So for this post, I will be describing a set that should not take more than an hour for a person to complete. There is plenty of distance for you to do as well as some IM work.
First off, for you non swimmers that follow this blog, a 25 is one lap. So by that logic, a 50 is two laps, a 100 is 4 laps, and so on.
This set already incorporates a nice warm up for you to do so there is no need to do one unless you have a lot of time and you choose to do so.
The first part is a 600 freestyle on 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Based on the math above, a 600 should be 24 laps. That means you have 7 minutes and 30 seconds to complete 24 laps. If you finish before the 7 minutes and 30 seconds, then just rest until the time is up. Next, you move into 12 x 25 fly on 30 seconds, kick, drill swim by 25. This means you do a 25 twelve times. The first lap would be kick, the second lap would be whatever drill you choose, and the third lap should be swim. You should repeat that three more times to make twelve.
The next part of the set is a 500 freestyle on 6 minutes and 15 seconds. So again, based on the math, that should be 20 laps. After that, you should go straight into 6 x 50 back stroke on a minute, kick, drill, swim by 50. So the first 50 should be kick, the second 50 should be drill, and the third 50 should be swim. You should repeat that twice for a total of 6 x 50’s
The next part of the set is a 400 yard freestyle. So based on the math, how many laps should a 400 be? you guessed it! 16! You should complete this on the interval 5 minutes. After you complete the 400, you should move to 2 x 150 breaststroke on 2 minutes and 10 seconds, kick drill, swim by 50. A 150 should be 6 laps in a row, and if you break it up by 50, the first two laps, should be kick, the second two laps should be a drill of your choosing, and the third two laps should be swim.
You should be sensing somewhat of a pattern by now in this set, so I will just write out the rest of it for you:
600 Free on 7:30
12 x 25 Kick (K) Drill (D) Swim (S) by 25 on :30
500 Free on 6:15
6 x 50 K/D/S by 50 on 1:00
400 Free on 5:00
2 x 150 K/D/S by 50 on 2:10
300 Free on 3:45
200 IM on 3:00
6 x 100 Free/IM on 1:20
So there was a pattern going, but as you can see, the last two is slightly different than the original pattern. So for those of you that do not know what an individual medley, it is when a single person completes all four strokes in one sitting. So a 200, by the math provided above, should be 8 laps, and there are four strokes, so you guessed it, there are two laps of each stroke. But what is the order of the strokes you should be doing? Well this has kinda been decided and is universal, but the order is butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. so during the 200 IM, you should do a 50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, and 50 free.
The 6 x 100 might also be confusing. So the first 100 should be all free, the second should be all IM; and you just repeat that for a total of 6 one hundreds. But this time, during the IM’s, you should be doing one lap for each stroke, as there are four strokes and four laps. But also make sure to keep the order, fly, back, breast, free.
This is a great set to work on your endurance for distance and a good way to to work on your IM’s. But the intervals are pretty hard, so I would recommend that you change the intervals to match your skills.
I hope you like this really long set, and it should take a little less than an hour.
Getting Back in the Pool 