Tri Swim Coach

Saturday Swim Session: Broken 150’s

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

  • 200m WU;
  • 4x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 4x (150m, 30sec RI; 3x 50m 10sec RI)
  • 200m CD (1,800m)

Option B

  • 400m WU;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 5x (150m, 30sec RI; 3x 50m 10sec RI)
  • 200m CD (2,500m)

Option C

  • 800m WU;
  • 8x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
  • 6x (150m, 30sec RI; 3x 50m 10sec RI)
  • 200m CD (3,200m)

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 is a drill/swim set. There are four (Option A) or eight (Options B & 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:

  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.

The main set is what is called a set of Broken 150s. You swim 150m and then you split that 150m up into three reps of 50m and swim it again. That is one single rep. When you swim it, take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) after the 150m portion and only ten seconds after each 50m sub-rep. There are four (Option A), five (Option B), or six (Option C) reps to complete.

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.

Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.

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.

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.