Introduction
Recently I got to watch some of the top swimmers duke it out at the TYR Pro Swim Series swim meet in Ft. Lauderdale. Some of the athletes present included U.S. Olympic swimmers Bobby Finke, Michael Andrew, Regan Smith, and Katie Ledecky.
This experience inspired me to start a series where we look over and break down some of the experience and knowledge shared by some of best swimmers in order to learn from them and become better athletes ourselves.
Let's start by looking at the training program of one of my personal favorite athletes: Katie Ledecky.
Who is Katie Ledecky?
Katie Ledecky is a superstar athlete and one of the fastest female swimmers today. She currently holds the world records for both the 800m and 1500m freestyle with seven gold and three silver Olympic medals.
Born in 1997, Katie has been swimming since the young age of only six years old. Her older brother was also a swimmer and helped spark young Katie Ledecky's interest in the sport. In addition to her stellar career as a member of Team USA in the Olympics, Katie Ledecky also holds a number of titles and records including: 2012-13 USOC Sports Woman of the Year, 2016 Female Olympic Athlete of the Games, and 2017 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year to name only a few.
Fun fact: the mom of my college swim coach used to be Katie Ledecky's swim coach!
Katie Ledecky's Training Program
Ledecky's coach, Bruce Gemmell, shared some insight into the training program he developed for Katie in an article on Yourswimlog.com (full article cited below). Gemmell used a color-coding system derrived from American swim coach Jon Urbanchek which had three primary levels:
White/Pink: Low intensity "recovery and technique" sets.
Red: "Aerobic, threshold swimming" used to push the boundaries and increase thresholds.
Blue: Max-effort, high heart rate with low rest.
Here are some main set examples provided by Yourswimlog.com:
Threshold Set
[x3]
1 x 300 @3:15 neg split
3 x 150 @1:45
3 x 100 @1:15
6 x 25 @:20 Fast Feet
:60 rest between rounds.
“The real work is in the 150’s, 100’s, and 25’s.”
Active Rest/Race Pace
4 x [200 pink + 50 easy @3:00]
6 x [150 desc 1-3 pink to red, 4-6 red + 50 easy @2:30]
4 x [2 x 100 red @1:20 + 100 easy @1:40]
6 x [50 Race + 50 easy @1:30]
Threshold
[x5]
3×100 @1:10 cruise
1×300 @3:10 Pink
3×100 @1:05 cruise
1×300 @3:10 Desc 1-5 Start at Pink
The Lactate Set
[x4]
1 x 200 @2:20 Target: mile pace
2×100 @1:20 Target: 500 pace
2×50 @:40 Target: 200 pace
6:00 rest between each round
5,000 for time
5,000 yards freestyle for time
What to Take From Katie Ledecky's Training
One key takeaway from Katie Ledecky's training program is: push yourself. You shouldn't be pushing past 100% every practice, but plan ahead and find times where you force yourself to push the envelope and break your thresholds - this is the only way you can grow as a swimmer!
This quickly drawn graph shows the basic "improvement curve" (I made that term up). At the start of the graph is where you get back into the water and do some really easy sets. Gradually, you increase intensity until you reach your 80-90% effort sets.
Next comes the most important part (the red hump) - the improvement zone.
Once you reach your previous 90% sets, you break through and push yourself to do more, go faster, and push harder than before. You only have to do this for a few sets/practices then reduce the intensity and slow down a bit then repeat.
For example:
Weeks 1-4: you get comfortable swimming 10x50 @ 1:00
Week 5: include a set of 8x50 desc. 1-4, 5-8 @ 0:55
Week 6: do the following for the main set:
10x50 @ 1:10
100 swim easy
8x50 @ 1:00 (should be medium effort, 60%)
100 swim easy
6x50 @ 0:50 (getting harder)
100 swim easy
4x50 @0:40 (should be really difficult but you only have to push for four 50s)
In 6 weeks you brought your 80% effort 50yd time from 1:00 to 0:40-0:50 = IMPROVEMENT
In the next few weeks, slow down a bit, maybe do some sets of 50s at 1:00 or 0:55 then build intensity back up again in the following weeks until you can do 6x50 @ 0:40 or maybe 2x50 @ 0:30.
Over the long-run, your improvement will look something like this with small but meaningful improvements every couple weeks:
(I'm so sorry, it's hard to draw with a trackpad)
Conclusion
Her training program, developed by coach Bruce Gemmell, is designed to push boundaries and increase thresholds. By pushing herself to break her thresholds, Ledecky demonstrates that growth as a swimmer requires planning and deliberate effort. Swimmers can take inspiration from her training program and aim to make small but meaningful improvements over time, as shown in the improvement curve graph, in order to become better athletes.
Sources:
https://www.yourswimlog.com/katie-ledecky-sets-training/
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