Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
With this set, we were aiming to repeat stroke parameters over and over at a high level: UW kicks, Cycle count, Breathing pattern, and time (around 1-2 seconds off P100).
Butterfly Cookie Cutters
Month: March 2023
THE ELIMINATION GUESSING GAME
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
I’ve posted before about The Guessing Game and The Guessing Game for Sprinters.
Tonight we tried the guessing game with a new twist: Elimination.
We had 12 swimmers in the pool near the end of practice. Everyone swam a 100 free (any speed) and immediately had to guess their times. Top 3 swimmers who guessed closest to their actual time got to climb out and go home. Everyone else swam again and repeated the process. Incredibly, in order to be in the top 3 in the first round, a swimmer had to guess within 0.8 seconds. Similar results happened in subsequent rounds as the group sharpened their skills. One swimmer managed to finish 4th in both the first and second rounds.
The final three swimmers had the task of cleaning up the deck (equipment, etc.) before leaving.
Overall, it was a fun (and agonizing for some) way to finish practice.
Speed and The Kitchen Sink
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This one has a little bit of everything.
150s Madness
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
The format is similar to my most recent other post, with a more aerobic focus. The intervals stay the same for each part, with the quantities at each interval shifting slightly. The effect is a set that gets steadily a bit harder, with the peak intensity coming in the final 4 x 150 at the end. FPA = Fastest Possible Average.
Working Race Pace for the 500 Free
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
I like doing sets like this for our middle-distance races. Doing just a few 50s at 500 pace doesn’t do much, but when you add some real quantity and change up the interval with short rest, you start mimicking the burn of that 4th 100 of the race. Warning: this one hurts!
Lotta 200s
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
Check Your Catch – Freestyle
Coach Molly Hebzynski, University of Northern Colorado
We’ve done set variations of this set, but the one below is my favorite, and our swimmers too! We focus on maintaining a good body line and maximizing every catch without breathing. LB = Low buoy, NB = No Breath, the strap is a band around the ankles. On the 25s, our ultimate goal is to see how fast they can move across the pool in a 25 with no out-of-water arm recovery to check their catch efficiency.
SCY
2x
2×150 @ 2:30 50 Strap/50 Reg/50 LB (The switch at the walls is intended to be quick)
6×25 @ 1:00 NB Long Dog (Long Dog is the UW catch & pull)
R1: + LB
R2: + Strap
2×25 @ :45 Free NB @ 20 BB (20 Beats below Max HR)
1×100 @ 2:00 Reset/Recovery
The Swimming Wizard 