Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
With this set, we were aiming to repeat stroke parameters over and over at a high level: UW kicks, Cycle count, Breathing pattern, and time (around 1-2 seconds off P100).
Butterfly Cookie Cutters
Tag: Race Pattern
200 Free Prep and Fast Stroke
Brad Herndon, Greensboro Community YMCA
This set worked real well for some fast 200 free and 100 Stroke times this weekend, takes 44 minutes, 11 mins a round, they did this 2 weeks out and were right on their 200 FR and 100 stroke goal times:
4x
3 x 175 FR @ 2:20 (hold goal 200 Fr time)
1 x 75 Stroke Fast @ 1:00
1 x 50 Stroke Fast @ 1:00
1 x 25 Stroke Fast @ 1:00
1 x 25 EZ @ 1:00 (start early after the 25 stroke fast)
Stroke = Swimmer chooses OR some did IMO by Round, but 4th Round = Fly-Back-Breast on the 75, then drop down by choice to finish with 25 of your best stroke (other than fr)
Race Pattern and Descend
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
“Race Pattern” means swim similar relative splits as you plan to swim in the race.
Go Fast and Hold It
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Aerobic Freestyle with Details
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
This aerobic freestyle set mostly called for moderate pace swimming, but we were looking for some very specific technical details.
Practice Splitting 200s
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set recently on a day where most of my group was at a high school meet. This allowed me to get splits on all 6 people for each 50 of each 200. I recorded the splits on a dry-erase board, and after each 100 easy we reviewed their splits. Increasing their speed within each set of 3 amplified the learning curve. We learned a lot doing this set.
200 focus with Coach Brad Herndon
Brad Herndon
Head Coach
Greensboro Community YMCA
High Performance Based Main Set/Practice
Distance Focus = 200
Part I. Odd Rounds Free, Even Rounds Stroke 44 min
8x
4 x 25’s Drill, Build, or Technique Work (set up for 200 fast)
1 x 75 Fast (Feel is of the first 75 of a 200, kids go ALL OUT)
1 x 100 Fast (Building legs while maintaining core strength, feel is of the middle 100, kids go ALL OUT)
1 x 75 (1 x 25 ALL OUT and finish, go straight into a 50 EZ)
Odd Rounds FREE :25/:50/1:10/1:20 (5 min)
Even Rounds STROKE/IM :30/1:10/1:20/1:30 (6 min)
Periodically we will get times on the broken 200’s in total as best we can…swimmers you are to know this as well if asked!
Part II. 20-minute Follow-Up/ Partner Dryland/Swim: 24 min
Partner-up (getting half OFF deck, and half OUT of the water): One swimmer swims a 100, this is ALWAYS done as an EZ first 50, then an ALL OUT SPRINT second 50, to mimic 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 50’s at 200 GOAL Pace, but go ALL OUT. As your partner swims, you do dryland on deck which ranges from sit-ups/planks/jump rope/push-ups/med ball tosses/med ball slams. Switch for 20 minutes in duration, all are to get in at least 6 x100’s apiece, let’s see who can get as many or more than 8 x 100’s.
Part III. Culmination: 8 min
1 x 200 ALL OUT in your specialty 200 event, individually in heats. One per lane, teammates will give you your 100 splits!
How to swim the 200 free
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
This was an effort to help some of our swimmers “figure out” the 200 free. We followed up with a set specifically designed to practice for this event. That set will come in a later post.
IM Pacing Power
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Follow @WoodruffRyan
The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!
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We had great success with the set below. Red portions are all based around goal 400 IM pace based on our current actual splits. We used our pace cards to determine these splits.
Also see: our other IM sets and workouts including this one from Greater Philadelphia’s Matt Sprang
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Working on 400 IM Splitting with Greater Philadelphia Coach Matt Sprang
Matt Sprang
Head Coach
Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club
SCY
We did the following set 2x through:
1 x 300 Free @ 3:45 white
4 x 100 IMO @ 1:35. Fly pace plus 5, Back, Breast, Free pace plus 2. All from a push.
1 x 100 cruise @ 1:45
4 x 50 IMO @ :50 (pace divided by 2)
Fly pace was defined as equal to the first 100 of the swimmer’s best 200 fly
Back, Breast and Free pace were defined as equal to the last 100 of the swimmer’s best 200.
It actually went pretty well. Backstroke was a little off for everyone while breaststroke was a little faster for everyone.
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Pacing the 1500 Like a Pro
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
I gave this set (in short course meters) to my distance swimmers recently. The idea is predicated around Russell Mark’s observations on pacing the 1500 free at the elite level. He has observed that the very best milers have tremendous front and back end speed but swim at a very consistent pace in the middle. This set rehearses that concept.
We start off with a 50 pretty fast (near 200 pace) and then follow up with a 100 strong (2-3 seconds slower than 400 pace) and then repeat three consecutive 400s at the same exact speed. Then repeat the 100 and the 50 to finish a total of 1500m. Athletes take 20 seconds rest between each swim, meaning their total built-in rest is 2:00 (this makes it easy for determining their swimming time after the fact). We did a little backstroke for recovery and repeated the broken 1500 twice, trying to descend these repetitions mostly by making our 400 times faster.
Finally, we finished with a straight 1500. This was icing on an already tough set, but we saw some really good times and I was very pleased with the effort.
Total distance: 6,600m
Learning Easy Speed
Nick Rice
Head Swim Coach
North Oakland Waves (NOW)
I have been having an issue lately with our swimmers over swimming their first 50 of 100s and under-swimming the middle portion of their races so I came up with a set that I think helps them learn how to control the first 50 of a race with speed but continue to push through the second half. I am very excited to see how this training will effect our swims at our upcoming meets:
The First Set is focused on the 100 (but this also helps set up how to succeed on the 2nd set):
1×100 @ 1:30-2:00 BT +10-15%
2×50 @ :45-1:00
1st 50: Half of previous 100 (Not first 50 time of previous 100)
2nd 50: Drop :03-:05
4×25 @ :20-:30
1 & 2: Half of 2nd 50 Time
3 & 4: Drop :02-:04
The Second set is Focused on the 200
1×200 @ 3:00-3:30 BT +10%
2×100 @ 1:30-1:45
1st 100: Half of previous 200 (Try to Negative Split)
2nd 100: Drop :05
4×50 @ :45-1:00
1 & 2: Half of 2nd 100 Speed
3 & 4: Drop :30-:05
As we go through the set I like to remind the kids that adrenaline will help carry them on the first segment of their race and that they can take the time to really focus on their stroke mechanics and catch point, then use the drop segment to play with an increased tempo. I really like to emphasize this on the first set so when we get to the 200 set they can properly swim the 1st negative split 100.
I really enjoy your site and have really found quite a few of the workouts inspirational and thought I would try to contribute. Thanks for all the sharing.
Race-Ready Legs
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Here’s a set to help your athletes sustain that killer kick you are looking for at the end of the race. We performed it 6x at 6:00 per round:
3 x 50 swim at P200
#1 @ 1:00
#2 @ :50
#3 @ :40
1 x 75 all out kick w/ board for time
1 x 125 easy swim with perfect technique
Practicing Race Habits
Ryan Woodruff
@WoodruffRyan
You can use this set to build up race habits and teach the desired race pattern. We put a watch only on the 4th 200, 100, and 50.
4 x 200 @ 3:30
#1 – 50 fast/150 ez – make the 2nd turn as good as the first
#2 – 100 fast/100 ez – hold tempo steady from 1st to 2nd 50
#3 – 150 fast/50 ez – work the 3rd 50 faster than the 2nd
#4 – 200 for time – put it all together!
100 easy
4 x 100 @ 2:30
#1 – 25 fast/75 ez – work breakout and hit the first turn dead on
#2 – 50 fast/50 ez – work 2nd turn as fast as the first
#3 – 75 fast/25 ez – strong kicking on the 3rd 25
#4 – 100 fast for time
100 easy
4 x 50 @ 1:30
#1 – 15m fast – work on the breakout
#2 – 25y fast- be aggressive into the turn
#3 – 40y fast then cruise to a perfect finish
#4 – 50 fast for time
I.M. Hurtin’
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
Mile Race Rehearsal
Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org
3 x 400 descend 3-5 seconds each 400 to a strong effort on #3. Remember your times.
3 x 100 descend 1-2 seconds each 100 to a strong effort on #3. Start at least as fast as your pace from the 400s. Remember your times.
3 x 50 fastest possible average. Start at least as fast as half of your fastest 100 from above. Make sure your last one is your best one and ends with a great finish.
Add up your times
400+400+400+100+100+100+50+50+50 = 1,650 yards.
Determining Goal Pace
Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org
Don Swartz and Ken DeMont over at Swim Coach Direct had an interesting post Sunday on race splits and training for the 200. I highly recommend it.
Their post encouraged me to share with you a tool we use to help swimmers on our team establish race paces for training purposes.
Click here to download our Excel spreadsheet for determining goal paces.
Here are the instructions once you have the sheet open in Excel:
1. Type the swimmer’s name where it says ‘Name here.’
2. Enter a swimmer’s goal time in the C column. Do not use any punctuation. For instance, for a goal time of 24.99 in the 50 free, type 2499. For a 2:28.50 in the 200 breast, type 22850.
3. The sheet should automatically compute pace times for you. ‘Pace’ means the swim is from a push. ‘Start’ means the swimmers goes off the blocks (or from a start for backstroke). The sheet computes different pace values for different events based on what I deemed the most useful information. A 15m start time is of little consequence in the mile, but could come in handy in the 100 fly.
4. Print out the pace card and take it to practice!
A few other notes:
- The sheet is based on the assumption that a swimmer will swim an even pace for every length after the 1st 25. For freestyle, the difference between the 1st and 2nd 25 is 1.7. For fly, the difference is 2.0, for backstroke the difference is 1.0, and for breaststroke it is 2.5 seconds.
- The C column is cross-hatched and the goal time is in gray in order to keep the swimmer’s focus on the race pace rather than her goal time.
Enjoy – let me know how it goes!
Backstroke Workout #1
Ryan Woodruff
Warmup
800 : 100 free overkick/100 smooth backstroke/100 smooth free/100 overkick backstroke
Main Set
2x through: 1st round no equipment, 2nd round with paddles (don’t use paddles on 3 x 200)
3 x 200 backstroke @ 3:20
12.5 r arm scull
12.5 l arm scull
25 fists drill
50 build
100 strong swim
12.5 l arm scull
25 fists drill
50 build
100 strong swim
3 x 50 kick backstroke on your side, kick 8+ yds off wall @ :50
2 x 200 backstroke race pattern and descend 3:10
3 x 50 kick backstroke on your side, kick 8+ yds off wall @ :55
1 x 200 backstroke fast @ 3:00
3 x 50 kick backstroke on your side, kick 8+ yds off wall @ 1:00
Warm-down set
6 x 50 @ :20 rest
#1-4: 12.5 yards back spin drill then ez
#5-6: just ez swim
4400 yards
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