Continuing our theme of sharing swim sessions, I thought I’d share the Swim Squad session we did on Wednesday evening.
It was a good one!
It was all about pace and pacing.
Pace
Firstly, we were working on being able to swim at an easy, moderate and strong pace. I asked the swimmers to make each pace look and feel very different – so that, just by looking from the side and not checking the clock or the stopwatch, I could tell which pace the swimmers were trying to swim at. Swimmers often say they have “one gear”, so we were working on developing those gears.
Pacing
Secondly, we were working on pacing. This was a set between 1,000m and 2,000m (depending on lane) and the aim was for swimmers to start the set relaxed and smooth, swimming at a pace that would allow them to increase their pace as the set progressed.
We wanted to see pace increase and times drop, despite the increasing fatigue. To do that required patience in the early stages of the set.
The Session.
Warm Up
1 x 400m easy and relaxed.
Set 1 – Pace Work
8 x 75m (25m easy, 25m moderate, 25m strong). We were looking to build the pace within each 75m, making each length a different pace.
12 x 50m (50m easy, 50m moderate, 50m strong – four times through). We took short rests between each 50m (20-30s).
Set 2 – Increasing Pace 200s
This was a set of 10 x 200m, with the aim of swimming strong towards the end.
10 x 200m (30-45s rest)
- 1 – 4 at an easy pace (4/10 effort)
- 5 – 7 increasing pace slightly, a more moderate effort (6/10 effort)
- 8 – 9 working quite hard (8/10 effort)
- 10 swimming strong and fast (9/10)
The cumulative effect of the swim set makes swimming strong towards the end really difficult if you started the set too fast.
(Lane 1 did 10 x 200m, Lane 2 did 10 x 150m, Lanes 3 & 4 did 10 x 100m, all paced as above)
Cool Down
We finished the session with some easy swimming.
The session was a good one – and swimmers executed it really well.
If you’re looking for a challenging swim set, or you need to work on your paces and pacing, give this one a try.
Don’t forget, if you would like the recent PDF I produced containing five of our recent Swim Squad sessions, just message me and I’ll email it out to you (free) for you to try.
