Tag: IM

A Set from Down Under

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Clare Labowitch, Darwin Swimming Club
Northern Territory, Australia
I am an unashamed magpie when it comes to collecting swim sets and often mix and match different components. My squad is an age group one.
We are in an endurance phase at the moment the what follows is the first of two Wednesday morning aerobic endurance sets which the swimmers handled particularly well.
Warm Up 10 sec RI
400 free; 300 Claytons IM (25 fly 50 free, 25 back 50 free etc); 200 backstroke; 4 x 50 main stroke – stroke count D1-4 on 60
Main – Quality Endurance
2 x [ 4 x 200 free on 2:45 + 10 x 50 form on short rest cycle] as
                200 free + 1 x 50 form
                200 free + 2 x 50 form
                200 free + 3 x 50 form
                200 free + 4 x 50 form 
What I appreciated about the main was that the swimmers set their own cycle for the 50s and all of them challenged themselves
Fins
20 x 50 as 1-3 technique 4 pace

The Towson Tune-up

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Jeb Beaver, Assistant Coach
Monocacy Aquatic Club/ Towson University

Let me start off by saying that I really enjoy the website!

SCM
500 Twitch (25 free/25 non-free)
10 x 100 (50 Kick/50 Drill) 2:00  
Hypoxia:  10 x 50 Fins (25 underwater Fly (10secs rest at wall), 25 sprint Free no breath) 1:20
Easy 100
4 x 50   (backstroke 15 meters, flip into boat skull to the wall) 10 sec rest per 50.
Main Set
100’s Breaststroke
150’s 25 free, 50 fly, 25 bk, 25 br, 25 free (rotate per round) (2nd round 50 bk)
200 Free
Bold = SPRINT!

100
100
100
100
100
150
150
150
150
150
200
200
200
200
200

4 x 50   (backstroke 15 meters, flip into boat skull to the wall) 10 sec rest per 50.

Triple Crown Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

This set comes from Coach Sean Quinn, former head coach of the North Carolina Aquatic Club. He had his swimmers perform it once a season:

3x through (all swims fast for time):
1,000 free @ ~16:00
500 free @ ~10:00
400 IM @ ~10:00

Record all times. Fastest total time wins the “Triple Crown!”

IM Overload Loop

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Eric Talsma, Hamilton (MI) Swimming

Another set we like for a good IM practice SCY:
IM Overload Set:
4 x (16 x 50 on :50/:60/1:10)
 Odd 50’s are Overload Stroke
 Even 50’s are Broken 400 IM
So first time through looks like this
1-Fly
2-Fly
3-Fly
4-Fly
5-Fly
6-Back
7-Fly
8-Back
9-Fly
10-Breast
11-Fly
12-Breast
13-Fly
14-Free
15-Fly
16-Free
Second time replace Fly on the odds with Back, third time they’ll be Breast and fourth they’ll be Free. I got this set from someone but I can’t remember who for the life of me. We’ve been using it for quite a while.

FOWLI Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Eric Talsma, Hamilton (MI) Swimming

This is a fun set that we do. Or we use it as part of a larger set. Great for getting the kids to push each other and make each other suffer a bit.

We call it simply FOWLI which stands for First Out When Last In. No time interval, they just leave based on how fast those around them are swimming. We usually do it as 25’s but you can do it for any length repeat.

Generally set up with between 3 and 6 swimmers per lane. The fewer the swimmers the tougher the set.

When the last swimmer touches the wall, the first swimmer leaves. We want them to be leaving at about :02 intervals so they are really pretty close to each other. We encourage them to pass if they can but they must hang on to the feet of the person in
front of them.

Each swimmer leads between 1 and 4 repeats. The fewer repeats before rotating the lead the tougher the set. After the leader is done they go to the back of the lane, giving them between 6 and 12 seconds extra rest, everyone else moves up one spot shorting them on :02 or so of rest.

Some variations that we like: w/ zoomers or fins, pulling, stroke, IM order rotating lead every 4, as a lead in to a set, in the middle of a set, at the end of a set, etc. We like to mix it in to a workout once a week or so. We encourage them to push each other and steal their lane-mates rest.

Hope you like it. Let me know if you have any questions.

I’ll try to get you some others that we like to do. I really appreciate the site. It has spurred some good conversations and some good thinking on workout ideas.

Yet Another Shreveport Set…

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Dustin Myers, City of Shreveport Swim Team

LCM
 
3 rounds:
1 x 200  IM;  25 kick, 25 drill
4 x 100  fast;  round #1 = 50 fly 50 back, round #2 = 50 back 50 breast, round # 3 = 50 breast 50 free
 
2-3 min rest
 
3 rounds:
1 x 200  IM;  25 kick, 25 drill
1 x 200  worst stroke; 50 drill, 50 strong effort
1 x 200  IM;  all out from push
 
2-3 min rest
 
3 rounds:
1 x 200  IM;  25 kick, 25 drill
1 x 200  IM;  designated drills at aerobic pace
4 x 50  IM order; all out for an added up time better than your best time
 
 
 
The first 200 IM k/d of each round/set is meant for recovery.  On the second set I had kids coming within 9 seconds of their best 200 IM times (from a push too!).  On the third set I had kids who's add up 200 times were 2-4 seconds faster than their goal time for that season. 
 
When giving the practice only tell your swimmers one set at a time, that way they'll focus on each set individually.  So the 2-3 rest between sets is actually when you are explaining the next part.  At the end of the practice my kids admitted that if I had given them the entire set at the beginning they would have been a lot more cautious at the beginning.

How Tough Are You?

Posted on by rdwoodruff

The following set originally appeared on Swimming World’s workout page. Give it a try for a solid IM workout.

LCM
800m swim free @ 10:40
2x400m IM all out @ 6:10
600m swim fly/free, by 100 @ 8:30
2x400m IM all out @ 6:00
400m swim free/back by 50 @ 6:00
2x400m IM all out @ 5:50
200m swim breast @ 3:20
2x400m IM all out @ 5:40

Total: 5200m, 77 minutes

Heavy 50s

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Louis C. Cavadini

SCY
Here is a little set we did that was fun and hard

24×50 (1-12 w/fins @1:15, 13-24 wo/fins @1:30)
-25 IM rotation
-25 sprint free
Place 25lb weight room plate on the bottom of the deep end (starting end). Swim 25 IM rotation, sprint back freestyle and at the flags(deep end) dive down and pull the weight back up to the surface. We used 10lb plates for the smaller swimmers.

After that set, we did a little experimenting:
8×25 @1:00 w/fins
-kick underwater with weights (use 10lbs). They kids said it worked
best if you held the weight out like a steering wheel.

One to Write Home About

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

90 x 100 SCY

5 warmup @ 1:20

1 free @ 1:10
1 ez @ 1:20
2 free @ 1:10
1 ez @ 1:20
3 free @ 1:10
1 ez @ 1:20
4 free @ 1:10
1 ez @ 1:20
5 free @ 1:10
1 ez @ 1:20

1 free @ 1:05
1 ez @ 1:20
2 free @ 1:05
1 ez @ 1:20
3 free @ 1:05
1 ez @ 1:20
4 free @ 1:05
1 ez @ 1:20
5 free @ 1:05
1 ez @ 1:20

1 IM @ 1:20
1 ez @ 1:20
2 IM @ 1:20
1 ez @ 1:20
3 IM @ 1:20
1 ez @ 1:20
4 IM @ 1:20
1 ez @ 1:20
5 IM @ 1:20
1 ez @ 1:20

1 IM @ 1:15
1 ez @ 1:20
2 IM @ 1:15
1 ez @ 1:20
3 IM @ 1:15
1 ez @ 1:20
4 IM @ 1:15
1 ez @ 1:20
5 IM @ 1:15
1 ez @ 1:20

5 fastest possible average free @ 2:00

9,000 yards — 1 hour, 55 minutes, 50 seconds

Get out of the Box

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Gary Galbreath, Dayton Raiders

So many kids train in the comfort zone! This set is to get them out of that box, to feel uncomfortable. That uneasy feeling they all feel at the end of a race.
 
Short Course meters
 
4 x 200 Free     2:25   
4 x 50 (25Fly/25Back)      40     
4 x 150 Free     1:50
4 x 100 (50 Back/50 Breast)   1:30
4 x 100 Free     1:10
4 x 150 (75 Breast/75 Free)   2:10
4 x 50 Free        35
4 x 200 (100 Free/100 IM)   2:35 

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Finish the Freakin Race

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Gary Galbreath, Dayton Raiders

This set was done SC meters
400 IMer's and Distance free
Get the time on the fast swims. Be faster the second time around. The goal is to hold speed throughout the fast swims(ie: 1:05=100, 2:10=200, 3:15=300, 4:20=400), cycles are fastest enough that the can't back off the IM.
2 x
400 IM or Back @ 5:45
400 (300 IM  :15 rest + 100 Free Fast) @ 5:35
400 (200 IM  :15 rest + 200 Free Fast) @ 5:25
400 (100 IM  :15 rest + 300 Free Fast) @ 5:15
400 Free Fast @ 5:05

Luke and Mariel Liked this I.M. Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

This set is a follow-up to the I.M. Transition Set from last week. Its purpose is also to work on transitions, though it does not depend on the rest from that set’s broken swims.

6 x 100 50 fly/50 back
3 @ 1:20
2 @ 1:25
1 @ 1:30

3 x 200 IM descend @ 2:40

6 x 100 50 back/50 breast
3 @ 1:25
2 @ 1:30
1 @ 1:35

2 x 300 IM descend @ 4:00

6 x 100 50 breast/50 free
3 @ 1:25
2 @ 1:30
1 @ 1:35

1 x 600 IM all out for time

Put a strong emphasis on the final 10 yards of each stroke and the first 10 yards of the next stroke.

Breaking Down the IM

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA


This IM set should be quite challenging. It can help develop a sense of pace for the 400 IM as well as improve fitness and stamina.

1 x 100 fly at P400IM @ :10 rest
1 x 300 back/breast/free by 100, 50 drill/50 swim @ :20 rest
1 x 400 IM @ :30 rest
1 x 100 back at P400IM @ :10 rest
1 x 200 breast/free by 100, 50 drill/50 swim @ :20 rest
1 x 400 IM @ :30 rest
1 x 100 breast at P400IM @ :10 rest
1 x 100 free easy @ :20 rest
1 z 400 IM @ :30 rest
1 x 100 free at P400IM @ :10 rest
1 x 400 IM @ :30 rest

Descend the 400 IMs to all out on the last one. The 300, 200, and 100 following the P400IM are intended to be active recovery. Give them some bonus rest before the last one if you want to see them really go for it.

Wednesday’s Masters Swim Workout

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

WARMUP
400 FREE SMOOTH SWIM
4 X 100 IM DRILL OR SWIM @ :10 REST
4 X 50 KICK WITH A BOARD DESCEND 1-4

600 PULL BREATHING 3/5 BY 100, DESCEND YOUR 200s

9 X 200 @ 3:30 WORKING ON COMING-HOME-SPEED FOR FREESTYLE
#1 & #7 – 175 SMOOTH@ :10 REST, 1 X 25 SPRINT
#2 & #6 – 150 SMOOTH @ :10 REST, 1 X 50 SPRINT
#3 & #5 – 125 SMOOTH @ :10 REST, 1 X 75 SPRINT
#4 – 100 SMOOTH @ :10 REST, 1 X 100 SPRINT @ 1:15
# 8 – ALL SMOOTH
#9 – FAST FOR TIME

12 x 50 @ 1:00 ANYTHING BUT FREE SPRINT 1 CYCLE ON #1 ( 2 CYCLES ON #2, UP TO 6 ON #6) OFF BOTH WALLS GET YOUR HEART RATE UP BRIEFLY HERE TO ENHANCE THE RECOVERY EFFECT

200 EZ SWIM DOWN

4200 YARDS

9 Ways to Train I.M.

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff

We all know that I.M. is a great way to put some variety into your training. Here are some ways to put a little variety into your variety.

#1 – Reverse I.M. A commonly used version, simply swim the strokes in reverse order.
#2 – Free I.M. Good for masters swimmers who are fly-reluctant or for any time that you want to get good back, breast, and free training without the butterfly. Simply substitute freestyle in for the butterfly portions of the I.M.
#3 – Inside-out I.M. Swim the strokes in the order Back-Fly-Free-Breast
#4 – Fat I.M. – Do these for lengths that are 25% longer than your standard I.M.-125s, 250s, 500s, etc. Double up on one of the strokes (this is the Fat stroke). A 250 Fat I.M. (Back) would thus be 50 Fly/100 back/50 breast/50 free.
#5 – Lemon I.M.
#6 – Emily I.M.- For swimmers with knee injuries/pain or whose breaststroke is not a focus of your efforts for improvement. Swim backstroke double the normal distance and leave out breaststroke altogether. Yes, this is named after a swimmer.
#7 – Baltimore I.M.s
#8 – Skinny I.M. This is the opposite of Fat I.M.s Swim distances like 175s, 350s, etc. Cut the distance of one stroke in half.
#9 – Gator I.M. Alternate stroke and free. A 300 Gator I.M. would be 50 fly/50 free/50 back/50 free/50 breast/50 free.

Do you have any other interesting or creative ways of training I.M.?

I.M. Sandwich

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

SCY A pretty straight-forward I.M. workout. With all of the fun and interesting sprint sets, there are some things you still have to do.

1 x 800 IM @ 11:20 (1:25 base)
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
2 x 400 IM descend @ 5:40
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
8 x 100 IM descend 1-4 @ 1:25
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
2 x 400 IM descend, faster than previous ones @ 5:40
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
1 x 800 IM Fast @ 11:20
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30

5,000 yards, 1 hour, 10 minutes

Uno Uno Ocho

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Warm-up 100-200-300-400 – 1/4 of each distance kick, 1/2 of each distance drill, 1/4 of each distance swim

3x (including the 400)

200 Fly @ 2:50 (1:25)
150 Back @ 2:10 (1:26)
100 Breast @ 1:25
50 Sprint free @ 1:00
100 Breast @ 1:20
150 Back @ 2:05 (1:23)
200 Fly hold count and build entire 200 @ :10 rest

400 free pull – paddles, buoy, snorkel

Kick set – 4 x through, all @ :25 per 25
25 fast kick
75 ez kick-dominant drill
50 fast kick
50 ez kick-dominant drill
75 fast kick
25 ez kick-dominant drill

Loosen down 500 breast descend cycles by 25 1-4 x 5

I.M. Hurtin’

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

This set will bring the pain. Can you take it?

Part 1 @ 6:00
2 X 50 FLY AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 2 @ 5:50
100 FLY @ :10 REST
2 X 50 BACK AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 3 @ 5:40
100 FLY @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
2 X 50 BREAST AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 4 @ 5:30
100 FLY @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
2 X 50 FREE AT P400IM @ :10 REST

The I.M. Bruise & Cruise

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

The repeat 400 IMs are the bruise – they’ll put the fatigue in you. The 100s descend to P400IM are the cruise – go fast! Look back at your lifetime best 400IM to get your splits before you start.

1 x 400 IM @ best time + 1:20
3 x 100 Fly descend to P400IM @ 2:00
2 x 400 IM @ best time +1:10
3 x 100 Back descend to P400IM @ 2:00
3 x 400 IM @ best time +1:00
3 x 100 Breast descend to P400IM @ 2:00
3 x 400 IM @ best time +:50
3 x 100 Free descend to P400IM @ 2:00

The Armada I.M. Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Rick Shipherd, La Mirada Armada

The following set is from Coach Shipherd’s presentation at the 2009 ASCA World Clinic. He described it as one of the favorite challenging test sets that his team does.

4x through:

1 x 400 I.M. broken, :20 rest at each 100 (subtract 1:00 to get your time

1 x 300 done as 25 free active recovery@:25/50 fast stroke IM order (subtract 1:40 to figure your time for this broken 200 I.M.)

1 x 100 I.M. fast from a dive

G. I. D.

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Warm up:600 100 swim/100drill/100 kick/100 swim/100 drill/100 scull

800 free pull B3 9:20/10:10
2 x 400 free pull B3 4:40/5:10
4 x 200 free swim 25 strong/25 perfect technique 2:20/2:35

600 IM 50 swim/50 drill/50 swim 8:00/8:40
2 x 300 IM descend 4:00/4:10
4 x 150 IM, leave out one stroke in IM order 2:05/2:15

400 prime, 50 drill/100 swim/50 ez free @ :10 rest
2 x 200 prime swim, race pattern @ :10 rest
4 x 100 descend by improving turns & underwaters @ :10 rest

Warm down

Lemon I.M.s

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Here’s a fun way to do some IM swims. I call them “Lemon I.M.s” because you are squeezing the strokes together.

For instance, a 200 IM could look like this:
175 fly, 8 back, 8 breast, 8 freestyle (for simplicity’s sake, we’ll equate 8 yards to 1/3 of a pool length). The swimmer simply changes strokes rapidly mid-pool.

Or a 200 IM could look like this:
8 fly, 8 back, 8 breast, 175 freestyle.

You get the idea… “Squeeze” two or three strokes together into a 25 or a 50, and leave one stroke out to swim the majority of the distance. It provides some variety for the swimmers, and those mid-pool transitions are really something to watch!

I.M. What?

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Warmup
600 RIM 50 kick/drill/swim (RIM = Reverse I.M.)

100 IM @ 1:30
200 RIM @ 3:00
300 IM @ 4:30
200 RIM @ 3:00
100 IM @ 1:30
200 Breast, max speed holding race cycle count
100 ez freestyle @ :30 rest

100 IM @ 1:25
200 RIM @ 2:50
300 IM @ 4:15
200 RIM @ 2:50
100 IM @ 1:25
300 Breast, max speed holding race cycle count minus 1
100 ez freestyle @ :30 rest

100 IM @ 1:20
200 RIM @ 2:40
300 IM @ 4:00
200 RIM @ 2:40
100 IM @ 1:20
400 Breast, max speed holding race cycle count minus 2
100 ez freestyle @ :30 rest

Friday the 13th I.M. Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Focusing on good IM efforts interspersed with aggressive freestyle swims. Everything in the main set is descend, then working specific underwater skills in the second set.

3 x 200 IM descend @ 2:30
4 x 75 free descend @:55
3 x 200 IM descend @ 2:35
3 x 75 free descend @ :50
3 x 200 IM descend @ 2:40
2 x 75 free descend @ :45
3 x 200 IM descend @ 2:45
1 x 75 free @:40 MAKE IT!

500 Free pull B 3-5-7-5-3

1 x 100 fly @ 1:10
1 x 25 all out backstroke, UW kick to 15m @ 1:00
1 x 100 back @ 1:10
1 x 25 all out breaststroke w/ double pullout @ 1:00
1 x 100 breast @ 1:20
1 x 25 all out freestyle, UW kick to 15m @ 1:00

Twenty Ways to Do 20 x 25 #7

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

#7 – Individual Medley Speed

20 x 25

#1-4 Descend butterfly @:30,:25,:20,:15
#5 Max speed backstroke @ :30
#6-9 Descend backstroke @:30,:25,:20,:15
#10 Max speed breaststroke @:30
#11-14 Descend breaststroke @:35,:30,:25,:20
#15 Max speed freestyle @:30
#16-19 Descend freestyle @:30,:25,:20,:15
#20 Max speed butterfly NO BREATH & RACE!!!

Try repeating this set with fins on and drop the intervals by 5 seconds. Yes, that means you have a 25 fly, back and free @:10. Do it!

I.M. Set #1,364,821

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

100 IM
3 x 150 Prime stroke descend to fast
100 IM
2 x 150 Prime stroke descend to fast
100 IM
1 x 150 Prime stroke descend to fast
200 IM
3 x 100 Prime stroke descend to fast
200 IM
2 x 100 Prime stroke descend to fast
200 IM
1 x 100 Prime stroke descend to fast
300 IM
3 x 50 Prime stroke descend to fast
300 IM
2 x 50 Prime stroke descend to fast
300 IM
1 x 50 Prime stroke descend to fast