Designing your own swim set
— by Lauren Brandon
What I love about most swim sets is that you can do the same workout throughout the entire year regardless of where you are in your season. If you are just coming back from a break and your swim fitness is lacking, then no worries. I find it very difficult to have any differentiation between paces when I’m not in good swim fitness, so I just swim everything at one easy pace. If you are “in-season” and still racing, then you’re in tip-top shape, so you can really push yourself to the max and find that extra speed.
The following set is designed for you to adjust it as you see fit. If you need to swim it all at one pace, then do that, but you can still get in some good yardage (option 1). If you want to add some speed, then you will descend each set (option 2). Finally, if you need to mix it up, then add in some equipment and different strokes (option 3).
Have fun and remember, make this your OWN set.
- 4x 400 20 seconds rest
- 4x 300 15 seconds rest
- 4x 200 10 seconds rest
- 4x 100 5 seconds rest
- 100 easy at the end
Total: 4100*
Option 1: swim steady free
Option 2: descend 1-4 in each set freestyle
Option 3: descend 1-4 in each set, but swim the 400’s free, pull the 300’s, swim IM for the 200’s, and swim free for the 100’s.
*If you need to take off some yardage, then skip the 400’s and you will have 2500 total.
