Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 200m (Option A), 400m (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.

Next up are six (Options A and B) or twelve (Option C) repetitions of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set.  Do the drills below, once through for Options A and B and twice through for Option C:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6
  5. Popov
  6. Broken Arrow

I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.

Take the fins off prior to the next set, which is five (Option A), eight (Option B), or ten (Option C) reps of 200m. After each rep take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI). Swim these in build format, where you build the pace from one rep to the next. Start with a moderate pace, then the next rep, swim a little bit faster and then a bit faster for the next ones, etc.  For Options A and C Build 1-5, for Option C swim your fifth and tenth reps your fastest in each build cycle with the first and sixth reps your moderate-paced reps getting faster as you go one from them. For Option B Build 1-4 and then repeat the cycle for 5-8.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the cool down (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.

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: Swim Golf and Drills

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