Swimming Set of the Week - February 5, 2010

In addition to challenging your cardio system, this week's set is also a brainteaser.  Just what you want for a 5 am practice :)

This set deserves some shout-outs.   The format of the set was created by Larry Liebowitz, head women's swim coach at Oregon State University.  (To learn more about coach Liebowtiz, check out Dave Denniston's interview with him in 2006.)   The set was published in a book called Games, Gimmicks, Challenges for Swimming Coaches, compiled by Bob Steele.  This book is a great resource for coaches, and you can pick up a copy at Swimming World.

Coach Liebowitz wrote the set to challenge his swimmers to do some 100s on a 1-minute sendoff.  Ouch.   If you're not quite up to that kind of speed, here's how the set would play out on slower sendoffs.   This was the week's favorite set for the Masters team that I coach.   Choose a challenging sendoff for the 100s... one that gives you 2 to 10 seconds rest.

The sendoffs are in a chart, so you need to click the PDF to see the set.