the no kick TT time by the kick TT time, both in seconds, yields a score between 1.55 and 1.65, the athlete has reasonably good propulsion from both the kick and upper body. Having already “passed” swim golf, the athlete is known to have good in-water balance and overall propulsion. Therefore, this test really determines the source of the athlete’s propulsion. A score below the acceptable range is likely indicative of an inefficient kick.


Focusing on ankle flexibility and having a kick that originates from the athlete’s hips will help to bring the kick on par with the upper-body propulsion. Scores above the acceptable range may be a sign of an athlete who is unfit, has a lower BMI with limited strength and/or lacks a high elbow and good arm position. It should be noted that an athlete’s overall propulsive progress can also be tracked using this set throughout the entire season using the sum of these two times as the metric.


The above test sets are great ways to assess the effectiveness of an athlete’s early season drill work, but neither of them is indicative of whether or not the athletes’ targeting drill work is leading to faster swimming. This next set is simple, but an excellent way to evaluate swimming efficiency during the early season.


Overall Mechanics Progress – 150-yard TT


Following a warm up of about 500-1,000


yards, the athlete should swim a timed 150- yard TT. Repeating this, every two weeks during the early-season, is an excellent measure of mechanical progress. The length of this effort is perfect in the early-season, because it is not long enough for fitness to play a significant role, and not enough quantity to undermine a focus on aerobic base.


Having addressed the two major pieces of the mechanics puzzle, the following set will evaluate the specific physiological needs of the athlete, as race season approaches and training becomes more intensive.


Fitness ad Physiological Specifics – Over/Under


Following a warm up of about 1,000


yards, the athlete should complete a timed 400-yard TT, followed by a 2-minute rest and then a timed 1,600-yard TT. The athlete’s total swim speed (fitness and mechanics) can be assessed by the addition of these two times. Because the 1,600 TT is so aerobic in nature (likely 80-85 percent aerobic- energy production versus the 400 TT’s 30- 35 percent aerobic-energy production), this set is an excellent indicator of an athlete’s physiology and training needs.


If the ratio of the 1,600 time to the 400


time is greater than 4.5, the athlete either lacks aerobic fitness and durability and/or is very anaerobic. A heavy dose of continuous aerobic swimming will help to further develop the athlete’s aerobic system and decrease this ratio if required for their race distance. A ratio that is below 4.2, indicates a very aerobic athlete who will benefit from training that is oriented towards shorter swimming intervals near anaerobic threshold, and strength work, such as no kick swimming, and/or paddle work. Incidentally, the 1,600 TT portion of this set is also a very good predictor of an athlete’s Olympic-distance open water swim time, with a wetsuit.


The final set wraps everything together and gives a great sense of an athlete’s overall swim progress throughout the race season. This set is also an excellent predictor of Ironman swim performance.


Fitness and Race Performance – Monster Set


This is a continuous set, completed on an interval pace at which the athlete is comfortable bilateral breathing during an aerobic set. If chosen correctly, the interval should leave 5-10 seconds of rest following each 100- yard repeat. The 100s and 200s should be completed at a best sustainable effort, the pace that can be maintained throughout the total number of repeats specified. The “pulls” should be completed at a pace that allows the athlete to make the chosen interval. The complete set is 4,900 yards:


1,000 continuous pull (buoy, no paddles) 9x100 at best sustainable effort 4x200 paddles (paddles only) 7x100 at best sustainable effort 600 continuous pull (buoy, no paddles) 5x100 at best sustainable effort 2x200 paddles (paddles only)


The athlete should record their average pace for all of the 100-yard repeats and the 200-yard paddle repeats. The average 100- yard pace can then be multiplied by 43 to get the athlete’s estimated Ironman swim time with a wetsuit in open water.


I hope this series of swim test sets helps


you to direct and prescribe your athletes’ swim training throughout the year. By avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach, an athlete’s specific limiter(s) can be addressed, and their swimming potential realized as time efficiently as possible.


Jesse Kropelnicki is a USA Triathlon Level II triathlon coach who founded QT2 Systems, LLC, a leading provider of personal triathlon and run coaching/nutrition. Besides his primary focus of coaching, Jesse is a veteran age group triathlete and member of the QT2 Elite Triathlon Team. He is the triathlon coach of professional athletes Caitlin Snow, Dede Griesbauer, Ethan Brown and Tim Snow among others; and nutrition/cardio advisor for professional UFC fighter Kenny Florian. His interests lie in coaching professional and advanced triathletes using quantitative training and nutrition protocols. You can track his other coaching comments/ideas via his blog at www.kropelnicki.com.


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