Main Set Monday - Age Group Sprints

Playing with stroke rate, length, and speed is constant game for swimmers of every level.  Learning how to make this a habit is much tougher.

Here’s a simple set we use, with example numbers on how you can start to play with building a stroke you can swim with for a very long time.  The goal of this particular set is to find the stroke count and swimming speed that you’re comfortable with for a more open water type of swimming.  With that said, take these example numbers down to lower stroke count and faster pace, and the set becomes a challenge of "how long can you keep this up?"… which is also a lot of fun (to watch).

Main Set (short course yards)

– First, go a set of 8 x 25 on :30.  These should be relaxed and smooth.  Count your strokes and get your times.  We’re going to say our example swimmer is taking 20 strokes in 20 seconds.

Once the baseline is set, you can start to work your way through this simple progression

– 16 x 25 on :30 holding 20 strokes and 20 seconds
– 8 x 50 on 1:00 holding 40 strokes and 40 seconds
– 4 x 75 on 1:30 holding 60 strokes and 1:00
– 2 x 100 on 2:00 holding 80 strokes and 1:20

Once you’re able to do that, progress forward by limiting the rest for each set:

– 16 x 25 on :30 holding 20 strokes and 20 seconds
– 8 x 50 on :55 holding 40 strokes and 40 seconds
– 4 x 75 on 1:20 holding 60 strokes and 1:00
– 2 x 100 on 1:45 holding 80 strokes and 1:20

Still doing good?  Let’s keep reducing the rest:

– 16 x 25 on :30 holding 20 strokes and 20 seconds
– 8 x 50 on :50 holding 40 strokes and 40 seconds
– 4 x 75 on 1:15 holding 60 strokes and 1:00
– 2 x 100 on 1:40 holding 80 strokes and 1:20

You can continue reducing the rest, or you can go the other direction, and increase the reps in each sub-set until you reach the following:

– 16 x 25 on :30 holding 20 strokes and 20 seconds
– 16 x 50 on 1:00 holding 40 strokes and 40 seconds
– 16 x 75 on 1:30 holding 60 strokes and 1:00
– 16 x 100 on 2:00 holding 80 strokes and 1:20

Keep playing, and invent your own ways to experiment with numbers.