coaching and training cycles for swimmer development
Please note: As a year-round swim team, we will see two training cycles each year. The first is our Long-Course cycle, which will run from April – July. The second is the Short-Course cycle, which runs from August – February/March (depending on each swimmer’s Championship meet).
As coaches, we stress both the physiological and mental aspects of athlete development. It is important for swimmers and parents to understand both aspects, to gain insight into the coaching techniques and training cycles. This understanding will allow you to work together, with the coach, to help the swimmers reach their maximum potential.
Cycle 1 – Early Season/Technique:
Each week during this cycle, we will emphasize the techniques that are foundational to a successful season. This will cover every aspect of race technique: Stroke efficiency, streamlines, dolphin kicks, starts, turns, finishes, etc. This may be accomplished by easy swimming, focusing on specific strokes or skills. This cycle will also include a lot of drills, which help to further reinforce and emphasize good technique.
Early in the season, meet attendance is important, but our focus is not on race times. Instead, we will measure success by how close each swimmer is to perfecting the details of each of their races. Early-season meets are a great opportunity to exercise the skills and techniques in a competitive environment. This is not the appropriate time to wear a technical suit - in order to see the full benefits of a tech suit, you should wait until later in the training cycle. Instead, wear a tight-fitting polyester or lycra competition suit.
Cycle 2 – Mid-Season/Aerobic Development:
This cycle will involve stressing the swimmers’ bodies aerobically, and building up their physical endurance to face the demands of this season. Our focus is on conditioning, and the goal is to build race endurance, while also reinforcing the stroke/race techniques developed during the early season. Set duration and intensity will increase week by week during this cycle.
Practice attendance is a key-factor: Missing practice is particularly counterproductive during this cycle. It will take two practices just to make up for each missed practice.
Mid-season meets are also important. We will try to achieve best-times while maintaining proper form and technique, as reinforced during Cycle 1. Our ultimate goal is to practice racing. Many swimmers find these meets to be the most difficult, because they are fatigued from their training, but this is a pivotal point in the season, as this is the optimal time to refine their race strategy and develop indefatigability.* Swimmers will often attend mid-season meets and only set one or two new personal best times – This is to be expected, and should not be discouraging or cause the swimmer to lose motivation. This is not the appropriate time to wear a technical suit - in order to see the full benefits of a tech suit, you should wait until later in the training cycle. Instead, wear a tight-fitting polyester or lycra competition suit.
*indefatigable: (adj) 1. Incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring
Cycle 3 – Mid-Late Season/Anaerobic Development:
This cycle will see a progressive shift of focus, from endurance training to speed training. Practices will still include some aerobic sets, to maintain endurance, but the focus will primarily be on building speed. This will be achieved through practice sets that reemphasize proper technique, along with implementing pacing and racing strategies optimal for each stroke and/or distance.
At meets during this cycle, swimmers should start to feel better about their races and times. This is the point of the season in which swimmers will start to achieve their goal times, whether they are USA Swimming Motivational Times, State Qualifying Times, etc. (Click here to see current Time Standards) If a swimmer is still trying to achieve a qualifying time for a Championship meet, they should consider and speak with their coach about whether or not this is the right time to wear a technical suit and/or shave for competition.
Cycle 4 – Late Season/Championship Meet Taper:
Typically the swimmers’ favorite cycle, Cycle 4 is the culmination of the season’s hard work. However, as implied in the previous statement, this cycle can only truly be enjoyed by the swimmer who has put in the hard-work necessary to appreciate it, by fully participating in each of the previous cycles. This is the time to really refine those specific skills that are crucial to racing success: Starts, turns, strokes, pacing, and finishes. The focus this cycle is 1) recovery of the body’s physiological systems from previous cycles, and 2) preparation – both mental and physical. During this cycle, practice durations will gradually decrease, allowing the body to rest before the final competition.
At the end of this training cycle, the last meet of this season, swimmers finally reap the benefits of all their hard work and training. These are the meets when each swimmer will want to wear his/her best suit - preferably a technical suit, and they will want to shave for the competition.
Building Friendships,
Training Champions
Contact Information
PO Box 8048, Warner Robins, GA, 31088, United States
PARTNERS
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
This site is a service of Captyn and powered by One Eleven's BUILD platform | The content is owned by Fusion Swim Team and the site is governed by its privacy policy | Privacy Statement