New USRPT Coach — HS Swimming

[SwimVegas]

Hello everyone! I stumbled across USRPT this week and after ~10 hours of research or so, I will be converting the remainder of my HS season to USRPT.

I teach and coach at a HS in Las Vegas, NV. 2 of 35 swimmers on the team swim club, and 30 of 35 have never done any swimming other than HS. For about 15 swimmers, this is their first year of receiving any form of coaching or training. I’ve been coaching swimming since I was 14 as a summer league coach, and swam competitively in USS, HS, & NCAA Division 3. USRPT is appealing to me for two reasons: 1) I’m a fan of the science behind it and 2) it focuses on the aspect of swimming I enjoy the most, swimming fast!

We have 4 weeks left in the regular season, followed by 2 weeks until regionals and then 1 week for states. 3 major goals guide my season: 1) consistent (weekly or bi-weekly) improvement at meets for a majority of the team 2) finish in top 6 at regionals for both boy’s & girl’s (school best is 7th and this year 3 new teams are in our division) and 3) qualify a boy’s relay for states (competition for girls is much harder and as of our most recent meet this would be very unrealistic).

I will be documenting my progress on all three goals regularly, and will appreciate any input you can give, especially on the last goal.

State qualification in NV is based on the top 4 finishes at the regional championship. My two club swimmers are boys, and I have one boy who is a great sprinter, and another who has never swam before but could be an amazing sprinter. These two boys will be the difference makers in any relay qualifying for state. Because of this, I will document the progress of these two more regularly & completely.

Boy 1 (sprinter) 2014 best times of 25.00 & 1:01.52
Meet 1 (3/14): 50 free @ 26.86 100 free @ 1:03.35
Meet 2 (3/21): 50 free @ 25.82 100 free @ 1:01.83 (missed 2 of 5 days of practice)
Meet 3 (3/26): 50 free @ 24.61 100 free @ 0:57.12 (both school records)
My Goals: 50 @ 23.50 and 100 @ 52.50

Boy 2 (new to swimming — SLOW under waters & turns — significant room for improvement here alone))
Meet 1 (3/14): 100 free @ 1:09.38 100 back @ 1:28.58
Meet 2 (3/21): 50 free @ 29.21 100 free @ 1:07.92
Meet 3 (3/26): 50 free @ 27.00 (relay split) 100 free @ 1:04.62
My Goals: 50 @ 26.00 & 100 @ 55.50

Do you think these goals are reasonable? We have 5.5 weeks until swim regionals. Based on their recent improvements (and a lack of “good” training), I think they can still drop significant time.

We have had 4 weeks of practice so far. Weeks 1 & 2 consisted of 75% stroke technique & drill work, with the first practices under the TT method appearing in weeks 3 & 4.

Our meets are on Saturdays, so I have been working Monday to Thursday hard with Friday a meet warm up & race work (starts, turns, finishes). With the USRPT method, what should I be doing on Fridays? I believe I will be able to get in 2-3 USRPT sets in a regular practice (75-80 mins of practice time). Does reducing USRPT volume by 30-40% on Friday and incorporating my current start/turn/finish work make sense for weekly performance? Or should I run Friday as a “normal” practice?

Tomorrow’s Practice:

Warm Up
9×50 3x( 50 swim, drill, kick ) EZ – mod – build

Skill Set – Push Offs – 10 – 15 minutes – complete 2 or 3 of each
Hard push + perfect streamline to surface
Hard push + fly kick on side max distance
Hard push + fly kick rotate to stomach max distance
Hard push + fly kick rotate to stomach + 3 stroke breakout freestyle

USRPT Set 1 – 100 Freestyle – 20×25 @ :30/:35

Recovery 1 – 6×50 backstroke kick rest :30 (balance drill, on side, streamline — two of each)

USRPT Set 2 – 100 backstroke – 20×25 @ :35/:40

Recovery 2 – 100 kick, 100 drill, 100 swim rest :30

USRPT Set 3 – 50 Freestyle – 20×12.5 @ :30/:35 (The 12.5s will be done as race pace to half pool + active rest to the wall)

Warm Down – 8x 50 ascend time

2950 total yards (not including skill work) with 1250 offered @ race pace

[SwimVegas]

Day 1 Practice Notes:
Swimmers were able to complete 7 & 10 successful repetitions of the 25s at 100 pace. I feel like this is pretty solid for the first day. Most swimmers had difficulty keeping track of their times, but they got better throughout the practice.

Almost all swimmers were at 15+ successful reps for the 20*12.5. Hopefully this means that some best times for 50 free are in store for our next meet.

Day 2 Practice:
We are limited to 1 hour of pool time tomorrow so the practice will be quick.

Warm Up: 6×50 2x(swim, drill, kick) moderate-build
Skill Set: Flip Turns – 10 minutes
– 2/3 reps of each
– stationary flip + perfect streamline no kick w/rotation to surface
– stationary flip + perfect streamline fly kick w/rotation to surface
– stationary flip + perfect streamline fly kick w/rotation & 3 stroke free breakout
USRPT Set 1: 100 Free – 20×25 2/flip @ 0:35
Recovery Set:
– 4×25 push off + perfect streamline no kick to float then kick rest :05
– 4×25 fist drill freestyle rest :10
USRPT Set 2: 50 Free – 20×12.5 @ 0:30 (12.5 sprint @ pace 12.5 active rest)
Recovery Set:
– 4×25 push off + perfect streamline no kick to float then kick rest :05
– 4×25 perfect freestyle
– 4×25 perfect breast/back

Total Time: ~55 minutes
1800 total yards
750 offered race pace yards

[SwimVegas]

Day 2 Notes:
Swimmers are still struggling to keep track of their intervals & when they “fail.” I will stress this every day before practice. I might also try to come up with a “homework” where they have to calculate intervals. Their mental math skills are very poor.

-On the 25s, swimmers were between 7 and 10 successful repetitions. This is not quite accurate since many swimmers were not paying attention as much as they should.
-On the 12.5s, swimmers were between 8 and 13 successful repetitions. This was harder for swimmers to keep track of themselves because they had to look at clock mid-pool. I also need to stress push offs and no breathing during the 12.5 fast swim.
-The boy who is new to swimming and a natural sprinter showed up. On his first 25 he went 12.27 from a push (my watch). Way too fast for the purpose of the set (I wanted him at 15/16), but a proof point that he can probably swim a 50 free in <25s. I hope he keeps up the speed this week and next for a best time at our next meet.

Day 3 Practice:

Warm Up:
2×150 (50 swim, 50 drill, 50 kick) #1 moderate #2 build each 50

Skill Set – Butterfly:
2x streamline push w/max fly kick
2×25 body dolphin hands down
2×25 body dolphin hands up
2×25 body dolphin pull (no stroke) to breathe
2×25 body dolphin full stroke to breathe
2×25 fly breathe every other stroke

USRPT Set 1 – 500 Free:
20×50 w/flip finish @ 1:05

Recovery Set 1:
4×25 push off to float + EZ kick rest :05
1×50 EZ Swim rest :15
4×25 body dolphin rest :15

USRPT Set 2 – Fly:
20x 12.5 @ :35
-The 12.5 will be conducted as streamline fly kick max distance + 3 strokes no breathing and then EZ free.
-Most of my swimmers are unable to do a complete 100 fly. I will focus this on under water streamline kick + 3 perfect strokes.

Recovery Set 2:
4×25 push to float + EZ kick rest :05
1×50 EZ swim
4×25 freestyle drills rest :10

USRPT Set 3 – 50 Freestyle:
20×12.5 @ :30
-3 hard fly kicks under water + no breath free to half pool
-active rest EZ swim rest of way

Recovery set 3:
4×25 push to float + EZ kick rest :05
4×50 stroke drills rest :15

90-95 Minutes
3350 yards
1500 USRPT yards offered

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