Swim Tempo - Opt C
Swimming, August 05, 2025
Swimming at a sustained pace with short rest intervals will enhance your swimming fitness. This session is great for open-water swimmers and triathletes of all distances.
For swimmers who are after a workout greater than 3,000m.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
- 400m W/U;
- 3x 300m (100m K, 100m Choice, 100m Rev IM);
- 6x 100m 20sec RI;
- 400m 30sec RI;
- 6x 150m Pull 20sec RI;
- 200m C/D (3,400m)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with 400m. 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 set of three reps of 300m. The 300m is swum continuously but is broken into three sub-reps of 100m each. The first sub-rep is 100m of kicking. Leave the kick board board at home for this sub-rep, focus instead on Kick on Front as demonstrated in the video below. The middle 100m is swum using a stroke of your choice (except freestyle). The final 100m is swum as a reverse ironman. 25m of each competitive stroke. Start with freestyle, then breaststroke, backstroke and finish with butterfly. If you are not proficient enough yet with Butterfly, this is your opportunity to improve your Butterfly. Start each rep swimming as far as you are capable of with Butterfly prior to reverting to Freestyle.
Next up is a set of six reps, of 100m. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The following set is of 400m. Take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) prior to the next set.
The final set is made up of six reps of 150m with a pull buoy. 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 (CD).
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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