I’ve been working on a new Fitness Swim Training Plan to improve your swimming for over 8 weeks. The sessions for this programme are between 1,500m and 2,100m long and there are three sessions each week. I’ve got variations of the training plan for people who can complete four or five swims each week, as well as for people who can only fit two swims per week. As well as a 12, 16 and 20-week variation of the programme. This session is a key session in the programme.
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
- 400m WU;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 4x 100m on T+20sec;
- 4x 100m Pull Buoy 20sec RI;
- 200m CD (1,800m)
Option B
- 600m WU;
- 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 6x 100m on T+20sec;
- 6x 100m Pull Buoy 20sec RI;
- 200m CD (2,400m)
Option C
- 1,000m WU;
- 12x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 8x 100m on T+20sec;
- 8x 100m Pull Buoy 20sec RI;
- 200m CD (3,400m)
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 400m (Option A), 600m (Option B), or 1,000m (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/swim set. There are eight (Options A & B) or twelve (Option C) 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 (Options A & B) or three (Option C) times through:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
The first set is made up of four (Option A), six (Option B), or eight (Option C) reps of 100m. Do these on your T-Time plus 20 seconds. For example, if your T-Time is 1:50, start each rep 2:10 after you started the previous rep. That way if you take 1:55 to swim it you get 15 seconds of rest. Conversely, if you swim it in 1:45 you will get 25 seconds of rest. The incentive is to swim each rep as fast as you can and earn heaps of rest so you can swim the next rep just as qwik.
More can be found on T-Times here:
The second set is made up of four (Option A), six (Option B), or eight (Option C) reps of 100m with a Pull Buoy. Take a 20-second Rest Interval (RI) between reps.
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.
This session can be found in my new Fitness Swimming Training Plan that starts Monday next week (11-Jan-2021). If your New Year’s resolution involves swimming faster with limited time to train. Complete the form below and get more information about this great plan.