Swim

Plymouth Tri Club Swim Sessions

Swimming plan 28th July to 31st October 2026

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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
28th July	Aerobic Improvement 🐬🐬🐬	31st July	Technique 🐬🐬	1st August	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬
4th August	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	7th August	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	8th August	Kick and Pull 🐬🐬🐬
11th August	Descending 50’s & 100’s 🐬🐬🐬	14th August	Aerobic Improvement 🐬🐬🐬	15th August	Distance 🐬🐬🐬
18th August	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	21st August	Technique 🐬	22nd August	VO2 Max 🐬🐬🐬🐬
25th August	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	28th August	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬	29th August	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬
1st September	Technique 🐬	4th September	Other Strokes (1st Junior session back) 🐬🐬	5th September	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬
8th September	Sprints 🐬🐬🐬	11th September	Sprints 🐬🐬🐬	12th September	Aerobic maintenance – drafting 🐬🐬
15th September	Aerobic Improvement 🐬🐬🐬	18th September	Technique 🐬	19th September	Distance 🐬🐬🐬
22nd September	Strength 🐬🐬🐬🐬	25th September	Distance 🐬🐬🐬	26th September	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬
29th September	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	2nd October	Technique 🐬🐬	3rd October	VO2 Max 🐬🐬🐬🐬
6th October	CSS	9th October	CSS	10th October	CSS
13th October	STINGER!! $C:\Users\verneym\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.MSO\F893A5.tmp$	16th October	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	17th October	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬
20th October	Kick and Pull 🐬🐬🐬	23rd October	Aerobic Improvement 🐬🐬🐬	24th October	Anaerobic Threshold 🐬🐬🐬🐬
27th October	Aerobic Maintenance 🐬🐬	30th October	Technique (no juniors) 🐬🐬	31st October	Halloween scary swim – coaches choice 🎃🎃🎃

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