Go from Partial Distance to Whole Distance

[Admin Mediterra]

There are three main scenarios for a distance goal that a swimmer could be working on:

1. To swim a ‘moderate’ distance that previously seemed out of reach.
2. To swim a longer ‘long’ distance than you have swam before, that could be simulated in a single practice.
3. To swim an ‘extreme’ distance – that cannot be (easily) simulated in a single practice.

Scenario 1 – Moderate Distance Challenge

In Scenario 1 this swimmer is aiming to accomplish a continuous swim distance that is actually quite common for other experienced swimmers. This could be a distance of 2000 meters or less. The total distance could be broken down into smaller interval pieces that could fit within a single (1 hour) practice.

The challenge here is not the total distance itself, for this swimmer likely swims more than this amount of distance in a single practice, but does so with lots of breaks and interruptions. The challenge is to swim this total distance continuously, without a stop, or rest interval.

The main way this swimmer will move from Partial Distance swimming to Whole Distance swimming is to gradually shorten and then eventually remove rest intervals completely.

One way to allow for shorter or fewer rest intervals is to simply reduce intensity level to where the swimming is so gentle that there is virtually no sense of fatigue. But the problem with this is that it may slow the swimmer down so much he can’t cover the distance in the time he has available.

The other way to do this is to challenge the body and brain to hold a certain level of intensity and concentration, while reducing rest intervals. This is meant to put the brain and body under just the right amount of stress, practice after practice, to stimulate adaption and greater fitness in the body’s systems. a certain level of ‘discomfort’ is required, but the swimmer needs to recognize the difference between positive kinds of stress on the body and negative kinds of stress. True, healthy fitness requires positive forms of stress to be imposed on the body systems.

Example: Jack would like to swim 500 meters continuous for the first time, though during a normal practice he might cover 1500 meters. But he has only recently discovered that he can swim 100m straight with no problem. He may build progressive sets of distance intervals like these, and use each one for a couple practices then move on to the next one:

• 500m = 10x 50m with 10 seconds Passive Rest between each 50 repeat.
• 500m = 4x (75m + 50m) with 10 seconds rest.
• 500m = 2x (100m + 75m + 50m + 25m) with 10 seconds rest.
• 500m = 5x 100m with 10 seconds rest.
• 500m = 2x (100m + 75m + 50m + 25m) with 5 seconds rest.
• 500m = 2x (150m + 100m) with 10 seconds rest.
• 500m = 2x (150m + 100m) with 5 seconds rest.

Scenario 2 – Longer ‘Long’ Distance Challenge

In Scenario 2 this swimmer is aiming to swim further than she has gone before in a single swim. This could be 5000 meters or less, a distance that could still be broken up and fit into a ‘long’ single (2 hour) practice.

The first challenge here is first to build confidence that she is capable of that distance – which is often more about a need for mental assurance than an increase in fitness.

The second challenge is to accomplish that distance feeling good. If she has swam at least half that distance previously feeling good, then it is very possible she has what it takes for the new distance, she just needs to safely test it out.

Example: If Suzanna she has cover this total distance in single practices previously, then it is a matter of setting up intervals with controlled pace and reducing the amount of rest between.

If Suzanna has not covered this total distance in a single practice previously, then the first step is to gradually build up total distance (with or without controlled pace) using rest intervals, until the total distance is reached. Then she can work on gradually reducing rest intervals.

Suzanna may use an magnified version of the distance intervals suggested in the previous scenario.

If the total distances are such that the entire distance could not be reasonably fit into a single practice, it may be possible to conduct some two-a-day practices in order to subject herself to conditions closer to what her distance goal will impose upon her. For instance, not many people will be keen to do many 10km practice sets although that is an increasingly popular distance for open-water races. Smart swimmers have to prepare for them somehow!

Scenario 3 – Extreme Distance Challenge

In this scenario the swimmer is working on a goal that cannot be reasonably simulated in a single practice or even in a single day of multiple practices – such as a channel crossing and/or swimming under very difficult water conditions for longer distance.

The approach here may take a few forms – using consecutive days of interval challenge to make any single practice session more intense than any single segment of the intended swim goal.

Intervals in a broad sense are still used here – having rest intervals in terms of ‘hours’ or ‘days’, but instead of simulating 30km in a single practice, the swimmer may practice in smaller pieces but subject himself to a gradually increasing complexity of challenges that will be found in that challenge swim (and even more challenging, if possible), and do it at such a frequency that his physical and mental capabilities can be assessed and he gain assurance that he is ready to test himself on the actual extreme swim.

For example: English Channel relay participants must complete a 2 hour swim in water under 16 C in order to qualify. Solo swimmers must complete a 6 hour qualifying swim. In the actual crossing relay swimmers may not likely be in the water for more than 2 hours at a time, while solo swimmers could be in the water from 7 to 17 hours!

 

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