Club Swim Sessions
Every Wednesday evening we hold a one hour swim session at Ashfield School for our club members. Consisting of a variety of drills and workouts with individual stroke analysis available on request.
The advantages of a structured swim session over a run of the mill lap counting swim are enormous. You will experience improved fitness and flexibility, greater speed in the water for less effort which in turn will leave you with more energy to reduce your bike splits when racing.
We use four lanes to separate differing abilities, so you will always be training alongside swimmers of a similar speed.
If you are not able to attend all or any of the sessions, we have provided a few sample sessions to enable you to take them away and practice in your own pool time. The sessions can be adjusted to suit your own ability and are intended as a guide. Please keep an eye on this page for updates or alterations to times or dates.
If you have them, bring with you pull buoys, kick boards, paddles etc, as these are essential tools in both warm up / warm downs and can be used to isolate parts of your stroke to help iron out any problems. It is also a good idea to have a drink (water or energy) at the side of the pool as dehydration can greatly reduce your performance.
Please be ready to swim at 7:30pm prompt as we have the pool for 1 hour only. Each session will be at a cost of £3.00 (£1.50 for juniors), payable on the night.
The advantages of a structured swim session over a run of the mill lap counting swim are enormous. You will experience improved fitness and flexibility, greater speed in the water for less effort which in turn will leave you with more energy to reduce your bike splits when racing.
We use four lanes to separate differing abilities, so you will always be training alongside swimmers of a similar speed.
If you are not able to attend all or any of the sessions, we have provided a few sample sessions to enable you to take them away and practice in your own pool time. The sessions can be adjusted to suit your own ability and are intended as a guide. Please keep an eye on this page for updates or alterations to times or dates.
If you have them, bring with you pull buoys, kick boards, paddles etc, as these are essential tools in both warm up / warm downs and can be used to isolate parts of your stroke to help iron out any problems. It is also a good idea to have a drink (water or energy) at the side of the pool as dehydration can greatly reduce your performance.
Please be ready to swim at 7:30pm prompt as we have the pool for 1 hour only. Each session will be at a cost of £3.00 (£1.50 for juniors), payable on the night.
Directions to the pool

|
Ashfield School Sutton Road Kirkby-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire NG17 8HP |
View Large Map |
Jargon Buster
Pull buoy![]() |
Kickboard![]() |
Paddles![]() |
| Pull - Arms only, using a Pull buoy | Kick - Legs only, using a Kickboard |
| L - Length | BK - Backstroke |
| FC - Front Crawl | BR - Breaststroke |
| Drill - Stroke variations to practice a particular area of your stroke, examples are: | |
| Catch-up | Keep one arm ahead until your hands touch, then stroke with the opposite arm. |
| Catch-up with board | As above, but hold out your kick board in your leading hand, transfer the board between hands when you catch-up. |
| Chicken wings | Starting at your upper thigh, drag your thumb up to your armpit, keeping elbows high. |
| Fingertip drag | During the recovery phase, drag your fingertips along the surface of the water. |
| Fist | Stroke as normal, but with a clenched fist, use both hands or alternate between left and right. |
Sample Swim Sessions
| Warmup | |
| 2 x 10L | FC - 15 sec recovery |
| 4 x 2L | FC - 10 sec recovery |
| 2 x 6L | FC - 15 sec recovery |
| 4 x 1L | 1L drill / 1L sprint - 10 sec recovery |
| Main set | |
| 3 x 4L |
FC - incr. speed from 1st 4L to 3rd - 15 sec recovery |
| 4 x 2L | FC - 10 sec recovery |
| Repeat main set x 3 | |
| Cool down | |
| 2 x 8L | Pull |
| 10L | Easy / drill |
| Warmup | |
| 3 x 10L | 2 x FC & 1 x Pull - 30 sec recovery |
| 3 x 2L | Kick (hard) - 30 sec recovery |
| Main set | |
| 4 x 8L |
FC - 75% effort - 30 sec recovery |
| 20L | FC |
| 4 x 6L | FC (hard) - 30 sec recovery |
| Repeat main set x 3 | |
| Cool down | |
| 4 x 4L | Drill |
| Warmup | |
| 6 x 6L | 3 x FC & 3 x Pull - 30 sec recovery |
| 3 x 4L | Kick - 30 sec recovery |
| Main set | |
| 5 x 10L |
FC - 30 sec recovery |
| 4 x 4L | FC (hard) - 30 sec recovery |
| Cool down | |
| 3 x 4L | FC - Easy |
| Warmup | |
| 2 x 10L | FC - 30 sec recovery |
| 10 x 2L | FC (hard) - 20 sec recovery |
| Main set | |
| 4 x 20L |
FC (Maintain speed) - 40 sec recovery |
| Cool down | |
| 4 x 4L | Drill |
| Warmup | |
| 3 x 12L | FC - 30 sec recovery |
| 4 x 4L | Pull - 30 sec recovery |
| Main set | |
| 6 x 10L | FC - 20 sec recovery |
| 6 x 2L | FC (1 x hard & 1 x easy) - 30 sec recovery |
| Cool down | |
| 3 x 8L | FC - Easy |
Usefull Links
Some further reading and other swimming related links can be found at:
| US Masters Swimming | Technique, drills, starts & turns, other articles & workouts. |
| BBC Sport Academy | Tips & masterclasses. |
| H2Ouston Swims | Articles on technique. |
| Triathlete.com | Articles on all aspects of triathlon swimming. |
| Pullbuoy | Articles on technique. |
| Total Immersion | Stroke technique centered around reducing drag & increasing efficiency. |



