One-Hour Workout: Sprint-Focused Swim

This swim set teaches the body how to sustain a faster speed for longer, which is a skill important to triathletes.

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Every Tuesday we’ll feature a different coach’s workout you can complete in 60 minutes (or less!).

This week’s swim workout comes from coach Tess Mattern of MP Multisport in Fort Collins, Colo. Tess, who formerly swam at Emory University, is the assistant coach for the Colorado State Triathlon team, and works as the swim specialist and nutritionist for MP Multisport. “This workout is appropriate for the sprint athlete, or an athlete needing some speed work,” Mattern says. “It teaches the body how to sustain a faster speed for longer, which is a skill important to triathletes.”

RELATED – One-Hour Workout: High-Tempo Swim

Warm-up
(500)
Repeat 4x:
100 free, 25 backstroke

Main Set #1
(600)
Twice through:
50 kick, build
2×50 pull, with 8 fast strokes off of each wall
3×50 swim as 25 fast/25 easy

Main Set #2
(1500)
16×25 on an interval 5 seconds faster than your “comfort zone.” (Ex: On every :25)
100 easy
16×25 alternating one on an interval 10 seconds faster than the interval you just did, and one on an interval 10 seconds slower than what you just did. (Ex: One on every :20, one on every :30.)
100 easy
16×25 on an interval 5 seconds faster than the first round. 1 x 100 easy

Cool-down
(400)
100 drill
100 kick
100 backstroke
100 choice

Total yardage: 3000

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