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I want to swim 3000 m non-stop for an event coming up next month.
I have got three different plans for training to that event, them coming from a great coach.
Those plans are concentrating on the 20*100 m and 10*200 m

Now my question is, for swimming that long distance (3 km), should I add a long distance in plan in my schedule. Like 2*1500 m or so?

Ironmen and great swimmers out there, Please suggest.

Freakyuser
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  • I am expecting a general answer, so that all those who are training for long distance swimming can benefit from this. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 15:10
  • 3000m pool swim or open water swim? if open water, are you comfortable in open water? – Ryan Miller Jun 13 '13 at 15:49
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    How far can you swim straight now? And why, if you have a "Great coach", are you not trusting the coaches plan? – JohnP Jun 13 '13 at 16:19
  • @RyanMiller I am confident in swimming in a dam but haven't tried the ocean yet. But I don't know what you are getting at. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 16:25
  • @JohnP I can swim 500 or even more than that, I don't know how far. I have swam up to 700 without a stop. I dropped from coaching, I haven't enough money for it. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 16:27
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    @Freakyuser if you weren't comfortable in open water, i'd would then suggest you do a 3000m straight for mental readiness and/or focus on getting comfortable in open water first, then worrying about specific sets. – Ryan Miller Jun 13 '13 at 16:29
  • @RyanMiller thank you very much for that, I have swam in a 300 m dam. Have to think about the ocean soon. There is one nearby. Will see to it. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 16:43

4 Answers4

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In general, it is not really necessary to swim overlong long distance sets, as there is no real training benefit other than mentally knowing that you can swim the distance. Even for competitive swimmers doing the 1500, workouts will rarely have that distance in the plan.

There is more benefit to swimming a set such as 6x500 on :10 rest than there is in swimming 2x1500, or 1x3000, and if you can complete a set like that, then there shouldn't be any problem in being able to swim the distance straight.

Example for clarification: If you have a 3000m race, and you are thinking that you can swim that in 1 hour (60 minutes), then you should be able to do 6x500, at the pace of 10 minutes per 500 (2:00/100) with a :10 rest interval. If you can't do 6x500 on 10:00, :10 rest interval, then your race pace is too ambitious and you need to aim for a slower pace. If you simply can't even swim 6x500m, then you have larger problems than worrying about pacing.

If I were training for this, I would make sure that my workouts in total were more than 3000m, and that I had longer (400-800m) components to each set, but I wouldn't be overly concerned with set components longer than that.

JohnP
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  • +1 for a great piece of advice. I didn't know that sets of that length aren't necessary. I will do the 500 m sets tomorrow, thank you. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 16:24
  • 6x500 on :10 sounds rough. valid, yes. curious as to what effort you would recommend this to be done at? race pace? comfortable? easy? i'm not disagreeing with your answer. i'm used to doing something like 7x400 with at least :30 rest which is why I am curious on the effort with :10 rest. thanks. – Ryan Miller Jun 13 '13 at 16:26
  • @RyanMiller - Rest is determined by effort level. The more intense the effort, the longer the rest. If you have a race pace that you are aiming at for a 3000m race, then you should easily be able to do that set at that pace with rest breaks. However, for familiarization purposes, even doing it at 70% effort is good. If you can complete a 6x500 set on :10, (or really, even at :20) then you should be able to do a 3000m swim straight, even if it is at a slightly slower pace. – JohnP Jun 13 '13 at 16:54
  • @RyanMiller - See clarification example in my answer. – JohnP Jun 13 '13 at 16:58
  • Extraordinary, going to try this tomorrow 6500 on 10 mins with rest included. My pace is more or less that. I swim 10100 m on 2 min with 10 sec rest included. Let me see if I can do what you have suggested. Will comment tomorrow. And yes I swim more than 3 km every session. – Freakyuser Jun 13 '13 at 17:07
  • @Freakyuser- I would suggest looking at/getting "Swim workouts in a binder" series, they have them also for triathletes. It talks about training, has a lot of excellent workouts, and ways to structure training. – JohnP Jun 13 '13 at 17:10
  • I swam 4*500 today after a warm up of 600 and a cool down 600. Will slowly increase 500s to 5 and then 6 sets week by week. With this set I have got quite confident that I will be able to swim 3000 in 60 mins. – Freakyuser Jun 14 '13 at 05:30
  • I agree with JohnP. I'll add if you're doing a mass start in open water, you should get comfortable with some contact so you don't panic. – spudone Jun 04 '14 at 18:34
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Although there is only some need for full distance training and @JohnP's answer is useful for most of your training, it really can help with strategy, psychological conditioning, and for practicing pace to do an occasional full distance swim. Healing after your first full distance training session will produce an excellent training effect as well. I have done full distance training for up to 7750 yards.

Peter DeWeese
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set goal for 50 200 400 800 1K while maintaing the form, what I use is Ti(Total Immersion). This style is meant to be letting you swim for a long distance and effortlessly.

mko
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I am swimming now for a couple of years, with a frequency of 2-4 times a week 3.000m each training session, in blocks of 6x500m, 10 min per 500m. Easy training is 6 times 500m in 9.30 minute and 30sec rest. Very intense 6 times 500m in 8.45 and 1.15 rest. In this way you can play with the speed and the rest. Because of the regularity of the sessions it is a good way to monitor your effectiveness of your technic and efficiency. You can try out or modify your technique and see if your speed improves or, if you get less tired over the same time and distance. I have a polar watch and can very nicely monitor my training sessions. I do this al the time. I know I should have more variation in my training sessions, but somehow this suits me, I am still making nice (little) progress and can easily monitor my effectiveness of swimming because I am so used to the sets.

Thomas Markov
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Steven Heukelom
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