Ruby5 Lake Wanaka Swim Training Session 45
Swimming, January 16, 2026
Week 12 marks the final taper week of the Ruby5 Swim Success Formula. The hard work is done — now the focus shifts to arriving at race day feeling fresh, confident, and ready to swim at your best. This week deliberately reduces overall load while maintaining key movement patterns, rhythm, and feel for the water. The sessions are designed to keep your technique sharp, reinforce pacing awareness, and allow fatigue to fully dissipate, so you stand on the start line recovered, relaxed, and mentally prepared for your Ruby5 swim.
Build the endurance, confidence, and open-water skills to conquer your 5 km Ruby Island challenge.
Are you ready to take on the iconic Ruby5 Swim in beautiful Lake Wanaka? 🏊♀️🏊♂️
Whether it’s your first 5 km open-water swim or you’re looking to improve your performance from previous years, the Ruby5 Lake Wanaka Swim Training Plan is designed to get you to the start line feeling confident, prepared, and ready to enjoy every stroke. 🌊
For swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
Session 45
- 300 WU;
- 6x 50 Drill 15RI;
- 6x 200 30RI;
- 200 CD (2,000)
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering of 300m. During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set. There are six, 50m Drill repetitions. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set. Do the drills below once through:
The first main set is made up of six, 200m reps. Take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
Complete the workout with a 200m Cool Down (CD). Feel free to pause and stretch when needed and/or include stretching as part of each break until the distance is covered.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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