Swim

Plymouth Triathlon Club

Swimming Plan

1st November 2026 until 20th February 2027

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What’s it all about??!!

Dolphin rating – the more dolphins, the harder the session – just like chillies on your curry menu!

Remember, if you’re injured, tapering or recovering from a race/training session, you may need to swim more easily than the plan of the session. Speak to the coach 😊

🐬 – easy

🐬🐬 – steady to medium

🐬🐬🐬- medium to hard

🐬🐬🐬🐬- very hard (tri (!) not to miss these ones – they will make you quicker in the long run – if you want to go quicker 😊)

Watch out for THE STINGER!! – more than 4 🐬

Session name	What’s it all about?
Aerobic improvement	Short rest swims at a good speed but not flat out
Anaerobic threshold	Harder swims with longer rests (using your CSS times to determine the rest)
VO2 max	As hard as it gets! Longer swims, very hard, with a lot of rest
Distance	As it says on the tin – longer distance intervals
Aerobic maintenance	A steady session – should feel like going for a brisk walk!
Descending 50’s or 100’s	A block of 50’s or 100’s where the rest slowly gets less i.e. 4 x 50m on 1 min, 4 x 50m on 55secs etc. The slowest turnaround time will be first and based around your CSS times. The rest keeps reducing until you can’t make the time any more.
Open water	Drills for open water practice without actually being in it!
Lactate tolerance	Simulating the start of a race. Set is normally swims of around 1minute 30 to 2 minutes but with lots of active (steady swimming) recovery – rather than standing around. A looooonnngg warm up and only 5 efforts at max effort is needed! Aim to get your best times on this swim 😊
Coaches choice	Exactly what it says at the dolphin rating given
How many 100’s?	Ask Fiona!
Descending 100’s	Getting faster each 100 (but not always getting more rest!)
Strength & power (band)	Using an inner tube tied round your feet (and a pull buoy) for some of the set to increase drag to improve strength
Drafting	Banish the 5 second gap between swimmers and push off on the toes of the person in front for the session!
Broken swims	Long distance i.e. 400m plus but swim with short breaks (5secs) at intervals i.e. at 50’s or 100’s to swim faster overall than if you swam the 400m straight
The Stinger	Well – its as hard as it gets!! Challenge yourself 😊
Back to basics	Start from the beginning of the stroke and sorting out what drills are best for you 😊
Its all about the pace	Different distances but keeping the same pace (not super fast but closer to your race pace) – varying rest – as the season gets closer – less rest
Swimming from scratch	More of a swimming lesson than coaching for those who really struggle with front crawl (there should be an aerobic session to swim to for those who don’t want the lesson part 😊)

Tuesday	Set Focus	Friday	Set Focus	Saturday	Set focus
3rd November	Aerobic improvement 🐬🐬🐬	6th November	Technique 🐬	7th November	Its all about the pace 🐬🐬🐬
10th November	Aerobic maintenance 🐬🐬	13th November	Aerobic improvement 🐬🐬🐬	14th November	Descending 100’s 🐬🐬🐬
17th November	Distance 🐬🐬🐬	20th November	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	21st November	Technique 🐬🐬
24th November	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	27th November	Strength 🐬🐬🐬	28th November	Aerobic maintenance 🐬🐬
1st December	Lactate Tolerance 🐬🐬🐬🐬	4th December	Aerobic improvement 🐬🐬🐬	5th December	Distance 🐬🐬🐬
8th December	Technique 🐬🐬	11th December	Distance 🐬🐬	12th December	Aerobic improvement 🐬🐬🐬
15th December	Broken swims 🐬🐬🐬	18th December	(Last juniors till after Christmas) Technique and relays 🐬🐬	19th December	Mince pie swim – coaches choice 🐬🐬
22nd December	Ho ho ho – coaches choice 🎅🎄- 🐬🐬	25th December	Christmas Day – no swimming ☹	26th December	Boxing Day – no swimming ☹
29th December	Technique 🐬	1st January 2027	New Years Day – no swimming ☹	2nd January	Aerobic maintenance 🐬🐬
5th January 2027	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	8th January	(1st junior session back) Technique 🐬🐬	9th January	Distance 🐬🐬🐬🐬
12th January	Aerobic improvement 🐬🐬🐬	15th January	Pull & kick 🐬🐬🐬	16th January	Technique 🐬🐬
19th January	VO2 max 🐬🐬🐬🐬	22nd January	Aerobic maintenance 🐬🐬	23rd January	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬
26th January	Coaches choice 🐬🐬🐬	29th January	Coaches choice 🐬🐬🐬	30th January	Coaches choice 🐬🐬🐬
2nd February	Stinger $C:\Users\verneym\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.MSO\F893A5.tmp$	5th February	Technique (no juniors – half term) 🐬🐬	6th February	Aerobic maintenance 🐬🐬
9th February	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	12th February	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	13th February	Technique 🐬
16th February	Technique 🐬🐬	19th February	No juniors – half term Distance 🐬🐬🐬	20th February	VO2 Max 🐬🐬🐬🐬

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