How its broken down

The course is designed to present the content in the simplest possible, making it simple for you to work your way through it.

As mentioned previously the content is divided into 6 phases. Each phase focuses on a specific part of the front crawl stroke, and within each phase, it is broken down further again. Sessions are designed to think about a smaller element of technique, then all brought together at the end of the phase.

In this section, we cover the following:

• Session frequency
• Picking your level
• Session outline
• Stroke rate
• Intensity options
• Equipment options

Session frequency

The course is not fixed to a certain number of sessions per week. Work through the sessions of each phase, 1-10 in that order. Try to swim as frequently as possible.

However, the sweet spot is in the 2-4 times per week range. A minimum of two will progress your learning at a fast enough rate. A maximum of four is advised so you do not carry too much fatigue into each session. Feeling tired will make the technical changes more difficult to achieve.

The emphasis is on the quality of swimming with correct form over cramming lots of volume in.

Picking your level

There are three levels for each session:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

As mentioned in the introduction, each level is not set in stone for the duration of the course; you can move up and down as you feel you need to based on progress or even time availability (lower-level sessions are shorter, so they will take less time).

The key is to focus and work on the technical element within each session. The session structures will facilitate this at any levels. However, you do need to start somewhere. Below is a brief description of where your swimming ability should be for each level. Use this to get you going, and you can adjust from there based on your rate of improvement.



Beginner

This level is for someone fairly new to swimming but they can swim a few 100m continuously. Doing this is still likely a big effort and will leave them feeling fatigued. Or the alternative is that they may be able to swim decent distances, but are unsure of their technique, or they feel their pace is very slow. Sessions will take 40-60 minutes.

Intermediate

Intermediate sessions are appropriate for a swimmer who has some swim training experience. They may have completed a few triathlons or participated in some structured group swim sessions. They are capable of sessions of 1500m-2000m and have some idea of the technique, but they know they need a lot of work. Sessions will take 50-60 minutes.

Advanced

These sessions are designed for someone who is taking their swimming reasonably seriously. They have been doing structured swim training, but they want to further develop their stroke technique to bring it up to a really good standard. They can complete sessions of 3000m+. Sessions will take 50-70 minutes.

Session outline

If you are new to following a swim training plan, the sessions can seem complicated at first glance. So, here is a breakdown to help everything make sense. 

Each session has a:

• Warm-up & technique development
• Main set
• Cool-down

Warm-up and technique development

The goal of the warm-up is to prepare the body for the main set. This means physically and technically. There will be an easy initial warm-up to get breathing going, raise the heart rate slowly and get the body ready. We then transition into a technique development block, which is a mix of drills and full stroke. This puts your focus on the specific technical point you are trying to improve that session. This is key, as it's where your body will learn and figure out how to make the changes.

Main set

After the warm up, we then move into a main set of full-stroke front crawl. The goal is to maintain the technique, build muscle memory, and make the technique adjustments feel automatic. This is as important as when making the changes initially; a lot of repetition is required for them to stick and become natural.

Cool-down

The cool-down will be a relaxing end to the session. It will include some easy drills and swimming, allowing you to think about what you have just done.

Stroke rate

The stroke rate is something that is often misunderstood in swimming. The goal is not to get it as low or as high as possible but to the optimal and most efficient level for you. There is also no set figure; it will vary from person to person. Too low, and you are likely to have a ‘dead spot’ where you will be decelerating every stroke cycle; too high, you run the risk of not being mechanically efficient as things could be scrappy and not smooth. You are aiming to find that balance between length and turnover. 

How to track and improve

The best way to determine what stroke rate works for you is to pay attention to how you feel and your swimming pace and cross-reference those with your stroke count at each length. You can look back on stroke rate data (strokes per minute - if you are recording) post-session, but in real-time, you need to be counting so you understand what is happening to adjust.

So, for example, let's say you are swimming 100s in 1.45, taking 20 strokes per length. You then increase your stroke rate to 21 strokes per length and hit 1.40. If this was not a significant increase in effort to achieve this, then this is a positive change and worth experimenting with. If it felt a lot harder to go to the higher stroke rate, you were probably better off where you were. It will take trial and error like this to work it out over a period of weeks and months.

As you increase in intensity, your stroke rate should increase slightly. Let's say at an easy pace you do 22 strokes per length, at the threshold, that could increase to 24. That would be a reasonable change. If it went up to 28, that suggests that you are losing efficiency when you try to swim faster and would benefit more from slowing and lengthening to help improve efficiency at that intensity.

Stroke rate within this course

There’s a very good chance that when you work through the early phases of this course your stroke rate will start to decrease as you’ll be reducing drag and increasing length. If it doesn't, that's fine too - focus on the technique changes you are trying to make and let the rate adapt naturally. I would still say continually track and count for reference and be aware of the changes in rate as speed increases/decreases. The key time for focusing on stroke rate are the later phases (5+6). Really make sure you are thinking about and feeling what is happening with the rate. It’s here that you are trying to find out and refine what works best for you and putting it into practice, so it becomes ingrained. 

Intensity options

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) measures how hard your body works during physical activity. It runs from 0 to 10, using numbers to rate how much effort an activity takes.

There are five defined paces used in the sessions:

• Easy pace (RPE 5-6/10)
• Steady pace (RPE 6-6.5/10)
• Tempo (RPE 7/10)
• Anaerobic threshold (RPE 8/10)
• Fast (RPE 9/10)

Each session will advise the rest periods and breathing patterns for all intensities. These will be appropriate for the physiological goal and to support the specific technical focus point.

Equipment options

There are a few pieces of equipment that can be helpful throughout the course. These are optional, and you can complete all the sessions without them. However, if you find certain aspects challenging, these items can make things easier as you get started. Over time, as your skills improve, you can gradually wean yourself off them and swim unassisted. They can also add variety to your training, preventing repetition, or be useful if you're feeling fatigued before a session.

I’ll specify when and which equipment is most appropriate for your training in the sessions. Optional equipment includes:

• Pull buoy
• Centre snorkel
• Short fins
• Paddles
• Buoyancy shorts