Swim Training Set Of The Week: Stroke Speed and Pace

Photo Courtesy: Sue Borst

This week’s Swim Training Set Of The Week takes a look at a great specialty workout that works 100 speed and 200 pacing. The entire set, all four rounds, is specialty one (swimmer’s best stroke). It’s a great set that can accomplish a lot for the swimmer. Take a look:

3 x 100 stroke @ best time +:08 (BR + :10) 1:20/1:25/1:35 (BR)

2 x 50 stroke under goal 200 pace :45/:50/:50

1 x 300 pull free 5:00

The three 100s are all fast, with the ceiling time set at the swimmer’s best time plus eight seconds. Breaststrokers need to be within ten seconds of their best times. Because all the 100s are from a push, this is an effective challenge and will require a fast effort. Consistent in-practice speed will be key to staying below the ceiling times throughout all four rounds.

After the 100s, there’s a shift in speed. Now, the target speed for the 50s is to be under goal 200 pace. Goal 200 pace is simply the pace needed to reach the swimmers’ 200 goal times. The 300 pull free serves a nice, long recovery in between rounds of fast specialty work.

Being able to hit the necessary goal times throughout the entire set is key. As the rounds pass, hitting these times will get hard as fatigue sets in. In it’s entirety, the workout helps out with the 200 races. The fast 100s provide an opportunity to work on consistency and endurance, while the 50s obviously work on pacing. The need for speed, however, is good for having fast 100 races.

In its original form, each round needs to be the same stroke. You could change it up, however, and mix up strokes by round (i.e. stroke one for the first two rounds and stroke two for the final two rounds). I strongly suggest doing each round the same stroke, though.

Interested in having your set used in Swimming World’s Swim Training of the Week? Submit your set to the Swim Coaches Idea Exchange Group on Facebook or email it to edulaney@fuse.net. Be sure to include your team name and any comments or explanations for your set.

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