A Look at Past Training Sets of Olympic Champion Caeleb Dressel

Swimming World July 2019 - Special Sets - Caeleb Dressel and Gregg Troy

A Look at Past Training Sets of Olympic Champion Caeleb Dressel

Through the years, a consistent feature of Swimming World Magazine has been the highlighting of specific training programs and sets of various athletes, including the sport’s elite performers. Today, we dip into the magazine vault and look at some of the training and sets that Caeleb Dressel was assigned by coach Gregg Troy on the road to the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.

These sets were shared with Swimming World longtime contributor Michael Stott and appeared in the July 2019 issues of Swimming World Magazine. Here is the breakdown of some of the work that Caeleb Dressel handled under Troy.

The Training Program

April: Three weeks of aerobic training (no competition)
Volume: 50,000-60,000 weekly
First two weeks all long course

April/May: Three weeks of endurance/aerobic training
Volume: 50,000
Finish quality work

May/June: Three weeks
Volume: 40,000-50,000
Race relative focus

June: Three weeks of competition and race prep
Volume: Reduced weekly 10-20% based upon what response seen in training

July: Three weeks – USA team camp
Final prep

Summer Weekly Plan

Monday Morning (Aerobic)

Monday Afternoon (Threshold or Good Quality)

Tuesday Morning (Power and Speed/Kick)

Wednesday Morning (Aerobic and Endurance Work)

Wednesday Afternoon (Quality – Race-Pace Swimming)

Thursday Morning (Power and Speed)

Friday Morning (IM Training)

Friday Afternoon (Fly Focus/Race Relative)

Saturday Morning (Response to Week)

Early Season

Sample Tower Sets (Power and Speed Work)

May 23, 2017
• 600 back/breast (LC)
• 12 x 45 on 15-meter course
Descend 1-3 on 1:00

Towers
• 8x:
15 fast out
4 x 30 swim (15m fast, kick back easy)
All with max weight (85 pounds) on 1:00
4 x 30 sprint (no tower, no breath on 1:00)
Big break between cycles

Surgical Tubing
• 8 x 100 (25-meter course)
Odd: easy/fast by length
Even: fast/easy by length
Swim both ways
• 8 x 100 with paddles and buoy
• 2 x 300:
100 breast
100 free
100 choice

May 29, 2017 (LC)
• 1500 Warmup
500 (open turns)
500 (4 strokes in and out of wall)
500 (50 choice, 50 free)
• 4x:
400 @ 24 HR
6 x 50 on 1:00 (descend by 2 seconds to all-out finish on 5 and 6)
• 4 x 150 pull with bands and buoy (paddles on odds)
• 6 x 50 (25 fast, 25 easy)
Loosen

Training Set Early Season

Friday, June 9, 2017 (SCM)
• 12 x 50 on :40
• 2x:
200 free on 3:00 (with paddles)
3 x 100 choice stroke on 1:45 (all smooth)
• 21 x 100 on 1:30
1-3 fly descend
4-6 1 free easy; 2 fly descend
7-9 2 free easy; 1 fly
10-12 FREE SMOOTH
13-15 fly descend 1-3
16-18 1 free; 2 fly descend
19-21 2 free; 1 fly
Smooth loosen as needed

Sample Speed and Power Day (Last 3 weeks during race prep)

June 13, 2017 (SCM)
• 800-1000 warm-up
• 2 x 2 x 50 on 1:15 (no breath @ 85% at max weight on tower)
• 1 x 50 on 1:15 (short fins same on tower)
• 1 x 15-25 meters (blast after each 50)

Tubing
• 2x:
25 meters: out hold water (catch and release)
Walk to other end
1 + partner pull “controlled speed”
Loosen and out

From Trials to World Champs
• Returned to 70-80% of Pre-Trials work for 10 days after three days of travel and recovery from meet stress
• Same cycle with similar sets; big leg stress for first 4-5 days

July 13, 2017
• 600 (25 kick, 25 swim)
• 6 x 100
50 (breathe @ 7)
25 smooth
25 build to fast (no breath)
• 2x:
4 x 150 on 2:00 (hold 1 & 2, build 3 & 4)
4 x 100 on 1:30 (hold 1 & 2, build 3 & 4)
4 x 50 on :50 (hold 1 & 2, build 3 & 4)
Second set with fins and paddles
• 2 x 100 kick fast
Loosen

Last Hard Workout (10 days out)
• 4 x 50 descend on 1:30
• 1 x 50 fast on 1:20
• 1 x 25 easy on 1:10
• 1 x 50 fast on 1:00
• 2 x 25 easy on :50
• 1 x 50 fly fast
Loosen

Last three weeks followed a pattern of…
• Double: 1 practice long and smooth; 1 practice quality
• Single: 1 practice varied by what we saw and discussed

Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach whose Collegiate School (Richmond, Va.) teams won nine state high school championships. A member of that school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, he is also a recipient of NISCA’s Outstanding Service Award.

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