(From the Archive)
By Lianne McCluskey, Swimming World College Intern.
Holiday themed swim practices are a great way to develop more positive energy at practice. Between midseason championships and school exams, it’s important to find ways to stay motivated in the pool to avoid feeling overwhelmed and be encouraged to continue working hard.
Swimming World asked coaches around the country which sets were their favorite to lighten the mood yet still get the job done during the holiday season. Here are four fun and challenging practice sets to try with your team to help enhance team spirit in the pool!
1. Christmas Tree of Pain
At Nitro Swimming in Austin, Texas, swimmers knew this set was coming every year: “It’s a tradition. I found a version of this and made it my own over the past few years.”
What the swimmer accomplishes in the set dictates what they need to do next.
Photo Courtesy: Lianne McCluskey
Definitions of abbreviations are as follows:
- FR- Freestyle
- PB- Personal Best (addition sign with a number means amount of seconds slower or equal to best time)
- JJ- Jumping Jacks
2. Advent Calendar Game
Crimson Aquatics used this holiday themed practice set with the team. “In a traditional Advent calendar, each day in the countdown to Christmas gives you a little gift. This practice set does the same thing in 24 sets.”
Directions
Materials:
- Sticky Notes
- Bag of Chocolate (or something similar)
Setup:
- 24 sticky notes, labeled 1-24 on the front, set up like a calendar. On the back will be the sets (see below).
Operation:
- Going one sticky at time, pick an athlete to reveal the set on the back of the sticky note (going in order).
- The athlete reveals the set to the group then gets a choice: they do the set themselves or everyone does the set. Whoever does the set gets a piece of chocolate each time.
Sets:
- 200 Free
- 100 Choice
- 5×50 Kick @ 1:05
- 100 IM
- 200 Pull
- 50 Dolphin dives
- 1 min treading
- 100 Fly
- 50 Doggie paddle
- 200 Kick
- 4×100 Free @ :10 Rest
- 100 Breast
- 100 Free with fins
- 150 Streamline kick with fins
- 1 min start float
- 50 IM
- 25 Reverse Freestyle
- 50 Partner Kick (one person is the “kickboard”)
- 50 high five swim
- 25 Underwater
- 200 Non-freestyle
- 25 Sitting on kickboard
- 20 Streamline bobs
- 200 IM
3. Snow Ball Relays
At Smith College, it was a tradition to finish the last mandatory practice before final exams with Snow Ball Relays.
Directions
Materials:
- 3-4 large snow balls (about the size of a softball)
Each team begins the relay with a snowball of the same size. Each swimmer on a relay team must swim 2 x 25-yard lengths of the pool in the relay but cannot swim the required distance back-to-back (sorry no 50s). The relay winner is decided by the team who finishes the relay with the biggest snow ball and swims the fastest.
4. The 12 Days ’til Christmas Set
Twelve days before Christmas, Howard University gave their annual main set. It’s always the same distance and order, but has a different focus per season. Here is an example of the 2018 holiday practice set on December 13:
- 12 x 75 @ 1:10 – FR/Stroke/FR
- 11 x 50 @ :40 – All FR with fins
- 10 x 25 @ :30 – Alternate Kick/Swim by 25
- 9 x 75 @ 1:05 – Sprint the last 25
- 8 x 50 @ :50 – 2 Turns; 1-4 = FR, 5-8 = Stroke
- 7 x 25 @ :40 – All fast
- 6 x 75 @ 1:05 Stroke
- 5 x 50 @ 1:00 – All fast, worst stroke
- 4 x 25 @ :30 – Kick fast
- 3 x 75 @ 1:10 – Breathe every 5th stroke
- 2 x 50 @ :45 Butterfly/FR by 25
- 100 off the blocks – as fast as possible (AFAP), best finish
Holiday practices are a great way to intertwine team bonding with team improvement. Every coach and team does it differently, but the objective is the same – having fun and bringing the holiday cheer to practice!
What’s your favorite holiday swim practice tradition?
All commentaries and research was conducted by the the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.