Tri Swim Coach

Saturday Swim Session: True Stamina Building with 600s

Swimming longer reps such as 600m is a great way to develop your endurance 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;
  • 4x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 2x 600m 60sec RI;
  • 200m CD (1,800m);

Option B

  • 400m WU;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 3x 600m 60sec RI;
  • 200m CD (2,800m);

Option C

  • 600m WU;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 4x 600m 60sec RI;
  • 200m CD (3,600m);

Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 200m (Option A), 400m (Option B), or 600m (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 four repetitions (Option A) or eight repetitions (Options B and C) 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 twice through for Options B and C, and once through for Option A:

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

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 drills take the fins off.

The Main Set is made up of two reps (Option A), three reps (Option B), or four reps (Option C) of 600m. After each rep take a 60-second Rest Interval (RI) prior to commencing the next 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.

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.

Join over 2,753 people who have already signed up to be kept up to date with great workouts and training information in my informative newsletter.

Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.

If you enjoyed this workout, I published a similar session 12 months ago.

Saturday Swim Session – 100’s To Get You Faster

Get my 4 Weeks to a Faster 1500m With Only Two 2km Sessions per Week through Training Peaks. Results Guaranteed. Purchase here. Use discount code CR25 to get a 25% discount.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.