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!

Sprint Set for Body Position, Explosive Power, and Fast Turns

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did this set with traffic cones at the bottom of the pool approximately 10m from each wall. This means that the swimmers performed a very short powerful 5m sprint (“go from zero to 100 mph!) in the middle of the pool during each lap of the 75s.
The “Max 3, Max 2” etc. refers to the number of breaths permitted on each 25.

Speed Squats Hybrid Set for Breaststroke Leg Speed

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

One thing we have been trying to emphasize with our breaststroke swimmers is heel speed during the kick.  I like “speed squats” as a dryland exercise to help develop this ability.  A speed squat is essentially a regular squat done so quickly that the athlete almost pulls himself down with his hamstrings.  We combined this exercise into the following breaststroke set that also emphasized hitting the walls on a full stroke.