Open Water Arms Focus - Group Workout

Objective: Focus on two aspects of the arm stroke that are preferred for open water swimming:
a high-elbow recovery and a high turnover rate.

Total Distance = 2800

Set 1 - Warm-up; Dist = 400
100 Free, 100 kick in side balance or on back (no kickboards), 200 free

Set 2 - Vertical Kicking; Dist = 400 (sort of)
8 x 45 s kicking 15 s rest - focus on kicking in 3s
  1 & 2: focus on minimal knee bend, count in 3s
  3 & 4: rotate one quarter turn to right every other third kick
  5 & 6: rotate one quarter turn to the left every other third kick
  7 & 8: rotate in alternate direction every third kick

Set 3 - Conditioning; Dist = 400
4 X 100 Freestyle hard + 30 secs rest
Try to maintain an even, 6-beat kick

Set 4 - Stroke Drill; Dist = 200
4 X 50 Fingertip Drag Drill, 15 secs rest, with focus as follows:

Begin recovery by pointing your elbow straight up at the ceiling
Drag your fingertips straight forward
Drive your hand straight forward in front of your shoulder (not your head)
Put the "umph" out front (get a big armful of water, as early as possible in the stroke cycle)

Set 5 - Conditioning; Dist = 400
4 X 100 Freestyle hard + 30 secs rest
Try to maintain an even, 2-beat kick

Set 6 - Stroke Drill; Dist = 200
4 X 50 Freestyle, 15 s rest, as follows:

Swim first 25 with faster (6-beat) kick and slower arms.
Swim second 25 with slower (2-beat) kick and faster arms.

Set 7 - Conditioning; Dist = 400
4 X 100 Freestyle hard + 30 secs rest
Focus on high-elbow recovery and high (but sustainable) arm turnover, and minimal (2-beat) kicking.

Set 8 - Cool-down; Dist = 400
1 X 400 Freestyle Swim - Training Cat: REC
Swim easy, early catch, long strokes