Not the Commonwealth Games but Loai was on my Saudi team

When I have been responsible for preparing swimmers for an event such as the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic Games, a World Championship or the US Olympic Trials I follow a plan taught to me by master New Zealand track coaches, Arch Jelley and Arthur Lydiard. Over the years the plan has changed to reflect the differences between running and swimming. The fundamentals however have stayed the same. Here is how the plan works.

Introduction

Preparation should begin six months before a major event. Racing fast requires three qualities – aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness and speed. The six month preparation period should separately address each of these ingredients. The table below shows the periods spent on training each quality.

Type of Training	Number of Weeks
Aerobic	10
Anaerobic	4
Speed	10
Total – Three training periods	24

I imagine some readers are saying, “What about the technique and the skills required to race well.” And, of course that is right. Throughout the 24 weeks I allocate one session a week to technique, drills and skills. Technique instruction should also be part of every training session irrespective of its fitness purpose.

The plan allows for a two week holiday at the end of the 24 weeks before beginning the next six month cycle.

Aerobic Period

This 10 week period is spent improving the swimmer’s aerobic fitness; building a bigger engine. The aim is to improve the swimmer’s ability to swim fast without going anaerobic; without getting puffed. Whether the distance being swum is 50m or 1500m swimmers perform better if they approach the racing-specific portion of the year with good aerobic fitness. Aerobic training is as relevant for a sprinter as it is for a distance swimmer. Toni Jeffs used to be best in the second 25m of her 50m races. I am certain that was the result of the time spent improving her aerobic fitness.

In this period the distance swum each week should be close to 100 kilometres, swum in twelve sessions.

There should be three firm sessions each week. The days between should be allocated to recovery and technique. The table below shows the main sets I include in the three firm sessions. Weeks 6-10 simply repeat the main sets swum in weeks 1-5.

Week	Tuesday	Thursday	Saturday
1	15×400	6×1000	60×100
2	30×200	2×3000	60×100
3	20×300	4×1500	60×100
4	40×150	3×2000	60×100
5	120×50	12×500	1×600 Trial

Speed is critical to the success of the aerobic period. These main set swims cannot be slow. They must be swum as fast as possible without “going anaerobic”. The swimmer needs to avoid the accumulation of lactic acid and other discomfort that goes along with anaerobic effort. Short of that though, these swims must be as fast as possible.

Anaerobic Period

The format of this four week period is similar to the aerobic period with three main set sessions each week. But of course in this period the swimmer is beginning the race-specific portion of training. The swimming has to be much faster. Each main set is 2400m. The first 2000m is done as swim in the swimmer’s main stroke. The final 400 meters is done as kick.

The table below shows the main sets I include in the three anaerobic sessions for a 50, 100 or 200 meter swimmer. Week 1 is repeated in week 3 and week 2 is repeated in week 4.

Week	Tuesday	Thursday	Saturday
1	6×400	48×50	16×150
2	12×200	32×75	24×100
3	6×400	48×50	16×150
4	12×200	32×75	24×100

Because the swimming is much faster in this anaerobic period the mileage swum each week should reduce from 100 kilometres to 80 kilometres.

Here again swimming at the correct speed is important. Research has shown that maximum anaerobic stress is best achieved when swimmers exercise for 30 minutes. These 2400m sets should take about 30 minutes of swimming time. They should be swum as fast as possible in order that full anaerobic stress is achieved at the end of the set.

In this four weeks period a short session of 20×25 sprints is included on Wednesday. This prepares the swimmer for the speed section of training about to begin. The remaining sessions are allocated to recovery and technique.

Speed Period

The 10 week speed period is divided into one 4 week and one 6 week section. The first 4 weeks involve time-trials preparing to race. The second 6 week section is allocated to racing through to the main event – in this case the Commonwealth Games.

The table below shows the weekly plan I would follow through the first 4 weeks of the speed period. Mileage should drop to 60 kilometres a week.

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Monday	Sprints	Recovery
Tuesday	Fartlek	Race plans
Wednesday	Time-trial	Recovery
Thursday	Correction	Off
Friday	Recovery	Race plans
Saturday	Time-trial	Off
Sunday	Technique	Off

Several terms used in the plan are explained in the table below.

Term	Explanation
Fartlek	Various distances swum in a series of short fast and slow swims
Time-trials	Swum over shorter, longer and the same as main race distance to test speed and fitness
Correction	Allocated to correct any speed or fitness weaknesses detected in the trials
Sprints	25×25 or 25×15 done as 15 swim and 10 kick. It is time to start swimming fast.
Race plans	Allocated to preparing stroke count and rhythm plans for the main race events

The table below shows the weekly plan I would follow through the second 6 weeks of the speed period. Mileage in this period should drop to 40 kilometres a week.

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Monday	Recovery	Off
Tuesday	Sprints	Race plans
Wednesday	Time-trial	Recovery
Thursday	Correction	Off
Friday	Recovery	Race plans
Saturday	Racing	Racing
Sunday	Racing	Racing

It is important to race frequently through the final six weeks. Selecting the races to be swum should be done carefully. Races should be chosen in a way that leads the swimmer up to peak performance at the Commonwealth Games. The table below shows how I would plan the race program in this six week period.

Week	Type of Race
5	Introduction Meet similar to local level one competition
6	Medium Regional competition say Counties or HBPB Champs
7	Larger Regional Competition say Auckland Champs
8	National Competition  say New Zealand Champs or International Meet
9	Time-trial
10	Commonwealth Games – main event

The idea is to use the trials and races as a progressive build-up to the main event; a very different approach from the train like hell and taper still practiced regularly around the world. And as Lydiard put it, “If you swim 14 time-trials and 4 races meets and still get the main event wrong you really should be doing something else.”

It’s for that reason that I really like the final NCAA preparation of Samuel Perry for this Commonwealth Games. He should be ready to race very well indeed.