Basic IM #2 (1500m)

Because my last IM set was so popular here is another! :) 

An IM (individual medley) consists of 4 strokes... butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. In that order. 

If you do not know how to do butterfly feel free to substitute that stroke with something else such as freestyle(front crawl).

Warm up 

100m IM swim (easy) (25m of each stroke)
100m IM kick (25m of each stroke)
100m IM pull (25m of each stroke)
100m IM swim (easy) (25 m of each stroke)

Main set #1

Broken IMs Sprints 
50m (Butterfly/ back) with 10 seconds rest
50m (back/ breast) with 10 seconds rest 
50m (breast / free ) with 10 seconds rest 

Broken IMs Kick
50m (Butterfly/ back) with 10 seconds rest
50m (back/ breast) with 10 seconds rest 
50m (breast / free ) with 10 seconds rest 

Main set # 2

100m IM Build ( start slow finish fast)(25 m of each stroke)
100m IM Fast (25 m of each stroke)
100m IM Build (start fast finish slow) (25 m of each stroke)

Warm down 

200m IM slow (50m of each stroke) 

Power Swim Advanced- IM focus #2

Here is another one of my old power swim workouts for when I was teaching power swim Advanced for children. This should take the duration of the class which is an hour with the City of Ottawa. 

Warm up: 200m

Fly drills: 25 m streamline kick, 25m single arms, 50m 3/3/3

Breaststroke drills: 50m whip kick, 50m arms no kick, 50m 2 kicks 1 pull.

Intro set:          600m

4x 50 kick 

50 pull

50 swim (fast) w15 sec rest

1) choice 2)backstroke 3) breaststroke  4) frontcrawl

Main set : 400m

(Note: 3/3/3 is acceptable for fly)

100m build IM with 15 sec rests ( start slow finish fast) 

200m race pace IM with 15 sec rest

100m fade IM with 15 sec rest ( start fast finish slow

Dive starts.

100m warm choice down

Power Swim Intermediate - Sprint Workout #1

I decided to share one of my old power swim workouts for when I was teaching power swim intermediate for children. This should take the duration of the class which is an hour with the City of Ottawa usually. 

Warm Up: 

50m Choice swim

75m IM kick (no fly) (Back crawl, breast stroke, Front crawl) 

75m Im Drill (no Fly) 

• Back crawl drill: 6 kick switch 
• Breast stroke: 2 kick one pull 
• Front Crawl : 6 kick switch.

Set 1: 

6x 25m sprint choice stroke. With 10 sec rests

Stroke Correction for Front Crawl ( I give each kid at least one thing to practise with a drill specifically chosen for them depending on what they need to work on) 

Set 2: 

50m choice fast with 10 sec rest

50m build front crawl 10 sec rest

50m choice fast with 10 sec rest

50m fast front crawl with 15sec rest

50m choice fast with 10 sec rest

50m Fade front crawl 10 sec rest

50m choice fast with 10 sec rest

Warm down: 

100m choice swim- easy

Flip turn competition. 

-Have kids start in standing position, when you say go all kids have to do a summersault and finish in a standing position with their arms in a streamline position above their head. The slowest person is eliminated until you have a winner. 

Song and Games for the Pool #5

Sleeping Bunnies
See the bunnies sleeping till it's nearly noon,[Action: Start in a floating position
Shall we wake them with a merry tune?
They're so still, are they ill, wake up little bunnies! [Action: maintain a floating position]
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop,
Hop hop hop.
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop, [Action: wake up, rotate and jump in water] 
Hop hop hop, hop hop hop.

This song is a good way to help babies associate back floats with excitement, focus on putting their ears in the water.

Rock-a-Bye Baby
Rock-a-bye baby in your small boat. [Action: Start in a floating position]
When the wind blows, your small boat will rock. [Action rock baby back and forth]
When the wind falls, your small boat will float,
Safely to shore, baby and all. [Action: maintain a floating position] 

This song is a good way to calm babies when they are on their backs in the water, focus on putting their ears in the water.

Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory dock,
The mouse ran up the clock. [Action: lift baby up]
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down, [Action: submerge child]
Hickory Dickory dock. 

This game is a good way for babies to be used to having their face underwater, its better to start young with this game, I would not suggest using it on an older child (age 3+)

Puffer Trains
Down at the station, early in the morning,
See the little Puffer trains all in a row. [Action: all swimmers in a line]
Here comes the driver to start up the engine,
PUFF PUFF, PEEP PEEP off we go! [Action: all swimmers blow bubbles and move across the pool] 
This game is a good way for children to explore breath control, which can be a difficult skill to master. 

Talk to the fishies

Practise talking to pretend fishies by getting the child to blow bubbles in the water. Then ask him to put his ear in the water to listen to the pretend response.

This game is a good way for children to explore breath control, which can be a difficult skill to master. 

Song and Games for the Pool #4

Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day
Five little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hill and far away.
Mother duck said, 'QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!' And only four little ducks came back!
Motorboat, motorboat go so fast [Action: sing faster while faster kicking legs]
Motorboat, motorboat, step on the gas! [Action: sing faster while fast kicking legs, end by spinning round]
Five, four, three, two, one blast off! [Action: push and glide]
You can’t catch me!
Along came Mister Crocodile as quietly as can be,

[Repeat with four, three, two and one; action: swim across pool, and come back on command]

Motorboat, Motorboat
Motorboat, motorboat go so slow [Action: sing slow while slow kicking legs]
Motorboat, motorboat go so fast [Action: sing fast while fast kicking legs]
Motorboat, motorboat run out of gas [Action: stop kicking]

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Zoom zoom zoom, we are going to the moon, [Action: holding at wall hair in water] 
Zoom zoom zoom we are going very soon

Five Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys sitting in a tree,
Teasing mister crocodile, [Action: swimming towards crocodile [teacher]]

You can’t catch me!
Along came Mister Crocodile as quietly as can be, 

And SNAP SNAP SNAP! [Action: teacher splashes water, child turn and swim back] 

I’m a Little Teapot

I'm a little teapot,
Short and stout.
Here is my handle,
Here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, Hear me shout,
Tip me up and pour me out! [Action: pour water on child] 

Why are group swimming lessons beneficial?

I directing this post at parents who are good swimmers and want to teach there children how to swim themselves… although thats great! There are many benefits to group sport. 

Research in the domain of sport and performance psychology has shown that group activity and cohesion are associated with future sport engagement. This means that children who are involved in group activity are more likely to continue physical activity later in life. 

In fact this study was conducted on a school aged learn to swim program. Very applicable to our topic! They tracked children who took swimming lessons in groups and compared them to those who didn’t. What they found was that the children in group swimming lessons where more likely to continue with swimming in the future. 

My take on this is that its important to have your kids involved in group sport in general. This makes group swimming lessons an excellent form of development for your children… however I still think supporting your child and making sure they succeed is extremely beneficial to their swimming skill. Obviously our number one goal should be to make sure children are safe around water and can rescue themselves from water related incidents if needed.  

50s on 1:01

Here is a challenging set that works on speed endurance.

Warm up

100 meters (m) choice swim
100m choice kick
100m choice pull

Main set

'Unlimited' 50s on 1:01min

-The aim of this set is to keep going unit you no longer make the time.
-You will be swimming 50 meters within 1minute and 1 second (the 1 second helps you keep track of how many you have done).
-So if you swim your 50m in 45seconds the first time you get 16 seconds rest before you have to go again. If you swim your 50m in 58seconds than you get 3 seconds rest. Make sense?
-The more 50s you do the slower your time should get... if you are not slowing down you need a faster time (50s on 51 seconds) or if you can't make the time the first time a slower time (50s on 1:11).

Remember this is speed endurance! So work it!

When you miss your time.. you are done your main set for the day.

Warm down

100m choice pull
100m choice kick
100m choice swim

Total: Unknown