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How to plan and structure swim practice

How to Read Swim Set Notation

Confused by a whiteboard set like 4x100 @1:30? Here's how to read swim set notation: reps, intervals, rounds, and key coaching terms.

Aerobic Base Sets for Competitive Swimmers

How to build early-season aerobic base in swimming: zone markers, set structures, interval guidance, and four full base-training sets with pace math.

How to Write an Age-Group Swim Practice Plan

A repeatable framework for building 90-120 minute age-group swim practices, with time splits, weekly structure, and a full example set.

Energy System Training Zones for Swimmers, Explained

A clear breakdown of swimming training zones—easy aerobic to sprint—with effort levels, rest, and example sets you can use on deck.

IM Training Sets and How to Build Them

A practical guide to building IM training sets—transitions, IM order vs reverse IM, pacing the 200/400 IM, and developing the weak stroke.

Kick Sets That Build Real Leg Speed

Build real leg speed with kick sets that train aerobic, threshold, and sprint zones, plus vertical kicking, fins, and underwater dolphin work.

Race-Pace Training Sets

Build race-pace swim sets that actually work: broken swims, back-half repeats, and pace math for 50, 100, and 200 freestyle specialists today.

How to Structure a Taper Week for Swimmers

A practical framework for structuring a swim taper week: when to start, cutting volume while keeping intensity, and a day-by-day sample schedule.

Test Sets: How to Measure Swimmer Progress

A practical guide to swim test sets—T-30, broken 400, 30x100, descending 8x100—for tracking fitness and setting paces.

Threshold and CSS Sets: Setting the Pace

A practical guide to testing critical swim speed, converting it to send-offs, and building threshold sets that hold pace under fatigue.

USRPT Explained, With Sample Sets

A coach's guide to USRPT: the core premise, typical set structure, pace math, what it develops, common criticisms, and how to use it selectively.

How Much Yardage Should Age-Group Swimmers Do?

Age-group yardage ranges by level (10&U through senior), why sessions per week matters more than length, and signs your group is doing too much.

Competitive Swim Workout Examples by Event Group

Sample sprint, mid-distance, and distance workouts with set design logic, pace math, and full practices coaches can run as written today.

What to Look for in Swim Coaching Software

A coach's framework for sorting swim coaching software into categories — team management, workout planning, meet-day tools — before you buy.

How to Plan a Week of Swim Practice

A step-by-step framework for building a full week of swim practice, balancing volume, intensity, and energy systems by season phase.

AI Swim Workout Generators: What They Can (and Can't) Replace

How swim workout generators turn scrawled notes, voice memos, or photos into structured sets, and where coaching judgment still has to lead.

Structuring a Season-Long Swim Training Plan

A practical guide to building a season-long swim training plan, from base phase through taper, aligned to your championship meet calendar.

Swim Workout Ideas: Building Blocks for Every Practice

A practical bank of swim workout ideas organized by main-set focus—aerobic, threshold, race-pace, kick, and IM—with pace math and season timing.

The Championship Swim Training Energy-System Model, Explained

A practical guide to the Sweetenham/Atkinson energy-system zones — deriving Critical Speed, estimating threshold, and building a week's training mix.

App that calculates a swimmer's pace zones from personal best times

A practical guide to calculating a swimmer's training pace zones from personal best times, with the math coaches can use on deck today.

Apps that analyze swim workouts by training zone

A practical guide to apps and methods for tagging swim sets by training zone, with pace math, zone breakdowns, and what to look for.

Swim coaching software that checks workouts against a coach's own training philosophy, not a generic one

A practical guide to defining your own training-zone system and using software that checks sets against it, not a generic model.

What's the best app for swim coaches to write and organize workouts

A practical guide for competitive swim coaches on choosing and organizing a workout app, including what to look for and how to file sets by energy system.

A Head Coach's Guide to Overseeing Assistant Coaches' Training Load

A head coach's practical system for reviewing assistant coaches' logged practices—checking volume, zone drift, and consistency without micromanaging.

The Rushton Color-Zone System for Swim Training

A practical breakdown of Tom Rushton's 9-color zone system for swim training, with pace math, whiteboard shorthand, and how it compares to numbered zones.

Organizing a Swim Team into Training Groups That Actually Work

A head coach's guide to setting swim team group boundaries, tracking load by squad, and keeping assistants aligned on one program.

How to Run a Swim Threshold Test (and Which Distance to Use)

A practical guide to testing swim threshold pace: 1000, 2000, and 3000m protocols, which distance fits which swimmer, and how to estimate it.

Commit Swimming Alternative: How SwimIQ Compares

A coach's honest look at Commit Swimming vs. SwimIQ — how team management and workout-writing tools solve different problems.

MakoSwim Alternative: How SwimIQ Compares

An honest, fact-checked comparison of SwimIQ and MakoSwim for swim coaches: what each platform covers, pricing, workout input, and who each one fits best.

TrainingPeaks for Swimming: A Swim-Specific Alternative

TrainingPeaks is a strong endurance platform, but not swim-native. Here's what a pool-deck coach should know before choosing it.

A Practical Training-Zone Template for Masters Swim Coaches

A ready-to-use USMS training zones template for Masters coaches: six effort bands, pace math from a single time trial, and sample sets.

Write your next practice in seconds

Speak, photograph, or type a workout. SwimIQ structures it, checks it against the training literature, and gives you a clean PDF to share.

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