Swim Sets – Part 1

Swim sets.

They take a lot of thought and some time to create – and they sit proudly written out in a notebook or on a whiteboard – but they are only as good as the execution by the swimmers.

We’ve had a few new triathletes come to our squads recently. Experienced athletes and good swimmers. I’ve no doubt they have done similar sets to the ones we’ve done in Swim Squad, but they will have executed them very differently.

“Really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and swimming with others.”

I mentioned the main set and this swimmer recognised it immediately. He’s probably swam it a few times on his own. But, swimming with the squad and the way these guys execute each and every session, made it a completely new challenge for him. Took him out of his comfort zone.

• Same set.
• Executed differently.
• Pushed the athlete.
• Changed the training stimulus.

Similarly, another athlete who is being coached elsewhere, gave me a few of his swim sets to look at and see what I thought of the sessions.

They were ok. Nothing particularly imaginative – or demanding even – but I couldn’t really give a verdict, because if they were to be executed well, they could be great sessions. If they were executed poorly, going through the motions or a bit of mindless swimming, they would be poor sessions.

The key thing with a swim set is to commit to it and execute the intent of the session!

And if you do … you’ll make a coach very happy! 😀