Can you explain your favorite set to complete?
Brian Sutton was an underrated coach who created a set that is still used today. It consists of 25m at 100 pace, followed by varying levels of aerobic swimming and a 50m push back end. The rest for the aerobic component varies depending on the athlete's event, ranging from 10 seconds for 200 swimmers to more for sprinters like Mel. After completing one round, you take a couple minutes rest and do it all again, six rounds in total. Transcript: "Mel, I had one of the most underrated coaches in all of Australian swimming. I don't think he'll go down as one of the greats, but I truly believe he is. His name is Brian Sutton. Now, Brian was a physiologist by nature, but he was so good at the psychology of swimming, too. I mean, he challenged me more than any other coach that I had mentally. Every day, I was on edge, but physically as well. So he created a set that I've used multiple times-- still use to this day. And I was doing this back when I was trying to develop my 100 freestyle. But I used it with all the greats that I've ever coached, and I'll highly recommend it. 25 from the block. Then the varying levels of aerobic swimming between that will differ between certain types of sprinters. So, for me, it was a 25 aerobic. For other people it was a 75 or a 125, depending on how much aerobic they needed in between that and how much rest they needed after that 25 front end. But you determine that. But basically a 25 front end at 100 pace. You've got to be at that pace you want to be out on the first 25 of your 100. You do your aerobic swimming, and then you do a 50-push back end after you've done your aerobic. The rest of the aerobic, again, varies between athletes. It might be a little bit more for someone like me. It might be a little bit less for someone that swims at 200, maybe 10 seconds. But then you push that back end, and you've got to be at your back end speed. That's one round. Then you rest, take a couple minutes' rest and you do it all again, maybe six rounds of that-- everything at pace, everything at speed. The aerobic component is keeping the heart rate up so that by the time you get to that back end, you've still got that heart pumping a little bit. Go six rounds of that. I think it's one of the best sets ever created by Brian Sutton."
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Can you explain your favorite set to complete?
Brian Sutton was an underrated coach who created a set that is still used today. It consists of 25m at 100 pace, followed by varying levels of aerobic swimming and a 50m push back end. The rest for the aerobic component varies depending on the athlete's event, ranging from 10 seconds for 200 swimmers to more for sprinters like Mel. After completing one round, you take a couple minutes rest and do it all again, six rounds in total.
What are some “predictor” or race simulation sets for the 50 & 100 free?
Tyler McGill swam a progression of 100s at 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95% and 98% of his goal time in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, Olympic trials. He was spot on for the whole progression and ended up finishing second in the event, almost beating Michael Phelps. This predictor set is good for athletes who are really locked in and believe in it.
What sets would you suggest for 100 m butterfly speed endurance?
Richard Quick gave Misty Hyman a set before the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The set was 1050s fly, one on 131, one on 25, 20, 15, 10, 105, 60, 55, 50, 45 and she had to hold a pace of 30 seconds or maybe even 29 seconds for 50 long course meters throughout the whole set. After completing this set, Richard Quick knew she was sure to win the gold medal.
What is the difference between sprinting strength and sprinting power and how can I develop both?
Power is developed on the power racks and is used for short bursts of top-end speed (50 pace). Strength is trained on the back end of a 100, where technique and speed need to be held under extreme pressure.
For the 100, does training back end speed always involve a lactic tolerance element? What are some ways to develop BES without producing too much metabolic stress?
In the 2002 Fukuoka Pan Pacific Championships, Scott split the fastest first 50 in history at the time and was way under world record pace. However, he experienced a lactate response at the 75-meter mark and had to stop, losing his lead. Lactate responses need to be trained in order to be avoided, so it is important to mimic this element in practice regularly.
Training for 50’s, how often would you have sprint/speed focused sessions and what type of training would you do on lower intensity days?
Jones has never specifically trained someone for the 50s and incorporates speed work on a day-on, day-off basis in order to hit speeds four times a week.