The swim session programme was completely re-worked with the first two sections now 8-week blocks rather than the four week blocks we used originally. Our first 8-week module starts on the first Friday in November and takes us through to January (time off at Christmas and New Year!). This segment is basic preparation and consists mainly of technique work and a re-establishment of a fitness base. The second segment is primarily strength and endurance work with a mix of stamina and technique.

The third and fourth segments are four week blocks consisting of three weeks of work and a time trial. These take us to the beginning of May and the first races of the season. At this point training becomes more focussed on the individual as each athlete prepares for their races and the requirements that their programme calls for.

Call for comments

Is anyone out there actually using these schedules as part of their training? I'd be very interested to know and to get any feedback; positive or negative. Email webmastertriathletes-uk.org with your thoughts.

Notes

Everybody has their own shorthand for describing swim sets and so some of the following may seem obtuse! Here's a short breakdown of the code:

l

full	full stroke front crawl (that's arms and legs...)
pull	front crawl arms only, pull buoy between the legs
kick	front crawl legs only, kick board optional
kick on side (KOS)	roll the body into the normal breathing position and then kick for 6 beats. Roll the body through to breathe on the other side and kick for 6 beats.
fist	swim with hands closed into fists. Fist/Full is a length of fist followed by a length of full stroke and helps highlight the feel of the water on the hands.
alternating one arm	start with the left arm. The right arm is held out in front. Do three complete strokes with the left arm then leave the left arm in front and do three strokes with the right.
catch-up	start with the left arm. Right arm is held out in front and only begins its stroke when the left hand touches the right. Left arm now waits for the right arm to catch up and so on...
ripple	during the arm recovery the fingers are trailed (rippled) across the surface of the water. This only works if you have a high -- NOT rotated -- elbow and should promote a good roll. This replaces the deprecated chicken wing drill that just messes up shoulders.
front scull	swim just the front part of the stroke, hands stay underwater
back scul	swim just the back part of the stroke, hands stay underwater
full scull	swim the whole stroke, hands stay underwater
repeat	do the set again!
at ... pace	use the pace clock to regulate your speed to the same as your last ... timed swim

Oh, and one very useful tip for those in a 25m pool. Your 25m time in seconds is a predictor of your 1500m time in minutes. If you can repeatedly swim 25m in 28 seconds you should be able to swim 1500m in 28 minutes. (1500m is 60 lengths in a 25m pool).

Warm-up sets

With one or two exceptions (see the individual programmes) we use one of the four available warm-ups to start off each session. Through all the following training plans you'll see that the warm-up is designated by a letter A-D. Each is intended to be swum at a moderate pace (ie well within aerobic capacity) and should include a stretching session both before and after.

---

Remember to bring a 750ml bottle (water or sports drink), pull-buoy and a kickboard to each session. Paddles and fins are also used but NEVER in the warm-up sets.

---

Set A: 200 full, 100 pull, 50 kick -- repeat after 30 seconds rest (700m)
Set B: 100 full, 50 kick, 100 pull, 50 kick -- repeat after 30 seconds rest (600m)
Set C: 200 full, 100 kick on back, 200 pull, 100 kick on front (600m)
Set D: 300 full -- repeat after 30 seconds rest (600m)

Phase 1 - base training

Over the next eight weeks the swims are tailored to provide a moderate level of intensity (to maintain overall fitness) and to concentrate on increasing proficiency through repeated technique drills.

Week 1: 2,100m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	50m alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50m catch-up, 100 full, 50m ripple, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50m fist, 100m full, 50m alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50m catch-up, 100 full (900m)
Main:	50 full, 100 pull, 200 full, 100 pull, 50 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (500m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 2: 2,200
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	50 catch-up, 100 full, 50 ripple, 100 full, 50 fist, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50 ripple, 100m full, 50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 fist, 100 full (900m)
Main:	300 full, 200 pull, 100 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (600m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 3: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Technique:	50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full, 50 ripple, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50 fist, 100m full, 50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full (900m)
Main:	100 full, 150 pull, 200 full, 150 pull, 100 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (700m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 4: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Technique:	50 drill of choice, 50 full (count), 50 full (decrease by 2) rest 20 seconds and repeat 6 times (900m)
Main:	50 full, 100 pull, 200 full, 100 pull, 50 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (500m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 5: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Technique:	50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full, 50 ripple, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50 fist, 100m full, 50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full (900m)
Main:	300 full, 200 full, 100 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (500m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 6: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set C (600m)
Technique:	50 front-scull, 100 full, 50 back-scull, 100 full, 50 full-scull, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50 fist, 100m full, 50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full (900m)
Main:	400 full, 200 full, 100 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (700m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 7: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set C (600m)
Technique:	50 front-scull, 100 full, 50 back-scull, 100 full, 50 full-scull, 100 full (30 seconds rest) 50 ripple, 100m full, 50 fist, 100 full, 50 ripple, 100 full (900m)
Main:	50 full, 100 pull, 200 full, 100 pull, 50 full at 1,500m pace with 10 seconds rest intervals (500m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 8: 2,050m
Warmup:	Set D (600m)
Technique:	50 alternate 1-arm, 100 full, 50 catch-up, 100 full, 50 ripple, 100 full (450m)
Main:	1,000m timed swim
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour

Phase 2 - power training

The next eight weeks take the aerobic base and improved skills and begin to increase the load in each session. Monitoring is performed every week to ensure that skills are not being broken down and to ensure that the overall performance is improving. Note that the technique and main parts of these sets will be done while wearing a t-shirt!

A couple of extra notes about these drills. The head-out kicking is done with a kickboard or float held to the chest underwater. This raises the torso and forces you to kick properly from the hips -- if you don't, you'll go absolutely nowhere! The press-ups are done on the pool edge and are an exercise to develop the front half of the stroke. Place your forearms on the pool edge, fingers touching, and use the deltoids and lats to raise your body.

Week 1: 1,800m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	50m full, 50m kick, 100m full, 100m kick, 150m full, 150m kick (600m) Note: kicking is with float under chest and head out
Main:	25m swim, 10*press-up, walk back (repeat 5) 25m back legs, 10*sit up, walk back (repeat 4) 25m breathing on 6, 5*press-up, walk back (repeat 3) Note: Lane 3 always swims back! (300m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 2: 2,050m
Warmup:	Set C (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	600m pull with every 4th length as breast stroke arms (600m)
Main:	50m swim, 10*press-up (repeat 5) then 50m breast stroke, 10*sit up (repeat 4) then 25m butterfly, 5*press-up, walk back (repeat 2) (550m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 3: 2,300m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	600m swim with every 4th length as butterfly kick. Note: head out on kick (600m)
Main:	100m swim, 10*press-up (repeat 4) then 100m breast stroke, 10*sit up (repeat 2) then 25m butterfly, 5*press-up, walk back (repeat 2) (800m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 4: 2,300m
Warmup:	Set C (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	100m head-out kick, 50m backstroke kick arms up, 25m breaststroke kick, 25m fly kick (repeat 3) (600m)
Main:	400m pull as 100 on 3s, 100 on 4s, 100 on 5s, 100 on 6s. 400m as 25 fly/25 back, 25 full/25 breast, 25 breast/25 full, 25 full/25 fly Lane 3 on 1:00, Lane 2 on 1:20, Lane 3 on 1:40 (repeat) (800m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 5: 2,350m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	600m pull with every 4th length as breast stroke arms (600m)
Main:	150m swim, 10* press-up (repeat 3) then 100m breast stroke, 10*sit up (repeat 3) then 50m butterfly, 5*press-up (repeat 2) (850m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 6:
Warmup:	100m head-out kick, 50m backstroke kick arms up, 25m breaststroke kick, 25m fly kick (200m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	600m swim with every 4th length as breast stroke arms (600m)
Main:	Group 1 on shock cords, Group 2 on team relay then swap.
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 7: 2,350m
Warmup:	Set B (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	600m swim with every 4th length as breast stroke arms (600m)
Main:	150m swim, 10* press-up (repeat 3) then 100m breast stroke, 10*sit up (repeat 3) then 50m butterfly, 5*press-up (repeat 2) (850m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	200m swim, shirt off (200m)
Week 8: 2,150m
Warmup:	Set D (600m)
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Technique:	50m drill, 100m swim (repeat 3) (450m)
Main:	1000m time trial
Check:	swim 50m, count strokes and record (50m)
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour

Phase 3 - threshold training (1)

The next eight weeks are broken into two four week segments, each with its own time trial. The focus is now on building speed and stamina together and this is done by increasing repeats. The rest intervals decrease and the speed increases so the overall distance per session will also rise. These are the hardest weeks of the cycle!

Because timimg is important at this stage it is essential that you use the pace clock to regulate the session. The 'target time plus 10 seconds' is the total amount of time and rest that is available so if you swim faster than target you get more rest or slower than target and get less rest. If you miss the target and the rest then drop that repeat and start again at the next one. Every club member will have a target time to work against during this phase of the programme and should achieve that target at the half-way time trial. The target is then reduced for the following three weeks and the second time trial establishes the benchmark for the season.

Week 1: 2,300m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	800m swum as 16*25m and 8* 50m on target plus 10s rest (800m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 2: 2,500m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1000m swum as 12*25m then 8* 50m then 3*100m on target plus 10s rest (1000m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 3: 2,700m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1200m swum as 8*25m then 10* 50m then 5*100m on target plus 10s rest (1200m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 4: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set D (600m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1000m time trial
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour
Week 5: 2,500m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1000m swum as 12*25m then 8* 50m then 3*100m on target plus 10s rest (1000m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 6: 2,700m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1200m swum as 8*25m then 10* 50m then 5*100m on target plus 10s rest (1200m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 7: 2,900m
Warmup:	Set A (700m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1400m swum as 10* 50m then 5*100m then 2*200m on target plus 10s rest (1400m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 8: 2,200m
Warmup:	Set D (600m)
Technique:	600m swum as 50m of drill, 100m of full stroke (repeat 4) (600m)
Main:	1000m time trial
Warm-down:	easy swim to complete the hour

Phase 4 - speed work and style adjustment

These four workouts are intended to peak the squad for the main events of the year: Bournemouth, Windsor and Shropshire. The bungee sessions will obviously only work when you have unrestricted use of the lanes! If these sessions preceed a race then use your judgement -- although they have lots of rest the work is quite intense!

Fins are used for the warmup set to help develop a sense of speed; this pays off in the descending sets. In the descending set the idea is to set the target 50m time, say 40 seconds, this would give a target 100m time of 84 seconds and a 200m time of 172 seconds. A rest period of 2 minutes is allowed between each segment -- it's not quite as easy as it sounds!

Week 1: 2,500m
Warmup:	600m swum with fins as 200m full, 200m pull, 200m kick (600m)
Technique:	700m swum as a descending set: 200m, 100m, 50m (repeat 2) (700m)
Main:	1000m swum as 25m easy, 50m on target, 20m easy, rest 30 seconds (repeat 10) (1000m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 2: 1,500m plus intervals
Warmup:	600m swum with fins as 200m full, 200m pull, 200m kick (600m)
Technique:	700m swum as a descending set: 200m, 100m, 50m (repeat 2) (700m)
Main:	bungee swim: 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off (repeat 10-20)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 3: 1,500m plus intervals
Warmup:	600m swum with fins as 200m full, 200m pull, 200m kick (600m)
Technique:	700m swum as a descending set: 200m, 100m, 50m (repeat 2) (700m)
Main:	bungee swim: 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off (repeat 10-20)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)
Week 4: 2,500m
Warmup:	600m swum with fins as 200m full, 200m pull, 200m kick (600m)
Technique:	700m swum as a descending set: 200m, 100m, 50m (repeat 2) (700m)
Main:	1000m swum as 25m easy, 50m on target, 20m easy, rest 30 seconds (repeat 10) (1000m)
Warm-down:	200m swim (200m)