Free Swimming Workouts, Sets, Ideas, and Dryland Exercises from Professional Coaches Around the World
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This workout involved two stations – one working underwater kicks and one doing an IM set. We did each station 3 times — the cord set was the same each time, and the IM set progressed through the three versions listed. The 3rd round was essentially a broken 400 IM.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
On the 175s, the goal is to beat your best 200 time (should get them at least :20 rest on those).
This turned out to be a good set for us, though we ended up needing to make some modifications at the end due to time constraints.
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Max Cristofori, Head Age Group Coach, Swim Atlanta – Midway
10&U Set for [BB-AAAA 10&U’s]
WARM UP AND ENGAGEMENT
1 X 75 2:30
[25 DOLPHIN DIVES, 25 SCULL, 25 BK/FR COMBO DRILL]
1 X 25 FL SPRINT 1:00
[OTB AND FINISH TO THE FEET]
1 X 75 2:30
[25 ROTISSERIE DOLPHIN KICK, 25 SL JUMP, 25 BR/FL COMBO DRILL]
1 X 25 BK SPRINT 1:00
[GUTTER START + FINISH TO THE FEET]
KICK SET – TITANIC KICK SET
1 X 100 BK K IN SL 2:15
[SHIP IS IN ORDER AND ON A LONG JOURNEY]
2 X 50 BK K IN L POS 1:15
[1 ARM UP IN THE ARM, OTHER BY THEIR HEAD, SHIP IS RUNNING INTO SOME CHOPPY WATER – URGENCY IS NEEDED IN KICKING]
4 X 25 BK K IN SAILBOAT :50
[BOTH ARMS IN STREAMLINE IN THE AIR, SHIP IS SINKING, KICK AS HARD AS POSSIBLE]
2:00 PUT ON FINS – THE SHIP HAS SUNK
4 X 25 FL K W SNORK IN SL :35
[ON THE LIFEBOATS]
2 X 50 FL K ON RHL/LHL 1:05
[LOOKING FOR HELP IN BOTH DIRECTIONS]
1 X 100 FL K ON BK 2:00
[HELICOPTER SAVES THE DAY]
DRILL SET AND TEACHING POINTS
[TEACHING TO GET THE PINKY THROUGH THE WATER]
4 X 25 LONG ARM BK DRILL :45
4 X 25 SAR/SAL BK :45
4 X 25 3R3L BK :45
4 X 25 6K SWITCH BK :40
[PINKY CHOP!]
1:00 REST EXPLAIN FLY DRILLS
[TEACHING THE TIMING OF THE KICK WITH THE ARMS]
4 X 25 HL BD BEO FLY K :45
[HEAD LEAD, BODY DOLPHIN, BREATHE EVERY OTHER, 1-2-3-BREATHE ON THE UP KICK]
4 X 25 POS 11 FLY K :45
[ARMS IN AN 11 POSITION]
4 X 25 RA/LA FLY :45
[RIGHT ARM / LEFT ARM]
4 X 25 333 FLY :40
SWIM SET AND PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
2X
6 X 25 FLY/FR :35
[2+4+5 -> FR, 4 UW BDS THEN 5 CYCLES FLY INTO FREE, THINK OF THE TIMING OF THE KICK FOR THE 5 CYCLES OF FLY – PERFECT!]
2 X 75 BK 1:30
[50 STEADY KICK, THEN FOCUSING ON KICKING HARD IN THE LAST 25]
3 X 50 FR/FLY 1:10
[25/25 – 2ND 25 FLY TRYING TO WATCH KICKING MOTIONS AND HEAD POSITION]
1 X 150 BK 3:00
[NAIL EVERY FLIP TURN, 3-4 BD OFF EACH WALL!]
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We generally don’t do “recovery workouts.” Not because I don’t believe they have benefit, but rather because rarely do I have an entire group on the same page where that is what they all need at the same time.
Today was one of those rare times. Most of the group has just come off their high school state championships. We spent time at the beginning of practice going back over what we learned, how we swam, and what we can do better next time.
Here was the main block of the workout:
3 x 10:00 fartlek @11:00
#1 – 10 cycles kick against the wall at every wall then great underwaters on the push off
#2 – 25 drill/25 build done as 50 free/50 no free
#3 – all choice, sprint 1 cycle on first lap, 2 cycles on 2nd lap up to 4 cycles on fourth lap, continue that pattern.
3 x 500 kick @ coach’s go
25 fast -25 ez
50 fast- 50 ez
75 fast-75 ez
100 fast-100 ez
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. These two sets were a pre-amble to our main set.
FrIM = FreeIM, which is IM with Freestyle in place of fly.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did these two parallel kick sets recently because we only have enough Drag Sox for 1/2 of my group to wear at one time. Prior to this, we had mostly used the Sox for short bouts of underwater kicking and sprint swimming. I loved this set — it was something a little different that really made them push themselves. We were in a 25m pool.
Group A did:
9 x 50 flutter kick with Drag Sox and board @ 1:40.
While Group B did:
10 x 75 flutter kick with board Descend 1-5 and 6-10 @1:30
Then switch sets.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
On the 25s, the goal was to hold the farthest possible average distance (with some pretty good speed) on each set.
The 225/200/175 was an A/B/C distance dependent on swimmer’s kicking speed. Swimmers chose the appropriate distance for themselves individually.
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Coach Todd Kramer, Columbia Swim Club
Here is our main set from last Friday 11/23. We were six days out from our mid season rest meet. We wanted to do some quality swimming after hitting them with some high intensity/short rest sets the previous couple of days. We did the OTB (off the blocks) in three heats, so swimmers ended up having about a 1:3 work to rest ratio on those. The kick intervals gave them a bit more than a 1:1 work to rest ratio. The drill/swim was recovery with a strong focus on the little details. The goal of the set was to do some high quality fast swimming followed by working the legs with the idea of helping to develop good kicking late in their races. In hindsight I would have given the kids more specific time targets on the OTB (which was choice based on their best events). A couple of kids had to be given time targets to refocus, but once we got into the workout I think it went very well.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
I verbally called out when to start the fast parts.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Chris Brookover, YBCC Phoenix
10 pounds of stuff in a 5-pound bag.
Fall 2018 Warm Up
1 x 400 @ 6:00 Loosen
4 x 50 @ :45 Drill w/ Forearm Fulcrums
4 x 100 @ 1:30 Descend 1 – 4
Aerobic
#A+
1 x 600 @ 8:00
1 x 500 @ 6:30
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 2:30
1 x 400 @ 5:00
1 x 300 @ 3:40
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 2:20
1 x 200 @ 2:25
1 x 100 @ 1:10
#A
1 x 600 @ 8:15
1 x 500 @ 6:45
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 2:30
1 x 400 @ 5:15
1 x 300 @ 3:50
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 1:55
1 x 200 @ 2:30
#B
1 x 600 @ 8:30
1 x 500 @ 7:00
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 2:30
1 x 400 @ 5:30
1 x 300 @ 4:00
1 x 50 EZ Back @ 2:30
1 x 200 @ 2:35
Kicking:
#A
3 x 200 @ 3:20 Kicking W/ Fins
3 X
6 x 25 @ :25
Rest :30
#B
3 x 200 @ 3:30 Kicking W/ Fins
3 X
5 x 25 @ :30
Rest :30
Stroke – Perfect Technique – Intervals not that hard – thus you can think.
#Back
6 x 100 @ 2:00 W/ Fins & Fulcrums
6 x 100 @ 1:45 Back Swim – Build Each – Best Average
6 x 50 @ 1:15 Cup Head Drill Back Stroke
6 x 50 @ :50 Back Swim [2nd 25 Faster / Minumum 5 Kicks off wall]
6 x 25 @ :50 Spin Drill Backstroke
2 X
6 x 25 @ :45 Back Swim – All Out Sprint
Rest :30
#Breast
6 x 100 @ 2:00 Breast 4 Kick / 1 Pull – Double Pull Outs
5 x 100 @ 2:00 Breast Swim – Build Each – Best Average
6 x 50 @ 1:10 Free Kick no Board – Triple Pull Outs
6 x 50 @ :55 Breast Swim [2nd 25 Faster / Minumum 5 Kicks off wall]
6 x 25 @ :50 Spin Drill Breaststroke – [Breast Pull / Free Kick – Not Swim]
2 X
6 x 25 @ :45 Breast Swim – All Out Sprint
#Fly
6 x 100 @ 1:45 – Fly Kick On Back w/ Fins
8 x 25 @ :40 Swim Fly [Boys 6 Kicks 5 Strokes, Girls 6 Kicks 7 Strokes]
Rest :40
8 x 25 @ :40 Swim Fly [Boys 5 Kicks 6 Strokes, Girls 5 Kicks 8 Strokes]
6 x 100 @ 2:00 – Fly Kick Underwater – Streamline Position
8 x 25 @ :45 Swim Fly Fast – Horsehoe Finish
1 x 100 @ 3:00 EZ Free
8 x 25 @ :50 Swim Fly Fast
Swim Down
4 x 75 @ 1:30
3 x 50 @ 1:00
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was a brief underwater kicking set that we did in a SCM pool as a pre-set before yesterday’s post. The instructions were to kick fast underwater to 12.5m every time (this was cut off in the picture below). For the first 6, the swimmers held one paddle out in front of them with the broad surface perpendicular to the oncoming water (to create drag).
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was a simple swim and kick set that got us some good kicking effort. Getting going on the freestyle 200s after the kick also set us up well for a sprint set after this.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. Intervals listed are an A and B interval for round 1, round 2, and round 3. 3 x through that for 9 total rounds. For instance, for the A interval it would be 100 kick @1:45, 50 swim @:35, 100 Kick @1:35, 50 swim @:45, 100 Kick @1:25, 50 swim @:55.
Gary Galbreath, Head Coach of the Columbia Swim Club, formerly of the Dayton Raiders
This set was originally published to the blog in 2010.
Here’s a set we did Saturday morning. Just as a reminder it’s base building time! We did it SC meters. Everyone was on the same cycle. The Kick part was the chance to catch up if the were struggling with the Times. It’s just a good Aerobic set. Total 8800 meters
25 Kick@ 30
4 x 50 @ 45 Descend 1-4
Free
75 Kick@ 1:30
4 x 100 @ 1:30 Descend 1-4
25 Stroke/50 Free/25 Stroke
125 Kick @ 2:30
4 x 150 @ 2:05 Descend 1-4
Free
175 Kick@ 3:30
4 x 200 @ 3:00 Descend 1-4
BackStroke
225 Kick @ 4:30
4 x 250 @ 3:15 Descend 1-4
Free
275 kick@ 5:30
4 x 300 @ 4:30 Descend 1-4
100 IM/100No Free/100 Free
325 Kick @ 6:30
4 x 350 @ 4:25 Descend 1-4
Free
375 Kick@ 7:30
4 x 400 IM @ 6:30
#1 4 x 100 IM
#2 100IM/200 IM/100IM
#3 2 x 200 IM
#4 Reverse 400 IM
8800 meters
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
The purpose of this set was to work the kick in the middle 1/3 of each distance while still maintaining a consistent kick in the first and last thirds.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We used stretch cordz for this set. We don’t have power towers, so swimmers partnered up and one person supplied the resistance while the other swam. The real challenge of the set was to hold the stroke together at speed after the resisted sprint cycles.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM. As we went down this set, swimmers tried to make a gradually faster interval. When they could no longer make a faster interval, their goal became to go faster in the same interval.
Ashraf Salah, AHLY
Josh Sinclair, Australia
Editor’s Note: This set was first published to this blog in 2016
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Kick Set (last 25 of every repeat is MAX UW- at least 12.5 yards)
Slower kickers should drill or swim the first part of each repeat to keep up
No kicking with board, no br kick
Options: face down fly, face down flutter, side fly, side flutter. Snorkel is o.k.
4 x 25 @ :30
3 x 50 @:55
2 x 75 @1:20
1 x 100 @1:45
100 smooth swim @1:30
4 x 100 intervals same as above
3 x 75
2 x 50
1 x 25 all out all UW kick
100 smooth swim @1:30
Wrench Bang Fartlek Set
6 rounds (4:30 per round)
2 x {Round 1 – free, Round 2- No free, Round 3- weakest stroke}
:30 scull
WRENCH BANG
1:00 drill (athlete’s choice of stroke)
WRENCH BANG
1:30 smooth swim with CRAZY FAST turns & underwaters
WRENCH BANG
Sprint between 25 and 50 yards (do one great turn and one great finish)
Start next round all together
Main Set
20 x 150 free
(paddles and/or buoy optional on all descending parts)
1 @1:35/1:40/1:45
5 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55
1 @1:35/1:40/1:45
4 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55
1 @1:35/1:40/1:45
3 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55
1 @1:35/1:40/1:45
2 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55
1 @1:35/1:40/1:45
1 @ 1:45/1:50/1:55
Editor’s Note: This set was originally published to the blog in July 2016
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This kick set will be a bit of a challenge if done correctly.
10 x 100 kick choice, but all same stroke, descend 1-10, pay attention to clock
#1-4 @ :10 rest
#5-7 @ :20 rest
#8-10 @ :30 rest
200 ez swim with fast turns and 4+ underwater kicks
6 x 100 kick @ :20 rest, goal is for all 6 to be faster than #8 from the first set
Editor’s note: This post was originally published to this blog in August 2017. Check out our scrollable archives below for more hidden gems!
