How They Train: Christine Datovech & Bryce Mortimer
CHRISTINE DATOVECH
Now a freshman at Virginia Tech, Christine Datovech’s partnership with her age group coach, Jonathan Kaplan, began as a summer leaguer and YMCA swimmer at age 11. As she transitioned to USA Swimming, she steadily progressed and hit her stride her junior year at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond, Va.
At the 2023 VHSL Class 3 meet, she won the 50 yard free (23.00) and 100 fly (53.68) and swam on the third-place 200 free and second-place 400 free relays. Earlier in the winter, she qualified for Winter Junior Nationals, where she finaled in three events, recording a 22.85 in the 50 free.
However, Datovech’s aquatic journey was not without its tribulations.
“She experienced a variety of physical ailments that took a mental toll as well. “When things were running as planned, they were absolutely stellar,” says Kaplan. “She almost never missed a workout and was full gas on every single workout. Even during the COVID shutdown, she swam one hour daily in a wetsuit attached to a tether in a very small, freezing-cold, above-ground pool in her garage! Christine was always willing to do whatever it took to become great—it is just part of her personality!
“She is one of the most determined, strongest willed individuals you will ever meet,” Kaplan says. “She is incredibly smart, well-rounded and always eager to try something new. If it doesn’t come naturally, she will practice it until it does. She was not only a straight-A student at Maggie Walker with an incredibly challenging workload and schedule, but she is also accomplished in ASL sign language, filmography and film editing. Being successful wasn’t just a goal in her world, it was inevitable,” he says.
Setbacks aside, Dataovech repeated as 50 free champ (23.40) in the 2024 VHSL meet and completed her high school career as a five-time NISCA All-American, Swimcloud’s eighth-ranked Virginia female in the Class of 2024 and holder of 40 SwimRVA records (22 SCY, 18 LC).
“As she heads into the next chapter of her swimming career as a Hokie, she will call upon all of the success that helped her reach the near pinnacle of the sport, while also using her knowledge of how to overcome adversity to her advantage,” opines Kaplan. “One thing is for sure: Her determination to improve as a person and athlete will never waiver, and she will continue to grow into an amazing adult,” he says.
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BRYCE MORTIMER
A junior at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., breaststroker and IMer Bryce Mortimer forged a unique bond with his coach, Jonathan Kaplan, during his final two years of high school after joining SwimRVA. “He has always had a very chill, laid-back demeanor,” says Kaplan. “His approach to swimming and athletics have always been led by his desire for fun and enjoyment. And he was a master at helping his teammates learn to relax at major competitions.
“Interestingly, his fun-loving nature is deceptive. Bryce was an incredible trainer who wasn’t afraid to get after some tough sets and workouts. When it was time to be tested in competition, he was a straight-up killer! His game mode went into overdrive, and he was rarely beaten. Witness his senior year at the VHSL Class 3 State Championships, where he won the 200 yard IM (1:54.30) and the 100 breast (58.20) and swam on the winning medley and third-place 400 free relays.
“During his final two years with me, Bryce averaged three-to-four workouts a week in-water with one strength workout on his own. That’s it! But when he was with us, he was all-in! The way Bryce balanced his personal and swimming lives with his outside activities was ideal for what he wanted in high school. And it still led to him being the fastest breaststroker in Richmond and one of the two fastest in Virginia,” says Kaplan….and the holder of 12 SwimRVA team records.
Mortimer hasn’t slowed at ODU either. In his first two years at the ASUN and CCSA Conference Championships, he has scored in 10 events, including setting an ODU record in the 200 breast (1:55.58). When not at the Monarch’s Scrap Chandler Natatorium, Mortimer is majoring in sport management and coaching age groupers at TIDE in Virginia Beach.
BRYCE MORTIMER: PROGRESSION OF TIMES
Bryce Mortimer December 2022
Focus: 400 IM Aerobic Training
Warm-Up
400 free/back x 25’s (Rest :30)
200 scull/swim x 25’s (100 free, 100 non-free)
Kicking Power Development, Skills and Heart Rate Wrapped Into One
2 Rounds of the Following (Add Fins for Round 2)
3 x 100’s Power Kick (2:00) *Power kick is all-out with a board, Bryce would do breast
50 easy “shake” (1:00) *Shake is drop under once per 25 and shake everything out
8 x 25’s fly progression (4-5 underwaters into 2 Right, 2 Left then fast to the wall) (:30)
8 x 25’s IMO x pairs *Perfect break-out timing (:25) with attention to carry break-out timing into main set
50 easy “shake” (1:00) *Add Fins for Round 2
Main Set (Continuous stay on interval and keep going)
*Focus: to maintain speed throughout each step requiring lots of focus on the break-out timing, keeping tempo “higher” than 400 IM tempo if possible, and make the intervals by as much as you can. “The faster you go, the better you get!”
Round 1
2 x 25’s fly (:20)
2 x 50’s back (:40)
2 x 75’s breast (1:10)
2 x 100’s free (1:10)
4 x 100’s IM (1:20)
150 easy (3:30)
Round 2
2 x 25’s fly (:20)
2 x 50’s back (:30)
2 x 75’s breast (1:10)
2 x 100’s free (1:10)
3 x 150’s IM (2:00) *25 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, 25 free
150 easy (3:30)
Rounds 3 & 4
These rounds start the same way as rounds 1 & 2 but end with 2 x 200 IM (2:40) on R3 and 1 x 250 IM (50 fly, 75 back, 75 breast, 50 free) on R4
Extended Cool-Down
Christine Datovech December 2022
Focus: High-end racing speed with specific attention to underwater development tempo training
Warm-Up
400 free/back/free/breast x 25’s
8 x 50’s (1-4) scull/swim IMO x 25’s (5-6) choice swim fast/easy (7-8) choice swim easy/fast
Heart Rate & Skill Set
4 Rounds of the Following
:30 All-Out fast ankle wall kick against the bulkhead
10 streamline push-offs from the bottom with dolphin kicks to get body as far out of the water as possible
Rest 1:00 between rounds
Main Set
Focus: Using the fins to maximize tempo and speed, particularly adjusting to the speed in which the wall approaches with intention of creating an “end of the season” racing approach. Also working to develop underwaters at different points in the 100 fly, back or free so that each round leads to higher levels of fatigue during underwaters as the rounds progress.
6 Rounds of the Following
100 swim with fins for time *Changes strokes each round and USE UNDERWATERS!
100 easy on coach send-off
12 x 25’s with fins (odd) underwater blast at max speed (even) swim blast at max speed (:30)
*Underwaters would alternate being on stomach for 45 degree angle, and being on back for 45 degree angle
Relays with time remaining!
Bryce Mortimer & Christine Datovech Combined Set from September 2022
Focus: Lactate Tolerance and Racing Skills
Warm-Up
2 x 200 (25 scull no kick, 75 swim choice) (3:30)
4 x 25 kick with board (max foot speed) (:30)
2 x 150 (25 scull no kick/50 swim choice) (2:30)
4 x 25 kick max underwater speed (:35)
2 x 100 (25 scull no kick, 25 swim choice) (1:40)
4 x 25 kick with board (max foot speed) (:30)
2 x 50 (25 scull no kick, 25 swim choice) (1:00)
4 x 25 kick max underwater speed (:35)
Skills Set
2 Rounds of the Following for Bryce
4 x 50 (1-3) Breast 2 kick 1 pull (4 breast swim with 2-count glide (1:05)
2 x 100’s (1) breast kick distance per kick (2) swim breast 25 build, 25 fast (2:10)
*Christine would do a fly version of this pre-race Warm-up
Heart Rate Spike Set
8 x 25’s (1-4) IMO swim smooth (:30) (5-8) choice fast with max underwaters (:30)
Main Set
*Focus: to increase lactate levels in the body so the athletes have to 1) learn to handle high levels of lactate and learn to operate efficiently at a cellular level in that energy system, and 2) learn how to maintain skills under duress.
40 x 50’s (1:00)
1-20) 4 race for time off the side, 4 smooth, then 3 race, 3 smooth, 2/2, 1/1
*Bryce would host :28’s on breast for a set like this and Christine would hold :26’s on fly
Rest 1:00
21-40) 4 race for time push with fins, 4 smooth, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1
*Bryce would do these another stroke than breast and would hold around :22-23 freestyle, :24-25 back or fly. Christine would hold :23-24 fly, :24-25 back or :22-23 free on a set like this with fins
100 extra cool down
Christine & Bryce October 2022
Focus: High-End Quality Racing
Warm-up
200 loosen choice (Rest :30)
4 x 125’s IM swim with a rolling scull 25 (Rest :15)
8 x 50’s choice (3 kick descend 1-3, 1 easy swim) (:50)
Heart Rate Set
2 Rounds of the Following
6 x 50’s choice based on upcoming main set (1 fast/easy, 2 easy/fast, 3 easy, 4 fast/easy, 5 easy/fast, 6 fast) (:50)
8 x 25’s (3 blast, 1 easy) (:30) *Round 2 (:25 with fins)
Rest :30 add fins for Round 2
Spike Heart Rate Set
8 x HVO’s from flags to flags with fins on coach’s send off (Lay flat in prone position under flags then blast 15 yards to next set of flags) *HVO is high velocity overload, near “out-of-control” level speed!
Main Set
Focus: In order to race with elite level skills, you must practice racing with elite level skills. Expectations of skills and racing speed are at the highest on a set like this. We would record these and do a variation of a set like this (25’s, 50’s, 100’s, etc) about once a month and would compare the averages of the times as well as the top swims. Goal is to not just be great on one swim, but deal with the physical and emotional toll that comes with having to be great on all 6 or 8 x 50’s.
6 x 50’s All-Out for Time Off the Block (6:00)
150 easy in between each
*3 of one stroke, 3 of another
*Bryce would hold :27’s :28’s breast, :25-26’s back, :24-25 fly and :22-23 free on a set like this
*Christine would hold :24’s free, :25’s fly, :26’s back on a set like this.
Extended Cool-Down