In 2003 Grant Hackett and Michael Phelps spent a week training together when both were at the height of their international stardom. They pushed each other and challenged their swimming. This session is great for swimmers and triathletes preparing for longer, open water 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.
The inspiration for these sessions came from the session Grant Hackett and Michael Phelps did on May 2nd, 2003 and it came from an article by Olivier Poirier-Leroy read it here.
Option A
- 300m WU;
- 8x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 20sec RI;
- 200m CD (1,700m)
Option B
- 400m WU;
- 8x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 20sec RI;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 15sec RI;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 10sec RI;
- 200m CD (2,800m)
Option C
- 600m WU;
- 12x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 20sec RI;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 15sec RI;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 10sec RI;
- 200m Easy;
- 8x 50m 5sec RI;
- 200m CD (3,800m)
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 300m (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 eight (Options A and B) or twelve repetitions (Option 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 A and B, and three times through for Option C:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
The main sets start off with an easy 200m. Swim a set of eight 50m reps as fast as you can. After each rep take a 20-second Rest Interval (RI).
If you are doing Option A jump to the Cool Down (CD) at this point.
Options B & C, continue with another 200m easy, followed by another set of eight 50m reps swum as fast as you can, but this time with only 15 seconds Rest Interval (RI).
Swim another 200m easy and then another set of eight, 50m reps. This time only a ten-second Rest Interval (RI).
If you are doing Option B, jump to the Cool Down (CD) at this point.
Option C has another 200m easy followed by another set of eight, 50m reps. This time with only a five-second Rest Interval (RI).
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.
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If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published 12 months ago.
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