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Coach’s Intel: SMAC’s Erik Collins Shares One of His All Time Favorite Sets

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.

In this morning’s Coach’s Intel, Erik Collins of SMAC shares a set that helps to develop speed endurance for the back-half of stroke 200s:

The swim workout that follows (or the main set, more specifically), is one of my favorite all-time sets: I’ve used it with some premier kids, as well as developing 13 & 14 year olds- no matter the athlete, it does a spectacular job at developing a monster 2nd half to their 200 in stroke. I like to use it once they’re real fit, maybe 30-45 workouts into a season, and then run some sort of variation of the set every 10 days or so through the end of the season.

400 swim freestyle

400 reverse IM- some sort of drill/kick combo for each 100

1:00 rest

2 x 200 @ :15 rest, odd 50’s drill/swim by 25’s, even 50’s some sort of skulling

8 x 100 @ 1:40- 75 kick on back (really work the underwater dolphin kick), 25 swim in main race stroke build to FAST

8 x 25 kick FAST @ :40 with boards in main race stroke

1:00 rest

6 sets of:

3 x 100 swim free br 3 @ 1:10 (or @ 1:05, or 1:15, depending on the athlete)- just a tight enough interval to get their heart rate up in the 160-170 range

1 x 100 @ 1:30 swim FAST in main race stroke, targeting their 2nd 100 split of their 200 goal time

3 x 50 kick FAST with boards @ 1:00

100 easy drill in main race stroke after odd rounds, 4 x 25 drill @ :45 after even rounds

I might finish up with a 1200 pull free with the snorkel, or maybe something like 5 x 300 @ :20 rest as follows:

100 kick FAST choice, 100 swim free with snorkel, 100 drill/swim by 25’s in 4th best stroke

That’s it, no crazy yardage here, right around 7000-7500. That main set (the “6 sets of” set) really gives them the ability to pull the trigger on the 2nd 100 in their 200 in stroke.

Got a workout you would like to share with the swimming community? Submit it to [email protected]

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Poopool
11 years ago

We don’t swim yards. Only scm, makes sense. Still a monster not sure I’d prescribe to a 13 yr old or a Sr athlete for that matter. You’re a 500 guy to pull off, not 50/100/200. To each his own

kcswimjk
11 years ago

I think POOPOOL’s comment about the yardage is fair, but some 13-14’s can handle that kind of stuff.

As for it being a “doable” set, I bet your average 13 or 14 y/o would have an easier time with it in some ways than a college swimmer, just because there’s less muscle mass (and less recovery time) involved, particularly if the kids are distance-oriented.

Still, it looks like a monster workout to me!

Poopool
11 years ago

Not crazy yardage at 7500 for a 13 yr old. Longevity in sport folks. 100s at 1:10/1:05 right into a 2nd 100 swim? I coach 1:50. 200 free LC swimmer that can’t make that transition. Not quite relate-able to race.

swimmer24
Reply to  Poopool
11 years ago

how can you’re 1:50 200 free swimmer not make that? You know this is for yards right?

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Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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