Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was our full practice from Monday, June 27.

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was our full practice from Monday, June 27.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set in SCM. FPA = Fastest Possible Average
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
OTB = off the blocks. PUSH = from a push (not from a dive). Pick a stroke and stick with it for a round.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
In the pre-set, we used an approximately 10-foot long rope (with a loop in each end) to have a swimmer stand on deck and pull a teammate into a fast turn (imagine a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier accelerating from zero to takeoff) and then sprinting through the breakout and one cycle. P100 = 100m race pace. OTB = off the blocks, FAST!!! EZ = Easy speed. We did this set in a 25m pool.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
OTB = Off the blocks
FPA = Fastest possible average
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This set was a pretty good one for us tonight. Swimmers who were diligent with their efforts got some very good results, particularly at the end. All of the 50s were swimmer’s choice of stroke, but the instructions were to stick with the same stroke for three 50s in a row. We did this set in a 25m pool. The 50s on :40 definitely made them feel the squeeze of fatigue, but they were able to give it a little extra juice when the interval opened up at the end.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set this week and got some tremendous results. Swimmers got to choose their strokes by round. The 2 x 25s with the bucket seemed to help awaken their speed for the following 100. We did this in a SCM pool.
3x:
1 x 25 fast from start @:40
2 x 25 fast resisted with a bucket @:40
1 x 25 fast (no bucket) from a push @:40
1 x 100 easy swim any stroke 2:30
1 x 100 all out from dive
1 x 400 25 kick/25 swim with paddles and snorkels
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We started this set with about 40 minutes left in practice:
We started doing 50s fast from a dive. I wasn’t sure how many we would do. Just when I thought their enthusiasm (and speed) was starting to wane, I challenged an individual to hit a faster time to end the round for the group and start the 200 easy.
It worked better than I could have hoped. On each round, we had at least one swimmer expand their perception of their capability and get to be the hero for their teammates.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
Each round of this set, we swapped in a mystery set that the swimmers did not know ahead of time as the “unique challenge” in brackets.
The last challenge was “Save your partner”. Each swimmer had to swim a 100 off the blocks under a certain coach-determined time. Fail to make the time and your partner has to do it too. It was a somewhat clumsy attempt to get some peer-pressure motivation going.
The rest of the set worked well, with some of the unique challenges being a bit off-the-wall.
FPA = Fastest Possible Average
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
LCM. This set makes use of the 12m diving well that sits alongside the 50m lanes we use. In order to maximize our space with our entire team practicing at once, we occasionally use it this way. For ease of communication, we call one width of the diving well a “25.”
We used 1-gallon buckets tied to waist belts for the set of 8 x50, timing each 25 and emphasizing racing a teammate.
For the diving well set, we used the aquavolo drag sox. The contrast between resisted kicking and non-resisted (when we take the Sox off) leads to some excellent speedy UW kicking.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Here is a recent practice of ours in its entirety (except the dryland, which was included in the 3 hours)
LCM
Coach Emily Wylam, University of Rochester
NB = No breath
Coach Emily Wylam, University of Rochester
For the “Partner pulls”: pulling their partner behind them and then release. I told the partners to be as unhelpful as possible, they really took that to heart!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We got some great results with this one this morning. SCY.
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This one came in two parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Did some fast swimming on this one. In each set, we performed some 50s at 200 pace and then followed it up with some “all-out” 50s, unleashing our performance from the mental constraints of “race pace.”
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. We timed the first 15m from a dive with a target time from our pace cards. The next 70m was focused on good turns, breakouts, and underwaters. With 15m to go, swimmers paused and floated/sculled at the surface. When 1 swimmer in each lane was ready, a coach yelled “Go” and they commenced a sprint to the finish.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM pool. The goal was to really push ourselves to hold some aggressive times in practice. The main group did the top set while the distance crew did the bottom set.
If done in a SCY pool, I would probably change the goal on the 150 to “beat your best 200 time by :20”
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Mike Anzano, Assistant Head Coach, COM Swim Team
Great workout from our 11-14 year-olds!
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Brad Herndon, Greensboro Community YMCA
Warm-Up (600):
600 – 75 Swim/25 Skull
Pre-Set (1200):
8 x
1 x 75 flutter kick on back @ 1:15
1 x 50 Swim (IMO by rd) @ :45
1 x 25 Dk or BR Kick @ :30
PULL SET (800):
1 x 800 FR Pull with paddles, buoy, snorkel
Build ¾ c-up into sprint last 25 of each 100
Main Set (2100):
4 x (FINS)
8 x 25’s w/ Fins FAST @ :15 (Goal is to hold under 12 with great underwaters)
1 x 100 EZ @ 2:00
– Extra 1 x 100 without fins @ 2:00 (Prep for Sequel)
4 x (NO FINS)
6 x 25’s FAST @ :20 (Goal is to hold under 15 with good race habits)
1 x 50 EZ/Prep @ 1:00
Post Set (1500):
3x (SHORT FINS)
1 x 200 Fr w/ paddles @ 2:30
1 x 150 Skull or kick mix @ 2:30
1 x 100 Backstroke build turnover @ 1:30
1 x 50 All out anything @ 1:00
Kick-Drill-Sprint Set (700):
7 x 100’s @ 1:45
All are 1 x 50 burnout flutter with board, 25 focused drill, 25 all out sprint
Cool-Down (100):
100 EZ (minimum)
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Little bit of speed, underwater kicking, and fly. Dirty 20 = 10m no breath free sprint, flip, and dolphin kick back to the wall. B3 = breathe every 3 strokes.
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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
In this set, we used orange hockey pucks on the bottom of the pool to mark the 10m mark we wanted them to kick past.
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Mike Cook, Mason Makos
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