Fast starts, longer cruise

With race season now in full swing it is important to be ready for the melee of mass starts. So to practice this you will be starting fast with positive split 200s. In these you swim the first 100 fast then drop into a steadier pace for the second 100 where I want you to try and reduce your stroke count per length by 2 but keeping a good cruise pace. Leave 3s intervals and try and stay on the feet of the person in front on the first 100. Don’t be annoying and touch their feet but do try and hang on to them and get used to slip-streaming while trying to keep a good fast pace.

Enjoy and see you next week!

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 18th May 2024

Warm up

100 f/c, 100 b/c, 100 brs, 100 IM

Main set – positive splits and aerobic

3 x 200 f/c off 3:10, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

3 x 150 even pace f/c off 2:25

Brucey Bonus 1m extra rest

3 x 200 f/c off 3:10, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

Subset 1 – steady aerobic pace

2 x 200 f/c pull with paddles, 20s rest

Subset 2 – sprints, steady and speed endurance

3 x sets with no extra rest between sets of: 

25 sprint off 60

50 steady off 60

75 speed endurance off 60

Swim down

200 as 50 swim, 50 kick, 50 pull, 50 swim

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 18th May 2024

Warm up

100 f/c, 100 b/c, 100 brs, 100 IM

Main set – positive splits and aerobic

3 x 200 f/c off 3:30, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

3 x 150 even pace f/c off 2:40

Brucey Bonus 1m extra rest

3 x 200 f/c off 3:30, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

Subset 1 – steady aerobic pace

200 f/c pull with paddles, 20s rest

100 f/c pull with paddles

Subset 2 – sprints, steady and speed endurance

3 x sets with no extra rest between sets of: 

25 sprint off 70

50 steady off 70

75 speed endurance off 70

Swim down

200 as 50 swim, 50 kick, 50 pull, 50 swim

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 18th May 2024

Warm up

100 f/c, 100 b/c, 100 brs

Main set – positive splits and aerobic

3 x 200 f/c off 3:50, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

3 x 150 even pace f/c off 2:50

Brucey Bonus 1m extra rest

2 x 200 f/c off 3:50, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

Subset 1 – steady aerobic pace

200 f/c pull with paddles, 20s rest

100 f/c pull with paddles

Subset 2 – sprints, steady and speed endurance

3 x sets with no extra rest between sets of: 

25 sprint off 75

50 steady off 75

75 speed endurance off 75

Swim down

200 as 50 swim, 50 kick, 50 pull, 50 swim

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 18th May 2024

Warm up

100 f/c, 100 b/c, 100 brs

Main set – positive splits and aerobic

2 x 200 f/c off 4:30, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

3 x 150 even pace f/c off 3:15

Brucey Bonus 1m extra rest

2 x 200 f/c off 4:30, swimming 1^st 100 fast, 2^nd 100 cruise pace, 2 fewer strokes per length

Subset 1 – steady aerobic pace

200 f/c pull with paddles, 20s rest

100 f/c pull with paddles

Subset 2 – sprints, steady and speed endurance

3 x sets with no extra rest between sets of: 

25 sprint off 85

50 steady off 85

75 speed endurance off 85

Swim down

200 as 50 swim, 50 kick, 50 pull, 50 swim

Maintaining stroke length

Good work last week on the long main set, especially the 100s where you were working on reducing stroke count on each length. How did you find it? It is challenging to reduce it by 4 strokes over a 100m and I didn’t manage it. I reduced my strokes by 2 over the 100 and it found it a useful to work on.

This week the challenge will be maintaining stroke count throughout the main set as you vary your speed. See how consistent you can keep your stroke count over the set as you focus on using your leg speed and core-driven rotation only to adjust your swim speed.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 11th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

4 x 50 f/c, 15s rest (25 easy, 25 build)

200 kick (100 with board, 100 without)

Main set – maintain stroke count

5 x 75 f/c steady, off 1:15

5 x 125 f/c faster, off 1:55

5 x 75 f/c faster still, off 1:10

5 x 125 f/c steady again, off 2:00

Sprint set

4 x 25 sprint kick, 30s rest

4 x 25 f/c sprint at max effort, 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c, 100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 11th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

4 x 50 f/c, 15s rest (25 easy, 25 build)

100 kick (50 with board, 50 without)

Main set – maintain stroke count

5 x 75 f/c steady, off 1:25

5 x 125 f/c faster, off 2:10

4 x 75 f/c faster still, off 1:20

4 x 125 f/c steady again, off 2:15

Sprint set

4 x 25 sprint kick, 30s rest

4 x 25 f/c sprint at max effort, 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c, 100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 11th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

4 x 50 f/c, 15s rest (25 easy, 25 build)

200 kick (100 with board, 100 without)

Main set – maintain stroke count

4 x 75 f/c steady, off 1:30

4 x 125 f/c faster, off 2:25

4 x 75 f/c faster still, off 1:25

4 x 125 f/c steady again, off 2:30

Sprint set

4 x 25 sprint kick, 30s rest

4 x 25 f/c sprint at max effort, 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c, 100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 11th May 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

3 x 50 f/c, 15s rest (25 easy, 25 build)

100 kick (50 with board, 50 without)

Main set – maintain stroke count

4 x 75 f/c steady, off 1:45

4 x 125 f/c faster, off 2:45

4 x 75 f/c faster still, off 1:40

4 x 125 f/c steady again, off 2:50

Sprint set

2 x 25 sprint kick, 30s rest

4 x 25 f/c sprint at max effort, 30s rest

Swim down

100 own choice

Playing with stroke length

One of the most challenging aspects of any endurance-based swim is maintaining form as you get tired. We experience this most weeks in the pool towards the end of the main set and often we find our stroke getting shorter and doing more strokes every length. This week we are going to play with stroke length during the main set and give you chance to practise keeping it long. Watch the following video about what we will be doing in the reduced stroke 100s in the main set.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 4th May 2024

Warm up

400 f/c

4 x 50 kick with board with 15s rest

Main set – race prep

5 x 200 f/c off 3:10 pull with paddles

4 x 100 f/c off 1:35, reducing strokes 1 per length

8 x 50 f/c off 60 at race pace

4 x 100 f/c off 1:35, reducing strokes 1 per length & breathing bilaterally

4 x 50 f/c flat-out sprint with 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c

100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 4th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

4 x 50 kick with board with 15s rest

Main set – race prep

4 x 200 f/c off 3:40 pull with paddles

4 x 100 f/c off 1:45, reducing strokes 1 per length

8 x 50 f/c off 60 at race pace

4 x 100 f/c off 1:45, reducing strokes 1 per length & breathing bilaterally bilaterally

4 x 50 f/c flat-out sprint with 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c

100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 4th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

3 x 50 kick with board with 15s rest

Main set – race prep

4 x 200 f/c off 4:00 pull with paddles

3 x 100 f/c off 1:55, reducing strokes 1 per length

6 x 50 f/c off 70 at race pace

3 x 100 f/c off 1:55 breathing bilaterally

4 x 50 f/c flat-out sprint with 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c

100 own choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 4th May 2024

Warm up

300 f/c

2 x 50 kick with board with 15s rest

Main set – race prep

3 x 200 f/c off 4:20 pull with paddles

3 x 100 f/c off 2:05, reducing strokes 1 per length

6 x 50 f/c off 70 at race pace

3 x 100 f/c off 2:05, reducing strokes 1 per length & breathing bilaterally bilaterally

4 x 50 f/c flat-out sprint with 30s rest

Swim down

200 easy f/c

100 own choice

Enjoying swimming fast

One of Brenton’s short videos resonated with me recently about enjoying the feel of the water and not over thinking it. You can watch it below.

Have a go at trying Brenton’s suggestion this week. The sub-set is perfect for enjoying the feeling of the water with 2-3 drill being one of my favourites for relaxing swimming and focusing on a good catch with symmetrical rotation to both sides.

The challenge comes when trying to keep that good relaxed feel for the water when you swim faster. Faster does not mean a lot more force and effort. Faster means easy-speed by keeping that relaxed feel and using the power in your big core and back muscles from your boom-boom, core-driven rotation. Try and focus on that fast, relaxed speed during the Brownlee set of fast 100s this week.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 27th Apr 2024

Warm up

200 swim f/c

100 f/c kick, 100 back stroke kick

Subset – technique & speed work

5 x 50 swum as 2-3 drill (alt. 2 strokes doggy paddle, 3 full stroke), 15s rest

5 x 50 full stroke off 60s swum as 15m 100% effort sprint, 25m easy, 10m 100% effort sprint

Main set  – progressive pace

6 sets of 3 x 100 off 1:35, 1:30 & 1:25, 1-3 progressive, Brucey-bonus 60s extra rest after 3 sets.

Aim to make the 2nd one of each set your triathlon race pace and the 3rd one faster.  Try to swim all with the same recovery time. 

Swim down

200 as 50 f/c, 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 27th Apr 2024

Warm up

200 swim f/c

100 f/c kick, 100 back stroke kick

Subset – technique & speed work

4 x 50 swum as 2-3 drill (alt. 2 strokes doggy paddle, 3 full stroke), 15s rest

4 x 50 full stroke off 60s swum as 15m 100% effort sprint, 25m easy, 10m 100% effort sprint

Main set  – progressive pace

6 sets of 3 x 100 off 1:50, 1:45 & 1:40, 1-3 progressive, Brucey-bonus 60s extra rest after 3 sets.

Aim to make the 2nd one of each set your triathlon race pace and the 3rd one faster.  Try to swim all with the same recovery time. 

Swim down

200 as 50 f/c, 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 27th Apr 2024

Warm up

100 swim f/c

100 f/c kick, 100 back stroke kick

Subset – technique & speed work

3 x 50 swum as 2-3 drill (alt. 2 strokes doggy paddle, 3 full stroke), 15s rest

3 x 50 full stroke off 70s swum as 15m 100% effort sprint, 25m easy, 10m 100% effort sprint

Main set  – progressive pace

6 sets of 3 x 100 off 2:00, 1:55 & 1:50, 1-3 progressive, Brucey-bonus 60s extra rest after 3 sets.

Aim to make the 2nd one of each set your triathlon race pace and the 3rd one faster.  Try to swim all with the same recovery time. 

Swim down

200 as 50 f/c, 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 27th Apr 2024

Warm up

200 swim f/c

50 f/c kick, 50 back stroke kick

Subset – technique & speed work

4 x 50 swum as 2-3 drill (alt. 2 strokes doggy paddle, 3 full stroke), 15s rest

4 x 50 full stroke off 75s swum as 15m 100% effort sprint, 25m easy, 10m 100% effort sprint

Main set  – progressive pace

5 sets of 3 x 100 off 2:10, 2:05 & 2:00, 1-3 progressive, Brucey-bonus 60s extra rest after 3 sets.

Aim to make the 2nd one of each set your triathlon race pace and the 3rd one faster.  Try to swim all with the same recovery time. 

Swim down

200 as 50 f/c, 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Different strokes, different speeds

This week we are back to some good race-season training with a mix of aerobic swims, different strokes and different pacing. I thought you might like one of Brenton Ford’s recent videos about the importance of swimming different strokes showing how it all helps with your catch.

You will get a chance to practise some different strokes this week as well as the more triathlon-specific longer swims.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 20th Apr 2024

Warm up

100 f/c

100 b/c, 100 brs

100 2-2-2 f/c drill

Main set – aerobic pace

10 x 150s f/c 

1-5 aerobic pace f/c pull with paddles, off 2:15

6-10 aerobic pace f/c swim off 2:20

Subset – working on fast stroke rate

12 x 25 off 30 alternating 25 IM order steady pace, 25 fast f/c breathing as little as possible with fast kick

Subset – pursuit swims

6 x 100s with 30s rest, trying to catch the person in front

3^rd 25 is “live” on first and second 100

2^nd 25 is “live” on third and fourth 100

Both 1^st and 4^th 25s are “live” on fifth and sixth 100

“Live” 25s are where you try and catch the swimmer in front and avoid getting caught yourself by the swimmer behind, go 3s behind the swimmer in front

Swim down – 100 choice not f/c, 100 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 20th Apr 2024

Warm up

100 f/c

100 b/c, 100 brs

100 2-2-2 f/c drill

Main set – aerobic pace 

9 x 150s f/c 

1-5 aerobic pace f/c pull with paddles, off 2:40

6-9 aerobic pace f/c swim off 2:45

Subset – working on fast stroke rate

12 x 25 off 35 alternating 25 IM order steady pace, 25 fast f/c breathing as little as possible with fast kick

Subset – pursuit swims

6 x 100s with 30s rest, trying to catch the person in front

3^rd 25 is “live” on first and second 100

2^nd 25 is “live” on third and fourth 100

Both 1^st and 4^th 25s are “live” on fifth and sixth 100

“Live” 25s are where you try and catch the swimmer in front and avoid getting caught yourself by the swimmer behind, go 3s behind the swimmer in front

Swim down – 100 choice not f/c, 100 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 20th Apr 2024

Warm up

100 f/c

100 b/c, 100 brs

100 2-2-2 f/c drill

Main set – aerobic pace 

8 x 150s f/c 

1-4 aerobic pace f/c pull with paddles, off 2:50

5-8 aerobic pace f/c swim off 2:55

Subset – working on fast stroke rate

8 x 25 off 40 alternating 25 IM order steady pace, 25 fast f/c fast as little as possible with fast kick

Subset – pursuit swims

6 x 100s with 30s rest, trying to catch the person in front

3^rd 25 is “live” on first and second 100

2^nd 25 is “live” on third and fourth 100

Both 1^st and 4^th 25s are “live” on fifth and sixth 100

“Live” 25s are where you try and catch the swimmer in front and avoid getting caught yourself by the swimmer behind, go 3s behind the swimmer in front

Swim down 

100 choice not f/c, 100 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 20th Apr 2024

Warm up

100 f/c

50 b/c, 50 brs

100 2-2-2 f/c drill

Main set – aerobic pace 

6 x 150s f/c 

1-3 aerobic pace f/c pull with paddles, off 3:15

4-6 aerobic pace f/c swim off 3:20

Subset – working on fast stroke rate

8 x 25 off 45 alternating 25 b/c steady pace, 25 fast f/c breathing as little as possible with fast kick

Subset – pursuit swims

6 x 100s with 30s rest, trying to catch the person in front

3^rd 25 is “live” on first and second 100

2^nd 25 is “live” on third and fourth 100

Both 1^st and 4^th 25s are “live” on fifth and sixth 100

“Live” 25s are where you try and catch the swimmer in front and avoid getting caught yourself by the swimmer behind, go 3s behind the swimmer in front

Swim down

100 choice not f/c, 100 f/c

Time Trials

This week we have the final time trials of this Winter season and it is a great chance to see how your swim pace is going as we start the triathlon race season. If you come along and give the time trials a go then I think you are in a win-win scenario. Some of you will be really pleased with your swim speed and get a confidence boost going into the season. Others of you will be disappointed with your swim speed and so will learn a lot from the stats on your stroke rate, pacing and distance per stroke. Everyone will enjoy the camaraderie with like-minded friends who like to challenge themselves.

As a reminder on what to think about to put in a good performance here as my top-4 tips:

1. Pace it well by aiming to complete 200m with enough energy to push on for the 3rd 100m.
2. Keep a good tempo and stroke rate by focusing on boom-boom, core-driven rotation.
3. Push the pace into and out of every turn.
4. Turn up on time to do the full warm-up and do all the fast sprints in the warm-up really at 100% max effort to make sure you are fully warmed up and ready to race.

CTC Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 13th April 2024

Warm up

16 x 50s f/c 

1-4 steady swim off 50

5-8 alt 25 2-2-2 drill, 25 swim with 15s rest

9-16 off 60 every odd 50 as (15m 100% max effort, 25m steady, 10m 100% max effort), every even 50 steady 

Main set

1 x 400 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

1 x 100 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

Swim down

200 choice

CTC Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 13th April 2024

Warm up

15 x 50s f/c 

1-4 steady swim off 55

5-8 alt 25 2-2-2 drill, 25 swim with 15s rest

9-15 off 65 every odd 50 as (15m 100% max effort, 25m steady, 10m 100% max effort), every even 50 steady 

Main set

1 x 400 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

1 x 100 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

Swim down

200 choice

CTC Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 13th April 2024

Warm up

14 x 50s f/c 

1-4 steady swim off 60

5-8 alt 25 2-2-2 drill, 25 swim with 15s rest

9-14 off 70 every odd 50 as (15m 100% max effort, 25m steady, 10m 100% max effort), every even 50 steady 

Main set

1 x 400 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

1 x 100 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

Swim down

200 choice

CTC Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 13th April 2024

Warm up

12 x 50s f/c 

1-4 steady swim off 65

5-8 alt 25 2-2-2 drill, 25 swim with 15s rest

9-12 off 75 every odd 50 as (15m 100% max effort, 25m steady, 10m 100% max effort), every even 50 steady 

Main set

1 x 400 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

1 x 100 time trial, swum individually, then help time others

Swim down

200 choice

Finishing touches while I am away

Great work on the Easter Swim last week! The Easter Swim was a good all-round workout covering all the strokes. This week, while I am away and Chrissie is looking after you, you will be going some finishing touches to your speed before we do our final time trials of the 2024 pre-season next week. So it is the return of USRPT (Ultra Short Race Pace Training) 50s.

This is a great set for increasing your top-end race speed. Before the main set you will have a chance to practise your boom-boom rotation again to get fully warmed up and ready for swimming the fastest, sustained swim set we do. As ever, please remember to swim faster than you can sustain for the whole set so you have to miss out at least 2 of them to maintain that good, high speed with a great boom-boom rotation.

See you next week!

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 6th April 2024

Warm up

200 Reverse IM

200 Alternating 25 f/c own choice drill, 25 f/c

Technique set – focus on boom-boom rotation

12 x 50s f/c drills off 20s rest

1-3 Unco drill, 1st length L arm 2nd length R arm

4-6 reverse catch-up drill

7-9 full stroke, perfect technique, breath every 5

10-12 full stroke 15m fast, 25m steady, 10m 100% effort

Main set – USRPT

30 x 50s f/c off 60, all fast 

Swim at a faster pace than you can sustain for the whole set, going at 5s intervals and monitor your time for each 50.  Miss out a 50 and join in the next one when your time drops, even if only by 1s. You should plan on missing out 2 or 3 x 50s to get the most benefit from this set but let the clock decide how many you actually miss based on your times.

Swim down

200 choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 6th April 2024

Warm up

200 Reverse IM

200 Alternating 25 f/c own choice drill, 25 f/c

Technique set – focus on boom-boom rotation

12 x 50s f/c drills off 20s rest

1-3 Unco drill, 1st length L arm 2nd length R arm

4-6 reverse catch-up drill

7-9 full stroke, perfect technique, breath every 5

10-12 full stroke 15m fast, 25m steady, 10m 100% effort

Main set – USRPT

30 x 50s f/c off 65, all fast 

Swim at a faster pace than you can sustain for the whole set, going at 5s intervals and monitor your time for each 50.  Miss out a 50 and join in the next one when your time drops, even if only by 1s. You should plan on missing out 2 or 3 x 50s to get the most benefit from this set but let the clock decide how many you actually miss based on your times.

Swim down

200 choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 6th April 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 own choice drills

100 own choice swim, not f/c

Technique set – focus on boom-boom rotation

9 x 50s f/c drills off 20s rest

1-3 Unco drill, 1st length L arm 2nd length R arm

4-6 reverse catch-up drill

7-9 full stroke 15m fast, 25m steady, 10m 100% effort

Main set – USRPT

30 x 50s f/c off 70, all fast 

Swim at a faster pace than you can sustain for the whole set, going at 5s intervals and monitor your time for each 50.  Miss out a 50 and join in the next one when your time drops, even if only by 1s. You should plan on missing out 2 or 3 x 50s to get the most benefit from this set but let the clock decide how many you actually miss based on your times.

Swim down

200 choice

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 6th April 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 own choice drills

100 own choice swim, not f/c

Technique set – focus on boom-boom rotation

9 x 50s f/c drills off 20s rest

1-3 Unco drill, 1st length L arm 2nd length R arm

4-6 reverse catch-up drill

7-9 full stroke, 15m fast, 25m steady, 10m 100% effort

Main set – USRPT

28 x 50s f/c off 75, all fast 

Swim at a faster pace than you can sustain for the whole set, going at 5s intervals and monitor your time for each 50.  Miss out a 50 and join in the next one when your time drops, even if only by 1s. You should plan on missing out 2 or 3 x 50s to get the most benefit from this set but let the clock decide how many you actually miss based on your times.

Swim down

100 choice

Easter Swim

Happy Easter everyone! You have been putting some great work in over recent weeks so we are going to slow it down a little and do a steadier-paced, total body workout for our Easter Swim with a good mix of all the strokes. Think about keeping good form and technique and enjoy the chance of practising different strokes we don’t do very often.

If you struggle with Butterfly try some single-arm drill instead to get the rhythm, as shown in the following video.

CTC Easter Swim 2024

Lane 1 – Saturday 30th March 2024

Warm up, Main Set & Swim Down

32 x 100s off 1:35, all f/c except for the following:

• Swim every 3^rd 100 as per following pattern
  • 1^st time as 4 x 25s Fly off 10s rest
  • 2^nd time as 2 x 50s B/C off 15s rest
  • 3^rd time as 2 x 50s BRS off 15s rest
  • 4^th time as 1 x 100 IM off 20s rest
  • 5^th time as 1 x 100 reverse IM off 20s rest
  • Repeat same pattern for 6^th-10^th sets
• Brucey-bonus extra minute after 16x100s

Happy Easter – enjoy the good food & drink – you have now well and truly earned it!

CTC Easter Swim 2024

Lane 2 – Saturday 30th March 2024

Warm up, Main Set & Swim Down

28 x 100s off 1:45, all f/c except for the following:

• Swim every 3^rd 100 as per following pattern
  • 1^st time as 4 x 25s Fly off 10s rest
  • 2^nd time as 2 x 50s B/C off 15s rest
  • 3^rd time as 2 x 50s BRS off 15s rest
  • 4^th time as 1 x 100 IM off 20s rest
  • 5^th time as 1 x 100 reverse IM off 20s rest
  • Repeat same pattern for 6^th-10^th sets
• Brucey-bonus extra minute after 14x100s

Happy Easter – enjoy the good food & drink – you have now well and truly earned it!

CTC Easter Swim 2024

Lane 3 – Saturday 30th March 2024

Warm up, Main Set & Swim Down

26 x 100s off 1:55, all f/c except for the following:

• Swim every 3^rd 100 as per following pattern
  • 1^st time as 4 x 25s Fly off 10s rest
  • 2^nd time as 2 x 50s B/C off 15s rest
  • 3^rd time as 2 x 50s BRS off 15s rest
  • 4^th time as 1 x 100 IM off 20s rest
  • 5^th time as 1 x 100 reverse IM off 20s rest
  • Repeat same pattern for 6^th-10^th sets
• Brucey-bonus extra minute after 14x100s

Happy Easter – enjoy the good food & drink – you have now well and truly earned it!

CTC Easter Swim 2024

Lane 4 – Saturday 30th March 2024

Warm up, Main Set & Swim Down

22 x 100s off 2:10, all f/c except for the following:

• Swim every 3^rd 100 as per following pattern
  • 1^st time as 4 x 25s Fly off 10s rest
  • 2^nd time as 2 x 50s B/C off 15s rest
  • 3^rd time as 2 x 50s BRS off 15s rest
  • 4^th time as 1 x 100 IM off 20s rest
  • Repeat same pattern for 5^th-8^th sets
• Brucey-bonus extra minute after 11x100s

Happy Easter – enjoy the good food & drink – you have now well and truly earned it!

Avoiding the problems of slow breathing

One of the things I notice is lead arm dropping when you breathe. Brenton Ford has posted a good video about this, that is worth a watch.

Think about what may be causing you to do this – is it head position or something else? I would also recommend thinking about keeping your head as still and down for as long as possible and thinking about getting a nice quick breath by turning your head both to get the breath and to get it back face down and stationary. Really focus on a nice still head position in the main set of fast 100s as a quick breath will help with a fast stroke rate and keeping your speed high with less effort.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 23rd March 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 b/c

6 x 50s f/c breathing every 3, alternating 25 drill, 25 build with 15s rest.  On first 3x50s do “head-up f/c” drill and on second 3x50s do “straight-arm recovery”

Main set – time trial race pace

4 sets of 4 x 100 f/c at 400m race pace with 1m rest between sets

1^st set off 1:25 

2^nd set off 1:30

3^rd set off 1:25

4^th set off 1:30

Sub set 1 – Recovery set

200 IM at a very steady pace

Sub set 2 – Progressive 150s

4 x 150 1-4 progressive pull or swim f/c off 2:20

Swim Down

150 as 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 23rd March 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 b/c

4 x 50s f/c breathing every 3, alternating 25 drill, 25 build with 15s rest.  On first 2x50s do “head-up f/c” drill and on second 2x50s do “straight-arm recovery”

Main set – time trial race pace

4 sets of 4 x 100 f/c at 400m race pace with 1m rest between sets

1^st set off 1:40 

2^nd set off 1:45

3^rd set off 1:40

4^th set off 1:45

Sub set 1 – recovery set

100 IM at a very steady pace.

Sub set 2 – Progressive 150s

3 x 150 1-3 progressive pull or swim f/c off 2:40

Swim Down

150 as 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 23rd March 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 own choice kick

6 x 50s f/c breathing every 3, alternating 25 drill, 25 build with 15s rest.  On first 3x50s do “head-up f/c” drill and on second 3x50s do “straight-arm recovery”

Main set – time trial race pace

4 sets of 3 x 100 f/c at 400m race pace with 1m rest between sets

1^st set off 1:50 

2^nd set off 1:55

3^rd set off 1:50

4^th set off 1:55

Sub set 1 – recovery set

100 back stroke, 100 breast stroke swum at a very steady pace

Sub set 2 – Progressive 150s

3 x 150 1-3 progressive pull or swim f/c off 2:50

Swim Down – 150 as 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cambridge Triathlon Club Swimming Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 23rd March 2024

Warm up

200 f/c

100 b/c

4 x 50s f/c breathing every 3, alternating 25 drill, 25 build with 15s rest.  On first 2x50s do “head-up f/c” drill and on second 2x50s do “straight-arm recovery” drill 

Main set – time trial race pace

4 sets of 3 x 100 f/c at 400m race pace with 1m rest between sets

1^st set off 2:00 

2^nd set off 2:05

3^rd set off 2:00

4^th set off 2:05

Sub set 1 – recovery set

100 own choice (not f/c) swum at a very steady pace.

Sub set 2 – Progressive 150s

3 x 150 1-3 progressive pull or swim f/c off 3:10

Swim Down – 150 as 50 b/c, 50 brs, 50 f/c

Cranking it up

Well done last week on the T3 mountain 100s – both for working out how to do the set and swimming it well! This week we are back to a shorter main set of the ratchet set after some pull and work on EVF and stroke rate. Remember to relax as much as possible early on in the main set so you can gradually wind up the speed to get as far as possible into the set before it becomes a continuous swim.

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 1 – Saturday 16th Mar 2024

Warm up

4 x 100 off 15s rest, 1st f/c, 2nd b/c, 3rd brs, 4th IM

Subset – aerobic pace -breathing bilaterally

300, 200, 100 f/c pull with paddles off 20s rest

Technique – focusing on EVF & quick stroke

2 sets of 6 x 25 off 15s rest

2 x 25 f/c with tight fists , 2 x 25 F/c with half fists, 2 x 25 full stroke, 100% flat-out sprint

Main set – Ratchet set

3 sets of (200, 150, 100, 50) f/c swum off descending rest as follows 

1^st set off 3:05, 2:20, 1:30, 50

2^nd set off 3:00, 2:15, 1:25, 45

3^rd set off 2:55, 2:10, 1:20, 40

No extra rest between sets – keep it going!

Swim down

200 choice, mixing strokes & some kick

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 2 – Saturday 16th Mar 2024

Warm up

4 x 100 off 15s rest, 1st f/c, 2nd b/c, 3rd brs, 4th IM

Subset – aerobic pace -breathing bilaterally

250, 150, 50 f/c pull with paddles off 30s rest

Technique – focusing on EVF & quick stroke

2 sets of 6 x 25 off 15s rest

2 x 25 f/c with tight fists , 2 x 25 F/c with half fists, 2 x 25 full stroke, 100% flat-out sprint

Main set – Ratchet set

3 sets of (200, 150, 100, 50) f/c swum off descending rest as follows 

1^st set off 3:35, 2:40, 1:45, 55

2^nd set off 3:30, 2:35, 1:40, 50

3^rd set off 3:25, 2:30, 1:35, 45

No extra rest between sets – keep it going!

Swim down

100 choice, mixing strokes & some kick

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 3 – Saturday 16th Mar 2024

Warm up

4 x 100 off 15s rest, 1st f/c, 2nd b/c, 3rd brs, 4th IM

Subset – aerobic pace -breathing bilaterally

200, 100 f/c pull with paddles off 30s rest

Technique – focusing on EVF & quick stroke

2 sets of 6 x 25 off 15s rest

2 x 25 f/c with tight fists , 2 x 25 F/c with half fists, 2 x 25 full stroke, 100% flat-out sprint

Main set – Ratchet set

3 sets of (200, 150, 100, 50) f/c swum off descending rest as follows 

1^st set off 3:50, 2:50, 1:55, 60

2^nd set off 3:45, 2:45, 1:50, 55

3^rd set off 3:40, 2:40, 1:45, 50

No extra rest between sets – keep it going!

Swim down

200 choice, mixing strokes & some kick

Cambridge Triathlon Club Session

Lane 4 – Saturday 16th Mar 2024

Warm up

4 x 100 off 15s rest, 1st f/c, 2nd b/c, 3rd brs, 4th IM

Technique – focusing on EVF & quick stroke

2 sets of 6 x 25 off 15s rest

2 x 25 f/c with tight fists , 2 x 25 F/c with half fists, 2 x 25 full stroke, 100% flat-out sprint

Main set – Ratchet set

3 sets of (200, 150, 100, 50) f/c swum off descending rest as follows 

1^st set off 4:10, 3:10, 2:05, 65

2^nd set off 4:05, 3:05, 2:00, 60

3^rd set off 4:00, 3:00, 1:55, 55

No extra rest between sets – keep it going!

Swim down

200 choice, mixing strokes & some kick