Swimming is the #FunnestSport, Particularly when Shared

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

Morgan Cordle, 757 Swim

Jonathan Kaplan, Chris Bushelman, Jessica Laird, and Steve Medei, SwimRVA

This past Saturday, we brought our three teams together in Richmond, VA for a combined long course practice. We had three groups (Sprint, IM/Stroke, and Distance).

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Chris Bushelman led the warmup, which allowed everyone to make a new friend and get to know each other:

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Coach Morgan Cordle led the IM/Stroke Group:

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Coach Jonathan Kaplan led the Sprint Group:

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Initial Speed for 50 free

4 x HVOs

4 x Dive 30m sprint w specific breath placement

*count breaths to come on bottom

*150 easy after each and rest 1:30-2:00

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Sustained Speed for 50 free

(Cone at approx 20m)

With fins, Swim medium tempo no breath to the cone, take a breath, and then sprint 10 cycles no breath, take a breath then finish to the wall. 150 easy after each and rest 1:30-2:00

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100 Finish Speed and Tempo

3 rounds of Countdown Sprints w/Fins

followed by 4 x 25 breath restrictions (breath count goes lower each round)

For an explanation of countdown sprints, check out this article from SwimSwam featuring Coach Jonathan

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Coach Ryan Woodruff led the distance group:

After the workout, we had breakfast together at the pool and had some time for socializing.

Thank you SwimRVA for hosting us all! This was a great idea.

Short Axis with Partner Pulls

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

The 300 is done with a stretch cord with belts on both ends. Each swimmer wears a belt and hangs onto the cord about eight feet from the opposite belt end. Swimmers drag each other a 25 at a time. Follow up with the FPA (Fastest Possible Average) swims. SCM.

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10-minute Race Pace Rounds with a Quote

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

For this set we split the group up into distance and mid/sprint to do these sets in parallel. This allowed me to time both groups by myself on a single watch. Both groups commented that they thought the race pace set was tough but they liked it.

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The Aqua Decathlon

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

We took this challenge head-on and made a competition out of it. I prepared a spreadsheet ahead of time that allowed us to quickly determine a winner (as determined by % off of best time in a 200 free, 200 IM, and 100s). Excellent challenge that got ‘em going!

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The Fight Against Ugly Fly

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

I like this fly set because it asks swimmers to go fast fly under general fatigue from the swims – we can fight “ugly fly” while avoiding doing any actual ugly fly. This workout is in SCM.

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The Guessing Game

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

We played the guessing game the other day at practice. One of my favorite conclusions to practice. On this particular day, had three athletes training long after others who were tapering were out. We did 5 x 100 before achieving the necessary 6 points for the group. One athlete guessed her time exactly to the tenth of a second. Original idea from Gregg Troy.

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Effective 7k Speed Practice

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Brad Herndon, Greensboro Community YMCA

Warm-Up (600):

600 – 75 Swim/25 Skull

Pre-Set (1200):

 8 x

1 x 75 flutter kick on back @ 1:15

1 x 50 Swim (IMO by rd)  @ :45

1 x 25 Dk or BR Kick @ :30

PULL SET (800):

 1 x 800 FR Pull with paddles, buoy, snorkel

Build ¾ c-up into sprint last 25 of each 100

Main Set (2100):

4 x (FINS)

8 x 25’s w/ Fins FAST @ :15 (Goal is to hold under 12 with great underwaters)

1 x 100 EZ @ 2:00

– Extra 1  x 100 without fins @ 2:00 (Prep for Sequel)

4 x (NO FINS)

6 x 25’s FAST @ :20 (Goal is to hold under 15 with good race habits)

1 x 50 EZ/Prep @ 1:00

Post Set (1500):

3x (SHORT FINS)

1 x 200 Fr w/ paddles @ 2:30

1 x 150 Skull or kick mix @ 2:30

1 x 100 Backstroke build turnover @ 1:30

1 x 50 All out anything @ 1:00

Kick-Drill-Sprint Set (700):

7 x 100’s @ 1:45

All are 1 x 50 burnout flutter with board, 25 focused drill, 25 all out sprint

Cool-Down (100):

100 EZ (minimum)