With the 25m pool, technical aspects such as the turn, push, glide, and sprint naturally become more important – how do you work on these aspects in your preparation for a SC meet?
This is a constant aspect of our training throughout the course of the year. Over the course of a week, we will have anywhere from four to six workouts in a short course format. We will even set-up a 15m course to amplify these technical aspects. We will focus on sets that a required number of kicks off of the wall or strict body positions as the athletes leave the wall for freestyle turns.
How else does training for short course competition differ from long course? What is the main focus of training for short course competition in terms of programme, sets, etc.?
A big difference will be the sustained speed we are looking for in short course preparation compared to long course preparation. We do feel we can allow the athletes to rest a little bit more in the water while keeping an attention to dryland/weight training closer to the meet. We tend to focus on kick counts for our butterfly and backstroke specialists a little more so than in a long course competition.
What specific characteristics/qualities (both physical and technical) should a short course swimmer…
