Bob Bowman

To coach IM, you need to focus on technical proficiency in all four strokes, touch all energy systems and resistance training, and give the swimmer something to sink their teeth into through the heart of the season. Additionally, you should be sure to touch on each stroke each week to create a balanced swimmer.
 
Transcript: "Question is, how do you coach IM? And it's debatable if I'm doing something right, but we've had some success with it. Thanks, Brett. I believe in a couple things with the IM. Number one, you have to be technically good in all four strokes, so we're constantly trying to work on that aspect of performance. Number two, you need to touch all the bases and energy systems. So you need to have endurance, you have to have speed, you have to have lactate tolerance, you have to have lactate production. All of these things go into an IM swimmer, so you have to have a balanced program that touches on all of those things during the week as well as resistance training, power training. I think those things are important. I-- as an IM coach-- believe in giving them something they can sink their teeth into through the heart of the season, so I tend to touch every stroke in a major way-- except maybe butterfly unless they're a 200 flier-- one day a week. So we'd have one major backstroke set, one major breaststroke set, one major freestyle set. Then we would have an IM day, we would probably have a day where they do their best stroke-- which, if it's back or breast, they get two days-- if it's butterfly, they get a full day of butterfly. And then I tend to give small doses of butterfly throughout the week all the time anyway. I do that for everyone. I just think it makes you a better swimmer. So I think you have to factor into your plan, not only the energy systems, the type of resistance work you want to do, but also how you touch on each stroke each week to balance out the complete swimmer. And that's the challenge of IM training, and, I think, what makes it really fun."

Leon has natural speed which can be used strategically in the program. We alternate days of threshold and aerobic training with active rest and max VO2 training, and we ask Leon to do something with a racing stroke at racing speed every day. We also engineer sets for him to do, and sometimes ask him to push faster than he usually goes.
 
Transcript: "This is a good question. Leon is very similar to Michael in that he has natural speed. So he always can generate some speed, if we ask him to. The question is, how often do you ask him to do that. And in what context. So our micro cycle is a basic micro cycle that we used at Michigan, we used in [? NBAC. ?] We use it here, where we're alternating days of threshold training and endurance, aerobic type training with days of what we like to call active rest, which are easy, fast training, where the recovery is moving. And it's like a 50-50 anaerobic aerobic. And then finally, we do max VO2 training, which is purely anaerobic. So what we ask from Leon is that every day and every session, he's going to do something with a racing stroke at racing speed. And sometimes, I have to engineer that for him and make it easier for him to do. Sometimes I have to demand it from him and ask him to do it. I'll give you an example. One day we did a set of 3,100s, one on 110, one on 105, one on a minute, this is short course yards. And what I asked for was, the ones on the minute he needed to go on. And I asked for 48s. And then he could go five seconds slower on the 105s and five seconds slower on the 110. So he's probably 58s on the 110s, 53s, and 52s on the 105, right into 48 on a minute. And we did 30 of those. And he did quite well. And actually, the last one, he went 47 from 100. And then I had them go a 200, where they just did 100 kick, 100 swim easy. And they thought practice was over. And I said, OK, now, push 100 faster than you went in that set. And Leon was 46 flat. So he has speed. And we try to set it up so he can use it strategically like that. And that's how I think you do it. I don't think you just come in every day and ask for long sets, where they're at maximum speed. But you mix it in to the program as you go."

Ryan beat Michael in the Shanghai World Championships, going 154.0 to Michael's 154.1.
 
Transcript: "I ask myself this question a lot, and the answer is very simple. Ryan out-touched Michael in Shanghai World Championships, end of story. Beat him in the world championships, went 154.0, Michael's 154.1, and that's how it is. So congrats to Ryan, and I hope you're having a good day."

Léon Marchand is versatile because he trains in a 400 IM program and does a little bit of all the strokes, including backstroke and breaststroke which are particularly focused on. He also has natural speed and does something fast in almost every practice. Furthermore, he has excellent endurance and well-trained skills, allowing him to be versatile due to his wide range of abilities.
 
Transcript: "So the question is, how is Léon Marchand so versatile? Do you move him around training groups? Léon has stayed pretty much in our Orange training group. It's the group that I coach. And he is on a 400 IM program. So he basically does a little bit of all the strokes. We focused more on breaststroke this year because I thought that was a key element of his IM, and on backstroke. But he has natural speed. And we do something fast in almost every practice, particularly at the end. So I think that's how he gets the full spectrum of what's going on. He is an amazing endurance athlete. We do some threshold sets in practice that are really astounding. And he has very good endurance. He was very well trained before he came to us and has excellent skills to go with his fitness. So he can be versatile based on his wide range of skills. And he gets a variety of energy systems in our training group."

Jackson Leonard prefers to do a mix of strokes when doing IM sets, alternating between straight IM repeats (100, 200, 300, 400) and isolating stroke to stroke transitions. He likes to focus on individual strokes during the middle of the season and then ties them together in the last six weeks with transitional work.
 
Transcript: "From Jackson Leonard. Hey, Jackson. When doing IM sets, do you prefer 100, 200, 300, 400 straight IM repeats or isolating stroke to stroke transitions. The answer, of course, is yes. Early in the season and late in the season. So the first six weeks, the last six weeks, we work quite a bit on transitions. So we'll do IMs in training, my favorite is 300 back breast free IM. So we go 100 back, 100 breast, 100 free, or 150s that way, 600s that way. So we will do that. And then in the middle of the season, we'll work more on the individual parts. So we'll spend a day working on backstroke by itself, or breaststroke by itself, or distance free, or butterfly by itself. And then we try to tie it all together in the last six weeks doing quite a bit of the transitional work. So I guess the short answer is we do a mix of things. And I think just having that balance is important to an IM swimmer."

Michael Phelps is a generational talent and worker in swimming, with no one able to match his intensity, speed, volume and consistency.
 
Transcript: "Hi, [? Alicia. ?] The easy answer to that one is I don't know. I think that if you look back on Michael's career, he and I both would have things that we wish had gone better, some things that we're very pleased with and proud of. But I think, at the end of the day, we're very proud of the journey we took together. I will say one thing. I hear a lot about Michael's a generational talent. And certainly, he is a very talented swimmer. But what he is that no one else can match is a generational worker. No one in the history of this sport could match the intensity, the speed, the volume, and, most importantly, the consistency that Michael brought to practice for years to get to the level where he could consistently achieve like he did. And that's what made him special. Whoever was standing on deck, not sure how that would work unless they could actually challenge him to do those things. So I hope that helps. Thanks."