Since late April we have been focusing on setting training standards and as such have spent a fair amount of time on racing skills such as starts, turns and finishes. We are now ready to use these skills in training sets as we lay a foundation for the season ahead.
The next three months we will be focusing on Short Course racing and turns and sub kick (underwater dolphin kick) will be a major part of our preparation. This morning we started with our second macrocycle which will consist of three weeks. Week 1 is a aerobic week with one anaerobic capacity – aerobic capacity combination set on Tuesday. The rest of the week will consist of mostly low intensity sets with a focus on specific race quality skills within the sessions.
Focus Points are deliberate practice – training specific skills all the time and repeating correct movements during sets over and over. We are also focusing and talking to our team about training up a level. In other words, if you want to be a national swimmer, you need to train like a national swimmer first. You cannot train like a target state swimmer and expect to qualify for nationals.
The below session consisted of swimmers across our top three squads aged between 14 and 22 years.
Workout
Warm-up (2 rounds with fins):
4x100m @ 1:30 75 fr, 25 bk LA 1
4x50m @ 1:00 Following Medley
6x25m @ :30 15 Fast sub kick + 10 Build swim choice stroke (most swimmers did freestyle)
3x50m @ 1:00 Freestyle Dec 1-3
Goals were PB +6/ +4 and +3 sec for these swims. I wanted the swimmers to get the blood pumping and muscles working during these three short swims.
8x100m @ 2:00 Kick freestyle holding best average
Most swimmers in the group held between 1:40 and 1:50
Butterfly Technique (2 rounds):
3x25m @ :50 otter kick fly focusing on chest down – hips up.
I want the swimmers to get into a downhill position as their hands enter the water as opposed to keeping their hips low and continuously swimming up hill during a fly race.
6x25m @ :40 Fly swim focusing on “hand entry = hips up and chest down”
> The group was then divided into Backstroke and Breaststroke <
4x25m Dive sprints of the above chosen stroke
Focus was on efficient breakouts, high stroke rate and strong (non gliding) finishes.
Backstroke Set (2 rounds):
4x50m @ 1:00 Descend 1-4
3x200m @ 3:20 Swim beautiful with head still
Breaststroke Set (2 rounds):
4x25m @ 45 Pull with buoy only – placed below knees to avoid excessive fly motion
3x50m @ 1:05 swim with stroke count. #1 Normal, #2 -1 stoke, #3 -2 strokes – change must be done without extra gliding. focus is on covering more distance with each arm stroke and each kick!
3x100m @ 2:00 Swim with consistent stroke count and good technique
Swim Down:
12x50m @ 1:00 Pull 25 choice/25 free
WORKOUT TOTAL BACKSTROKE: 5200 – BREASTSTROKE: 4700
This workout was provided by Peninsula Sports Academy Head Coach Alex Webb.
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