Tag: Anderson

IM Sprint Day

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Shawn Anderson, Swim Streamline at Northampton

The IM’s work on sprinting at Race Pace (RP) while the 50 Free drill forces us to focus on head and hand placement when tired.

TAO Drill (Tarzan, Alligator, Olympian) – This is a freestyle drill dividing the 25 yards (1 pool length) into thirds.

  • 1st – Third: Head is up looking straight ahead, hands entering the water at 11 and 1 o’clock
  • 2nd- Third: Head looking straight ahead, nose underwater, the eyes above water, hands entering the water at 11 and 1 o’clock
  • 3rd – Third: Head is down, hands entering the water at 11 and 1 o’clock

The set is done 3x times through, decreasing the 100s by 25 each and 10s off the interval each round. If you need more rest lengthen the 50-EZ interval as we want the swimmer performing the TAO drill when tired to force focus on head and hand placement/control.

Round 1
1×100 Fly RP @ 1:10/1:20/1:30
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

2×100 Back RP @ 1:10/1:20/1:30
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

3×100 Breast RP @ 1:10/1:20/1:30
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

4×100 Free RP @ 1:10/1:20/1:30
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

Round 2
(50 have more time to permit walk back to blocks)
1×75 Fly RP @ 1:00/1:10/1:20
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:10/1:20

2×75 Back RP @ 1:00/1:10/1:20
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:10/1:20

3×75 Breast RP @ 1:00/1:10/1:20
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:10/1:20

4×75 Free RP @ 1:00/1:10/1:20
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:10/1:20

Round 3
1×50 Fly RP @ 50/60/1:10
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

2×50 Back RP @ 50/60/1:10
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

3×50 Breast RP @ 50/60/1:10
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

4×50 Free RP @ 50/60/1:10
50-EZ (25xTAO Drill/25 Swim) @ 1:00/1:10

To make the set more challenging you can:

  • Flip the count on yardage by starting with 50 and work towards 100s
  • Flip the order of the quantity, start with 4×100 Fly and count to 1×100 Free
  • Add another set going down to 25’s


Note: 

This set can be done with age group kids by starting with 75’s and counting down to 25’s and adjusting the time to fit the group.