I Like 200s

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This is a total of thirty 200s.  That can be repetitive, but by mixing up the paces and expectations, a swimmer can get in a real groove on a set like this.  This set is from last winter.  We had a Sunday practice that almost nobody was able to get to due to bad weather.  The one swimmer who ended up doing this set had a phenomenal spring, dropping major time in his freestyle events from 100 to 1650.

SCY

The "Approaching 200" Challenge Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
 
The purpose of this set is to challenge swimmers by having them swim at paces and for distances that gradually approach 200 race pace.  When we did the set, we started with 175s all freestyle, and then progressed to the 180s and beyond done as athlete’s choice of stroke.  Swimmers were timed to a hand touch on the 175s, and then were timed to their head breaking the line. We used a cone on the side of the pool and multiple cones on the bottom of the pool to mark the required distance.  Our swimmers were very successful making the goal time (lifetime best time) all the way through the 190 yards and several were successful at the 195y distance.

Working on 400 IM Splitting with Greater Philadelphia Coach Matt Sprang

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Matt Sprang
Head Coach
Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club

SCY

We did the following set 2x through:

1 x 300 Free @ 3:45 white
4 x 100 IMO @ 1:35.  Fly pace plus 5, Back, Breast, Free pace plus 2.  All from a push.
1 x 100 cruise @ 1:45
4 x 50 IMO @ :50 (pace divided by 2)

Fly pace was defined as equal to the first 100 of the swimmer’s best 200 fly
Back, Breast and Free pace were defined as equal to the last 100 of the swimmer’s best 200.

It actually went pretty well.  Backstroke was a little off for everyone while breaststroke was a little faster for everyone.

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Pacing the 1500 Like a Pro

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I gave this set (in short course meters) to my distance swimmers recently.  The idea is predicated around Russell Mark’s observations on pacing the 1500 free at the elite level.  He has observed that the very best milers have tremendous front and back end speed but swim at a very consistent pace in the middle.  This set rehearses that concept.

We start off with a 50 pretty fast (near 200 pace) and then follow up with a 100 strong (2-3 seconds slower than 400 pace) and then repeat three consecutive 400s at the same exact speed.  Then repeat the 100 and the 50 to finish a total of 1500m.  Athletes take 20 seconds rest between each swim, meaning their total built-in rest is 2:00 (this makes it easy for determining their swimming time after the fact).  We did a little backstroke for recovery and repeated the broken 1500 twice, trying to descend these repetitions mostly by making our 400 times faster.

Finally, we finished with a straight 1500.  This was icing on an already tough set, but we saw some really good times and I was very pleased with the effort.
Total distance: 6,600m

Baltimore IMs

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We have had a similar set posted on this blog before.  The concept here is that swimmers should be able to perform the last 150 of a 200 IM race at practice.  It is a challenging goal, but one that our swimmers achieved approximately 60% of the time during the workout today. I added in the freestyle to include a little technique work and some active recovery.

11 Creative Ways to Spice Up Your Swim Practice

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

  1. Have swimmers do a number of cycles rather than a certain distance.  You can do this on a rest interval or on a regular interval. For example, instead of doing 6 x 100 free on 1:15, do 6 x 50 cycles freestyle on 1:15 or 10 seconds rest. 1 cycle  = 2 strokes of free or back, 1 cycle = 1 stroke of breast or fly.
  2. Do swims or kicking for distance rather than for time.  Instead of seeing how fast you can cover a certain distance, see how far you can go in a certain amount of time.  Example set: 6 x 3:00 swim for distance on 4:00.  Descend (increase distance) 1-3 and 4-6.
  3. Do swimming “fartleks”  Have swimmers swim for a set amount of time, and change their skill, stroke, drill or speed according to instruction each time you bang a wrench on the side of the pool.  This is good for getting aerobic swimming accomplished while sprinkling in technique work or speed work.  Especially good in a large group with lots of different speeds.
  4. Leave your stopwatch at home.  Time nothing for an entire day (or longer). This can free you up to focus on the quality of the movements your athletes are making and not worry about how fast they are going.
  5. Turn the pace clock off.  This can help your athletes focus on their movements without worrying about making an interval or going a certain time.  Put everything on an approximate rest interval.
  6. If you coach in a co-ed environment, separate the boys and girls into their own lanes and have them start at opposite ends of the pool.  Watch how not having the genders interact for an entire workout changes the social dynamics of your practice.
  7. Take the lane lines out. Do a pool open water (POW) practice.
  8. Have your swimmers write the workout.  A few days ahead of time, split them into groups and ask them to come up with the sets. Give them total time, distance, intensity, or whatever instructions (or lack thereof) that you want.  This will tell you a lot about the kind of swimmers you have.
  9. Start everything from the middle of the pool. This will add more turns to your workout and cut down a bit on excessive socializing while hanging on the wall.
  10. “Jungle Workout.” Start a set. Part of the way through, give one swimmer the details for the next set (which needs to start ASAP). Repeat again partway through that set and keep repeating.  Keep them on their toes.  Once you are done giving them sets, they have to go back and do whatever remains from each uncompleted set.  This practice will be chaotic but fun, as long as you have attentive swimmers.
  11. Write three different practices… Give them fun names.  Let your athletes choose which workout they want to perform (on an individual basis).

 

Challenging Set from Coach Jack Roney

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Jack Roney
Head Age Group Coach
Raleigh Swimming Association

300s/200s/100s are aerobic based recovery (another group did same swims but at +:05sec for interval per 100)

25s/50s were as fast as they could holding pattern following breathing pattern – some just had to make it – others pushed it HARD. 75s were just fast for breakouts – they did amazing on it.

200/150/100 were from push – I gave option for a few of them to work either Fly or IM. Finished with solid swims!

Completed the set in 55 minutes.

2×300 Free Pull Buoy Only on 4:00 (BIG STROKES)
10×25 Free w/fins (1 Breath Per 25) on :20 (HOLD STRONGEST PACE POSSIBLE)
-:30 sec break-
200 For Time 
3×200 Free Pull Buoy Only on 2:30 
10×50 Free w/fins on :40 – 1 Down / 2 Back breaths by 25 (STRONGEST POSSIBLE PACE)
-:30 sec break-
150 For Time

6×100 Free on 1:10 
10×75 Free w/fins on 1:00– 4 HUGE/FAST Dolphin à 3 BLAST strokes to start each 25
-:30 sec break-

100 For Time

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21 Club

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Brian Ruffles
Head Coach & Aquatics Director
Coe College Swimming and Diving

Three Rounds of:
7 x 100 @1:10/1:05/1:00
7 x 50 @:30/:35/:40

In each round the 100s interval decrease by :05 and the 50s increase by :05.  The 50s starting interval should be challenging while the 100s are more manageable.  You can customize it in many ways.  I have done the 100s free with the 50s specially, the 100s specialty with the 50s kick, or really whatever fits the group with the time of year.  I would make sure that the last round of 100s is not the interval that is too fast for them to make as the first two rounds will take a lot out of them.  If they make the set they join the prestigious 21 club!