Free Swimming Workouts, Sets, Ideas, and Dryland Exercises from Professional Coaches Around the World
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
25 OTB Fast = off the blocks, line up the first turn correctly
50 GOLF = count cycles, get time and add the two together. Aim for a low score.
75 = low cycle count on first and last 25, kick with good body position on middle 25
100 = first 50 at 200 pace, 2nd 50 EZ or drill
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
A few coaching-related reflections at the end of the year that I thought might be helpful to share.
Wishing you success and well-being in 2024!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We finished out the year with a little partner work and some broken and not broken (straight) 200s off the blocks. We had some excellent results. Excited about what we can do in 2024!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
Progress through the sets 1 through 6 in order with the extra :30 rest after each set. The interval pattern in this set is suitable for an athlete with a threshold pace around 1:00.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set in a 25m pool. Swimmers on this interval had best times range from 1:51-2:00 in the 200 yard IM. They got 3-5 seconds rest on the 150s and were getting :50-1:00 rest on the 200 IM in each round.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set in a 25m pool with an eye toward our 200 free best times in SCY.
The goal on all the 150s (in meters!) is to be faster than our best SCY 200 free times. That was not a major challenge on the 1 x 150 and 2 x 150, but it becomes a significant challenge by the time you get to 4 x 150 and 5 x 150.
We did three different intervals, with swimmers’ best time indicated at the top. Swimmers with best times under 1:45 went on 2:00. Swimmers with best times between 1:45 and 2:00 went on 2:10, and swimmers with bests slower than 2:00 went on 2:20.
In between, we did 3 x 100 the same way each time – #1 holding a tennis ball in each hand, #2 doing “Paddlehead” drill, and #3 using paddles, holding them against our forearms.
At the end of the set, we did an easy 100 and finished with a SURPRISE challenge – a fast 175m freestyle swim with fins and paddles with a goal of beating our best 200 yard times.
Overall, the set was highly successful. Most of our swimmers were making the 150s under their best, and a handful made the 175 goal. High levels of effort were pretty common across the group.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
We had a very full pool for this workout , with many of our collegiate swimmers home for the holidays. This set allowed us to get in some work that works for everyone. Intervals were spacious and allowed for some solid descending work. Saw some good speed on the final 100 off the block.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
I liked this set that combined some resisted sprints followed immediately by some speed-controlled low cycle count work.
On the 3rd 25 with the bucket (1-gallon bucket on a rope tied to a waist belt), the swimmers got only enough rest to take off the bucket before starting the 50s.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
Did this one for a set that allowed swimmers of varying abilities flexibility to choose their level of difficulty. Kept everyone on the same interval. This works best with three or fewer swimmers in a lane.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
For this set, we divided the group into swimmers with more of a distance focus and other who are more sprint/stroke-focused. The set provided a good challenge and kept things simple with a consistent interval.
Coach Gwynn Harrison, Bridgewater College
25m pool
4 x 500 (broken into)
75 Fly…..25 Back (on 1:45)
75 Back…25 Breast (on 1:45)
75 Breast…25 Free (on 1:50)
***Work good turns, fast exchanges. The 75s are controlled, the 25s are FAST.
75 FAST Free on 1:15
50 FAST Free on 1:00 (Goal: under your 200 IM free split goal)
25 Sprint to FAST finish
50 Easy – Regroup, about :30 extra between sets
Coach Ila Nathanson, Arlington Muskies Swim Team, Arlington Heights, IL
Coach Gwynn Harrison, Bridgewater College
We did this set in a 25m pool, so note send-offs and goals.
5 x 500 (broken into):
175 – within 10 seconds of goal 200 time in yards…
25 Easy
75 – 3+ seconds under goal 100 time in yards…
25 Easy
Dive 100 – Goal: take out of your 500 free…
50 Easy REGROUP – about 1:00 between sets
Be sure to check out Coach Harrison’s Short But High Intensity Free Set that we posted yesterday.
Coach Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
You may have heard about the Golden Race that debuted at the World Cup meet in Budapest recently. The race pitted the winners of the individual 100s against each other in a time-handicapped prize race. It’s an interesting twist on racing that we modified a bit to use at practice.
We were 2 days post-meet, so we have some recent fresh meet results.
We put 1 swimmer up on each block for a choice 100. Coach starts counting backwards with a stopwatch… 1:20…1:19…1:18…1:17 and so on. Each swimmer dives off the block for the 100 when they hear the time that they swam at the meet this past weekend. The winner is the one who finishes the 100 first. Essentially, the 100 is handicapped to their recent race results.
Swimmers enjoyed it and swam faster than expected. They could choose their stroke for each 100, and swimmers formed themselves into heats irrespective of speed.
The stopwatch that I started with the countdown can also be used to time the swimmers. Since I started counting down at 1:20, if the stopwatch reads 1:27.2 when the swimmer touches, then he swam approximately 7.2 slower than his meet time. This information allows swimmers to be racing the clock AND each other.
Next time I might try assigning swimmers to teams and awarding points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
Coach Gwynn Harrison, Bridgewater College
We did this set in a 25m pool, so note send offs and goals.
6 x 250 (broken into):
75 – on 1:15 4 dolphin kicks off first wall, 6 on 2nd, 8 on 3rd
75 on :55 – Make the Interval
75 – Push (male goal under 45 – most went 46-48) (female goal – under 52, most went 54-55)
25 – Easy, REGROUP, about :45 between sets
*this was coach send to restart, they got about :45 rest in between rounds.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
We started practice this way to bring more focus to our walls.
Blake Proffitt, SwimRVA
SCY
2x
2×25 fast Fly A-20 B-20/25 C-25
1×50 BK A/B/C-50
3×25
1×50
4×25
1×50
3×25
1×50
2×25
1:00R
Focus on the fly was holding the same distance and speed underwater and staying within a 1 cycle range on top of the water
They did a short recovery and went to the blocks for:
8x
100 FL on 1:30 with fins focusing on coordination at lower tempo
Fins came off
Hopped on the blocks and went a broken 50 25FR/25FL with :10R at the 25 on 1:30
Brayden Rigby, Cache Valley Marlins (Utah)
I thought I’d share my favorite freestyle sprint set. We usually do the 200’s in groups to allow swimmers a bit more rest. Short course yards, 1800 yards total.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY. JMI = just make it (easy). Swimmers can choose their kick, but it must be consistent on all the even 100s.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
One of the most difficult technical changes to make in swimming is getting rid of a habit of crossing over behind the head during backstroke hand entry. This set is a progression that we used to rectify that problem using overcorrection.
Credit to Andrew Sheaff for inspiring this post with a recent post of his own. I highly recommend you check him out www.coachandrewsheaff.com
Imagine the hand entry positions as times on a clock face:
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This is what our group did this morning.
SCY
FPA = fastest possible average
OTB = off the blocks
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM. Here is the practice that we did last year on the 4th. 7 x 400 (for 7/4) and 50 x 50 to celebrate the 50 states. The last ten 50s are all fast.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
3:00 kick is just steady pace, choice of kick. All 25s are maximum CONSISTENT underwater kicks.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
We have done some IM sets like this before, but this one worked well. The fly up front was just enough to establish some fatigue to make the 175s a challenge. Beating 200 IM best time on the 3rd and 6th 175 was a doable but not easy objective.
Sebastian Sieburger, SC Schaffhausen
LCM
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
Instructions on the 400s were to keep it steady and make the interval by :10+. Intervals for 200s are a bit faster with instructions to push the pace. 25s are to maintain an underwater focus under fatigue. A,B,C intervals for 400s and 200s. For the 25s, A group does 8, B group does 6, C group does 4, allowing us to stay pretty close together on the set.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
The Swimming Wizard 