Ruby5 Lake Wanaka Swim Training Session 46
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 2,000 & 3,000m.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
Session 46
- 300 WU;
- 6x 50 Drill 15RI;
- 12x 100 20RI;
- 200 CD (2,000)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 300m swim. 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 rep of swimming 200m of with a Pull Buoy.
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 main set is made up of twelve, 10m reps. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
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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