The Survivor Set

I believe this is also called another name, but I kind of liked the idea of a Survivor Set. The set consisted of 20 x 100 Freestyle. It was designed with a set of two 100 Freestyles on the 2:00 minute, followed by a set of two 100 freestyles on the 1:55, and then two 100 freestyles on the 1:50, and so forth. The last two 100 Free were going to be on the 1:15. Once a Swimmer missed an interval they were out of the set, so only the strong survive.

When I came up with the set I knew that the fastest 100 Free interval we had done up to that point with this group was on the 1:20, and I had a few of the swimmers who were able to do that interval. This set would go just barely past that, but yardage wise, way beyond when they are normally doing the 1:20 interval. I knew that this was the kind of set that would open swimmers eyes, and allow them to see what they could do when pushed. (Of course most of my swimmers didn't want to be left out of the set. If the swimmers slack, then they could just pull up and sit out a bunch, and not be able to reap the benefits of this set.)

Oh, the majority of the swimmers surprised me. I had four kids make the last two on the 1:15. One being a young boy that just moved into the group in August. I had six make one of the 100 Free's on the 1:15, and barely missed the last one by 1.5 seconds or less.

I hope for many of these swimmers they are capable that not only can they go a long way, as shown in the 3000 for time, but they can go fast even when tired. I think this sets it up that I can make even more challenging workouts, and with some confidence now, they can probably do them, even though before they might have been hesitant, and would fail mainly out of fear of the set. The 1:15 may not seem as impossible for some of the swimmers, and maybe now I'll need to try it out.

It's great to have a practice where the group surprises you. It is almost like a wake up call. "We are better than before," and actually they maybe better than even my good Blue Group last fall, even though last year they were on average older than this years group. These Groups continue to redefine our Groups of our program. The Senior 2 Group seems to be much more developed than the group was last year, and the Blue Group seems to be more developed than last year as well. It is really exciting, and I really look forward to how the swimmers respond at the meets coming up with this new level of training and confidence.