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.

Directions to the pool

Map showing Ashfield School

Ashfield School
Sutton Road
Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Nottinghamshire
NG17 8HP
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Jargon Buster

Equipment
Pull buoyPull buoy KickboardKickboard PaddlesHand paddles

Terminology
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

Session #1 - (2600m)
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

Session #2 - (2560m)
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

Session #3 - (2520m)
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

Session #4 - (2720m)
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

Session #5 - (2960m)
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.

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