Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.
This afternoon’s Coach’s Intel was submitted by Gray Tedder of Shelby, North Carolina’s Shark Aquatic Club. It’s a set that can be used to measure progress over the course of the year. Gray is a former member of SAC and a recent graduate of the University of South Carolina. Here is his workout:
When I am planning a season, I try to find about 6 or 7 “ideas” for workouts that I progress throughout the season. I’m a big believer that one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the way a race is going to feel, is to try to put yourself in that discomfort frequently in practice, but at a level you can succeed with.
This year, one of the progressions is for a 200 and one is for a 100.
The 200 set is pretty straight forward. It is several rounds through —
- FAST SWIM
- pace work
- easy/recovery swim.
So at the beginning of the season the set looked like this:
3 rounds:
75 FAST @ 2:00
4x50s @ 1:00 at 200 pace
200 easy @ 4:00
and then by the end of the season it will look something like this
4 rounds:
100 FAST @ 2:00
3×75 pace @ 1:30
200 easy @ 6:00
or this:
4 rounds
100 FAST @ 1:45
6X50 pace @ :50
200 easy @ 6:00
The idea is to increase the intensity of each round, and decrease the rest during each round throughout the season. Because of the higher intensity of each round, the rest between rounds will increase to allow for better recovery between rounds. I stress to my athletes to rely on their legs more and more throughout each round, just like they would during a 200 yard swim.
My progression for the 100 yard races started like this:
4 rounds
50 FAST @ 1:00
25 FAST @ 1:00
50 FAST @ 1:00
25 FAST @ 1:00
100 easy @ 5:00
by the end of the season it will be:
6 Rounds
50 FAST @ :45
25 FAST @ :45
25 FAST @ 1:00
2X50 FAST @ 1:30
25 FAST NO BREATH
10:00 rest (swim as much as you want)
At the beginning of the season, we will be doing fast kick after the 100 progression, because I have noticed that my athletes can handle more fast kick at the beginning of the season than swimming. This allows me to prepare their legs for the demands of the set later in the season, without compromising technique early on in the season.
I give the swimmers a version of each set every two weeks or so. That way the swimmers aren’t doing the same thing every week, which can get boring, but they are doing something very similar often enough to really track progress throughout the season.
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Got a workout or set you’d like to share with your fellow coaches? Send it on it to Olivier at [email protected]