Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We did this set in a 25m pool with an eye toward our 200 free best times in SCY.
The goal on all the 150s (in meters!) is to be faster than our best SCY 200 free times. That was not a major challenge on the 1 x 150 and 2 x 150, but it becomes a significant challenge by the time you get to 4 x 150 and 5 x 150.
We did three different intervals, with swimmers’ best time indicated at the top. Swimmers with best times under 1:45 went on 2:00. Swimmers with best times between 1:45 and 2:00 went on 2:10, and swimmers with bests slower than 2:00 went on 2:20.
In between, we did 3 x 100 the same way each time – #1 holding a tennis ball in each hand, #2 doing “Paddlehead” drill, and #3 using paddles, holding them against our forearms.
At the end of the set, we did an easy 100 and finished with a SURPRISE challenge – a fast 175m freestyle swim with fins and paddles with a goal of beating our best 200 yard times.
Overall, the set was highly successful. Most of our swimmers were making the 150s under their best, and a handful made the 175 goal. High levels of effort were pretty common across the group.