Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Sometimes inserting some dryland into a regular swim set can really spice up the challenge.

Free Swimming Workouts, Sets, Ideas, and Dryland Exercises from Professional Coaches Around the World
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Sometimes inserting some dryland into a regular swim set can really spice up the challenge.
Ryan Sprang, Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club
SCY
Intervals were 1:25/1:25/1:35/1:15 by stroke for IMO. Non-IMO were free on 1:20. They had to dolphin kick out about 10 yards off each wall to get under lane noodles. IMO = Individual Medley Order
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCY
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
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
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.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
Fly-IM is Fly-Back-Br-Fly, which we did for the even swims on this set. The elevated interval on the evens includes the rest for each broken part of the swim.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM
We needed an all-purpose practice with a little bit of everything. This set was done in a 50m pool. (Olympic course).
3 rounds:
1 x 400 Free @ 5:20 Paddles & snorkel, steady pace but sprint 2 strokes into every turn
2 x 200 IM @ 3:10 Descend 1-2
3 x 100 No Free
Rd 1 – Descend 1-3 @ 2:00
Rd 2 – 50 fast/50ez @ 2:30
Rd 3 – FPA (Fastest Possible Average) @ 3:00
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.
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:
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.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set in SCM. FPA = Fastest Possible Average
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set the other day with a few of our 13-14 year-olds in SCY. It proved to be a motivating and challenging set.
In each 8:00 part, the goal was to do as many repeats of the given distance and stroke as possible. We recorded the total distance covered, which allowed us to calculate average pace and set goals for possible future sets.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
FRIM = FreeIM= Free/Back/Breast/Free
We did this in SCY.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. This IM set turned out to be a good challenging one for our group. The 150s IM were done with 50m of 2 strokes and 25m of the other two strokes, with the assignments rotating each rep. For example, #1 was 50 fly/50back/25 breast/25 free. We used 4 different intervals for our group in a 25m pool.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This set was done a day after a very intense quality set of 50s. The aim was to be a bit less intense while covering some distance, then hitting a leg-heavy backstroke set. SCY.
Coach Mike Cook, Mason Makos
Good IM day leading into IMX this weekend.
Green smooth 60%
Yellow hard 70-80
Blue fast 80-90
Red fast all out
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
Our pool has been a little fuller the last few days with college swimmers coming home to train. This means having to consider our space a little differently when creating workouts.
This one was a good one-size-fits-all for us today. Some speed, some endurance, a little racing, some equipment, and some underwater work.
They are “Christmas 25s” because 12 x 25. For the 2nd round, we pulled 1-gallon buckets, and if swimmers went fr or fly, they were to hold their breathe for last 8m. The fourth round we did the even ones fast from a dive (HVO)
All around a solid day.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Yep, that was the feedback I got on this one. They like that the fast IM parts got smaller through the rounds. I probably should have made the 50 free parts some specific technical work or made them shrink like the 75-50-25s.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
A fartlek is a continuous swim for time with vary speeds or instructions. I like to use them on lower-intensity days or as a pre-set for something fast. This version served as some good technique work for all four strokes.
Coach Mike Cook, Mason Makos
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
The instructions for the 3 x 50 are listed at right.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this IM set LCM. It got a little hairy/confusing in the second round when we went 200 to 50 instead of 50 to 200.
The 50s in between were best non-free (for non-IMers) or worst non-free (for IMers). The IMers were thus working on their weakness. Being able to go best stroke allowed the non-IMers to make the set a little more relevant for them.
Chris Brookover, MLY Phoenix, Greater Philadelphia YMCA
This set was really good, an actual “fail” set only 3 of the 9 A+ made it. (A+, A/B, C refer to different interval groups)
A+
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 3:00 – 100 BK / 100 BR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 2:45 – 25 FR / 75 BK / 75 BR / 25 FR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 2:35 – 50 FR / 50 BK / 50 BR / 50 FR
Rest :40
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 2:25 75 FR / 25 BK / 25 FR / 75 FR
A / B
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 3:15 – 100 BK / 100 BR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 3:00 – 25 FR / 75 BK / 75 BR / 25 FR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 2:50 – 50 FR / 50 BK / 50 BR / 50 FR
Rest :40
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
3 x 200 @ 2:40 75 FR / 25 BK / 25 FR / 75 FR
C
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
3 x 200 @ 3:30 – 100 BK / 100 BR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
4 x 200 @ 3:15 – 25 FR / 75 BK / 75 BR / 25 FR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
3 x 200 @ 3:10 – 50 FR / 50 BK / 50 BR / 50 FR
Rest :30
6 x 25 @ :40 – Fly – One Lane / One Direction
3 x 200 @ 3:00 75 FR / 25 BK / 25 FR / 75 FR
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
That’s an exact quote from one of our swimmers upon seeing this workout. They did a nice job with this one. SCY
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Elliot Ptasnik, Head Coach, University of Hawaii
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
David Laudati, Head Age Group Coach YMCA Westside Silver Fins Goodyear, AZ
Here is a great set that I did with my advanced 11-14yr olds the other night. Challenged all the swimmers. I let them choose a name and they came up with a good one.
Elliot Ptasnik, Head Coach, University of Hawaii
LOCO = Locomotive (pattern as described)
DKOB = Dolphin Kick On Back
NS = Negative Split