SWIM PLUS FROM 50M TO 5KM
Some masters swimmers want to do it all. How can they, erm, master the whole range of swimming events? Paul Newsome of Swim Smooth gives his tips
You can train for open water distances and still maintain your explosive speed starts
Many masters swimmers have a pool racing background over short sprint events from 50m upwards. If you are
successful over these short distances, it’s unlikely you’ll want to compromise your sprint speed when you train for longer open water events. Is it possible to train for both at the same time? And what would be the best type of training sessions to become such a versatile swimmer? You’ll need to be very focused in your training sessions to manage this, there’s simply no time for wasted yardage. We’re going to take a look at three types of training set to include in your weekly sessions, each has a clear purpose to develop the fitness and skills you need to race well from 50m in the pool to 5km in open water.
SPRINT SET 1 Goals: Dive Starts and Explosiveness
10x50m on 60s cycle (aim to get 1s faster per 50m up to 90 percent effort) 2x200m with fins
each 50m swum with a strong torpedo off wall and fast first 15m, then cruise remainder of 50m
4x (4x50m) on 80s cycle Sets 1 and 4 from dive, alternating max-effort 50m and easy 50m Sets 2 and 3 from push, each 50m as: 25m max-effort + 25m easy
SPRINT SESSIONS If you have a strong background as a masters swimmer then you’re likely to be familiar with this type of training session. These two typical main sets* are very demanding and require a lot of mental focus to complete well, but they will help you develop your anaerobic system, your explosiveness and your starts and turns. You may be used to completing two or three such sets a week, but when training for distance and sprint events simultaneously, you are unlikely to have sufficient time to do so. Don’t panic about this, you can tune up your sprint power very well from a single weekly session and polish those starts, turns and finishing skills all in one session. You’ll be ‘sprint fresh’ for it, so tackle this weekly session with relish and you’ll get maximum benefit from it.
SPRINT SET 2 Goals: Turns and Finish 10x50m + 20s rest interval
Alternate 50s at 90 percent effort and 60 percent effort. End each 50m with a fast tumble turn but no push-off – speed is key!
10x50m + 20s rest interval
If in a 50m pool, start and finish each 50m in the middle of the pool. Sprint 25m, fast turn, powerful pushoff, then easy 25m
10x50m + 20s rest interval Dive start, restrained for middle of each 50m, then sprint finish
41
Photos © Adam Young
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68