Quick Set Friday: Tarzan Drills And No Walls

Triathlete contributor and swimming all-star Sara McLarty has a blog with more than 500 creative workouts used in her Masters swim program in Clermont, Fla. We’ll feature a workout every Friday so you have new ideas to take to the pool. On her blog (Mastersswimworkoutsbysaramclarty.blogspot.com), you can pick a Monday set for a long distance focus, a Wednesday set for sprint training, or Friday for creative open water skills.

The A sets are between 4–5000 yards total, with intervals ranging from 1:20–1:30 per 100. The B sets are 3000–3500 total, with intervals of 1:50–2:00 per 100. The C sets are 2000–2500 total and all based on a rest interval.

A:
200 swim/200 pull/200 kick/200 swim
6×125 on 2:00 (25 Tarzan Drill/100 No Walls)
4×300 pull on 4:15 (100 easy/100 medium/100 strong)
100 easy/recovery
12×25 on :30 (start at the flags/10 strokes fast/easy to the wall)
5×150 with fins on 2:15 (50 dolphin-kick on your back/100 swim)
300 cool-down (50 non-free/100 swim/repeat)
Total: 4,200

RELATED – Ask Coach Sara: Drills To Help With Open-Water Swimming

B:
200 swim/200 pull/200 kick/200 swim
5×100 on 2:45 (25 Tarzan Drill/75 No Walls)
3×300 pull on 5:30 (100 easy/100 medium/100 strong)
100 easy/recovery
8×25 on :40 (start at the flags/10 strokes fast/easy to the wall)
4×150 with fins, 15 sec rest (50 kick on your back/100 swim)
300 cool-down (50 non-free/100 swim/repeat)
Total: 3,400

RELATED – Ask Coach Sara: Finding Motivation To Swim When It’s Cold

C:
300 swim/200 pull/100 kick
4×100, 20 sec rest (25 Tarzan Drill/75 No Walls)
3×200 pull, 30 sec rest
(100 easy/100 strong)
4×150 with fins,15 sec rest
(50 kick on your back/100 swim)
100 cool-down
Total: 2,300

TARZAN DRILL: Swim with your head out of the water. Look forward as if you were sighting a buoy or landmark in open water.
NO WALLS: As you probably guessed, turn before you get to the wall to better simulate open water.

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