Distance Freestyle Ramp-Up Set

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

The basic concept here is to ramp up the challenge by adding a constant amount to the interval with each increasing 100 so that the average pace gets progressively harder. In this case, we added 1:00 each time so that all of the intervals ended in :20. Maybe for your swimmer the way to keep the set challenging but doable would be to add :55 or 1:05 or 1:15, but I like the symmetry of this set-up.

In this case, the lines are there to highlight the pattern. You could certainly insert brief breaks or recovery swims if needed.

The way the set is written, the swimmer does 5,600 yards in 63 minutes, an average of 1:07.5 for the interval.

SCY

A Full Week of Workouts with Coach Mathieu Leroy

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Mathieu Leroy, Belford Natation

We started our season the last week of august but unfortunately for us, our main pool has been closed for 8 weeks for some major building maintenance. Because of this my squad can only swim 4 times weekly + 3x1h land training sessions during this period.

So when the half term holidays are coming, I took the decision to not ask my swimmers to swim twice daily as we usually do during half-term: that’s why there are “only” 8 sessions.

The Golf and Sandwich Set

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCM

We started off with a little swimming golf (add your time and cycles, bring the total lower) just to check in with efficiency before we really got going. Blue 50s at 200 race pace with fast 75s sandwiched in the middle. We got an excellent effort on the 75s kick, and that sometimes caused the 50s at pace to be a little off. After the 3rd sandwich, the 4 x 75s kick at the bottom were a surprise (they were not written on the set originally) and a challenge. Opening up the interval a bit and challenging them to rise to the occasion worked like magic.

IM Set with Bridgewater College

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Gwynn Harrison, Bridgewater College

SCM

6 x 25 w/ MONOFIN – odds kick, hands at side….evens swim for form on 30

3 x 100 Fly – 75 Build to RED, 25 Free DPS on 1:40

200 IM @ RED on 3:10

6 x 25 Back – Odds kick with hand crossed in front/ Evens Extended breakouts on :30

2 x 200  – 150 Build to BLUE / 50 Free DPS on 3:10

1 x 300 IM (75 each stroke – build to FAST exchanges) on 4:45

6 x 25 w/ MONOFIN – Swim Breaststroke on :30

1 x 400 IM FAST, TIMED

100 Easy – Regroup

8 x 25 on :25 Free – Build into fast flip

2 x 100 w/ FINS + Paddles FAST on 2:00

300 Recovery – 75 Back (25DAB)75 free

Golf & Quality

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCY

Golf= add time (in seconds) + cycles (per 50). Bring this score down.
OTB = off the blocks, fast.
All choice, but do the Golf and OTB the same stroke for each part.
Context: we are less than 48 hours after our first SCY meet of the season, where we swam a very full order of events in short sessions. We had a medium-difficulty practice yesterday. We were on fire with this today.

I.M. Mystery Sandwich

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCM

This set is a spin on a classic IM set. We build up from 50 to 150 like we are getting ready for a 200 IM. Instead of a 200, the IM swim in the middle of the set is a mystery distance ranging between 100 and 1000m, to be announced just before it is swum.

We did 3 rounds as shown. The mystery distance ms we did were 300, 400, and 100m. The 100 was done FAST for time.

Descending and Dropping Intervals

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCM

This freestyle set presents the challenge of descending within a set and dropping the interval. The four different columns of intervals represent different lanes within our group (this practice is in a 25m pool). We used the red sets of 50s in between as a buffer to allow us to regroup for each subsequent set. JMI = Just Make It.

Disappearing 100s

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

SCY

Some days I write the entire practice out for our group to see before we begin. Other days, I like to give it to them step by step or in parts. I firmly believe there is an enormous mental difference between these two methods of presentation, and each has its pros and cons.

This set was presented to the swimmers in parts. The first part was written on the board with the instructions to hold a consistent pace at each step and that we would be doing a total of four rounds, erasing one line from the set with each subsequent round and possibly changing the instructions. (JMI = Just Make It)

Round went well, so we upped the ante significantly for round 2:

Part 2 was a significant increase in challenge, leaving them wondering/guessing what part 3 would bring. Well, here it is. Not what they might have expected, but they could pretty well guess what Part 4 would be once they saw Part 3. And they stepped up with some great swims! OTB = Off the blocks (dive). FPA = Fastest Possible Average

Context: We are at the beginning of our third week of training and thus far we have done very little high intensity work for any significant distance. The swimmers who performed the set on the intervals listed have best 100-yard free times ranging from :43.8 to :47.3. We had a few other athletes with slightly slower best times performing the same set on intervals that were :05 slower for Part 1 and Part 2.

We ended up with many lifetime-best practice times and a challenging practice with a motivated group.