The Endurance Base How to be successful in swimming – the WAVES plan By Charles Yourd, WAVES team newsletter, October 2000, (updated June 2012) Education for: •
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be at a permanent disadvantage, and will never achieve what might have been possible for them as a swimmer. Parents of young children – to help you make better informed choices regarding… o Best age to start year‐round swimming. o Frequency/Consistency of attendance. Parents of older children, adolescents, teens – to help you understand the developmental process in this sport. Everyone – become familiar with the Head Coach’s plan for swimmer development. Get an early start… Although the key years are those of growth spurt and puberty, young swimmers have many building blocks to put in place prior to that. Technique Young children have a plasticity which enables learning good technique to a degree that is impossible to achieve with teenagers. With a long term view over many decades, this coach has observed one never‐changing, reliably constant aspect…those who succeed in the sport, developing their full potential and rising to the highest level their ability will allow, do so by starting in the sport at a young age, being consistent in practice attendance, and swimming a lot during the years of puberty and growth spurts. Other teams either do not teach correct technique, or they are not effective in their teaching of technique. Every swimmer who has come to us from other teams has arrived with serious flaws in stroke technique. We do what we can to re‐teach correct technique, but once incorrect learning has occurred we are limited in the amount of correction we can accomplish. It can be helpful from time to time to remind ourselves of one fundamental key to success in the sport of competitive swimming…Those who get full cardiovascular development from large amounts of swimming in the years when going through growth spurts and puberty will create permanent life‐long structural changes to their cardiovascular system which benefit their swimming performance. Initial years in the sport are for learning to swim with proper stroke technique and rhythm, and then gradually developing the ability to train with this proper stroke technique and rhythm. Additional tasks are making friends, getting in the habit of regular daily exercise, acquiring habits of good nutrition, and understanding the relationship between practice and improvement. The enhanced oxygen exchange from these changes supercharges the working muscles and gives an enormous advantage over those who miss this multi‐
year window. Initial Foundation of Training With the above items accomplished, the swimmer is ready to begin developing an initial training background which will provide a foundation from which The people who miss this window due to a late start in the sport or inconsistent practice attendance will 1 Due to a late start in the sport, or developing major flaws in stroke technique when young, or inconsistent practice attendance, or not learning to enjoy the process of challenging oneself in training, or a peer group that supported negative attitudes about the athletic process, or a combination of these items…The swimmer did not put in place the required foundational steps. These swimmers did not have the background to handle the training load of full cardiovascular development during the years of puberty and growth spurt, or they simply weren’t around and missed it. to step up. During this period the swimmer develops a work ethic for endurance training, gets the knowledge required for training, and learns how to be a good training partner and how to respect the training group. Both these steps – technique and initial training foundation with understanding, respect, and enjoyment of the process – must be in place before the swimmer enters the years of puberty and growth spurts. From what we see, other teams do not develop these steps adequately. Therefore, if you want to give your child his or her best chance for future success in the sport, it is crucial that you get to the WAVES when young. Because of their lack of background, these swimmers can’t handle the type and amount of training easily handled by those who started early and developed properly. Consistency Because these swimmers didn’t get the background, they struggle with training, and they struggle with races longer than 50s or 100s. Not knowing the real reasons for this, they self identify as “sprinters.” This is not correct. They are not sprinters; they are swimmers who don’t have the background to handle full workloads. Frequent and consistent practice is essential in this sport. This is a year‐round sport, anything less is at a recreational level. How many times per week? If four 60 minute practices are offered per week for 8 year olds, then be consistent at all four. If five 120 minute practices are offered for 10 year olds, then be consistent at all five. If six 120 minute practices are offered for 11 year olds, then be consistent at all six. Here’s what a real sprinter is capable of… Then step up the training… If the swimmer starts early and attends consistently, by the time of growth spurt and around the years of puberty he or she can be ready to make the most of the opportunity presented by the process of swim training for full cardiovascular development. This article gives many examples of young swimmers who became great. It will start to fill in gaps in your knowledge about why some swimmers are capable and successful over a wide range of race distances, and why some swimmers and teams rise to higher levels, making the most of their innate talents. Some swimmers have the mistaken idea that workouts for sprinters ought to be easy. I’ve spoken to my squad about the tough dryland training performed every day by Inge de Bruijn, Olympic gold medalist and World record holder at 50‐100 freestyle and 100 fly. I’ve learned from Paul Bergen, her coach at Tualatin Hills Swim Club in Oregon, her swim training included sets of 10x400 fly on 5 minutes! Anyone wishing to become a sprinter please let me know, so we can get started on your progression toward 10x400 butterfly. …Just consider what kind of training background, good technique, flexibility and strength, and positive attitude toward the athletic process is needed to do this? But what about Sprinters? Why do so many teenage swimmers struggle with races longer than 50s and 100s? 2 How the Olympic Gold Medalist in the 50 Freestyle Trains Those who did the most…Still in the sport Nationals as a teen in the 1650…Nate Dusing, national high school record holder at 100 BF and 100 BK, trained as a 1650‐400 IM swimmer through his junior year of high school, only dropping down his senior season…Kristina Egerzegy, world record holder and three time Olympic champion at 200m BK, began daily double practices (two a day) at age 12, going 14,000 meters a day (about 4 ½ hours per day year round). Following with minor updates, is the article originally published in the WAVES team newsletter of October, 2000. It was subsequently reprinted in American Swimming magazine, a publication of the American Swimming Coaches Association. This article had significant impact on the WAVES swimmers who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials. These are the swimmers who did the most training when young, and they are still competing, now at high levels. Those currently in college were 10‐unders in October 2000. National team member and NCAA All‐
American Emily Hanson was 12 years old and swimming year round since age 5. By the time Michael was 13 years old, he had developed the cardiovascular endurance to hold minute pace for a timed 3000 yard freestyle swim (60 seconds per 100 yards). His developmental training in teenage years included items such as 10x800 and a timed 8000. You don’t need to be as old as me to know who the swimmers mentioned in this article are. Nearly all can be found using Google images, reading Wikipedia and profiles in ISHOF (most are in the International Swimming Hall of Fame), or watching YouTube videos of their races. Currently Phelps holds world records at 100 BF, 200 BF, and 400 IM; and the American record at 200 FS. The point is…All race distances benefit at maturity from a big endurance base when young. The Endurance Base…How to Get Fast No one knows who will develop into a very high‐caliber athlete, but if a swimmer doesn’t develop his or her cardiovascular system at an early age; they will be severely limited in what they can achieve as they mature. For young girls this is extremely important. Boys are better advised to begin double practices at a slightly older age. The list keeps growing and growing of swimmers who have big endurance training backgrounds. To name just a few… World record holder and winner of 3 Olympic gold medals in the 50‐100 FS and 100 BF, Inge de Bruijn and her 10x400 fly sets…Olympic gold medalist in the 100m BS at age 16, Megan Quann with her hour‐plus main sets and 120,000 yard weeks…Klete Keller at ages 15‐17 trained for the 5000 meter open water race, then at 18 dropped down to the 400m FS to set the American record…17 year old Diana Munz who we saw swim a great 1650 last November in Cleveland, and then 9 months later got her Olympic medals at 200‐400 distances. Becca Mann, at age 14, 2012 Olympic Trials
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), 400 FS (6th); three years earlier finalist in the 400 IM (5
at age 11 swam 4:46.48 400m FS at the 2009 Illinois Age Group Championships. The following season she began training with Clearwater Aquatics in Florida. Soon she was going 11 practices a week year‐round starting at age 12. She also ran and biked, as her first love is triathlons, for which she began training at a young age. Add these names to the list of old‐timers like Mark Spitz, winner of 7 Olympic gold medals at 100‐200 distances in 1972; five years earlier he nearly broke the World record in the 1500m as a teenager…Tom Jager, American record holder in the 50 yd FS (19.05) and first man under 20 seconds, first qualified for Junior In three years of full training, Becca dropped her 400 FS from 4:46 at age 11, to 4:23 at age 12, 4:16 at age 13, and 4:08 at age 14. 3 Michael Phelps played other sports when young. And he never missed swim practice. in the state of Washington, to allow her to swim double practices. (He went by commonly accepted wisdom and thought she was too young.) After continued pleading by the determined young swimmer, he finally gave in. Her weekly training yardage sometimes gets as high as 120,000 yards a week in 14 practices – she does triples three days a week. This despite the fact that the club has no pool in their town and all 80 team members must drive 20 miles to workouts! Her main set nearly always takes an hour to complete. Although the American record holder and Olympic gold medalist at 100m BS, she trains very little of the stroke. Butterfly is her main training stroke. Do the good swimmers practice more often, or do the swimmers who practice more often become good? Dreams, Desire, Determination ‐ Lots of Training and Hard Work The following are stories of very average swimmers who became World record holders or Olympic champions. Sippy Woodhead, World Record Holder at Age 14 Kieren Perkins, Average 13 Year Old, World Record at Age 19 Sippy Woodhead trained 20,000 yards a day at age 12 (about 4 ½ hours a day year round), then dropped down to 14,000 a day at higher intensity at age 13 with her club in Riverside, California. Her times of 1:58.53 200m FS and 4:07.15 400m FS swum at age 14 in 1978 would have won bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She held World records in the 200m FS and 400m FS. Kieren Perkins came to Coach John Carew’s swim school at age 8 for physical therapy for injuries from running through a glass door. He was a slow learner who, as he swam, Coach Carew would walk along the deck with a pole, poking Kieren’s head to get him to put it down. By age 13, when his coach decided to place him on a distance program, Perkins hadn’t yet broken 30 seconds for 50m FS long course, a time that today (2012) would barely be a USAS “A” time, and is nearly 2 seconds away from a 2012 Age Group Champs cut. 34 years later, in 2012, Woodhead still holds the 13‐14 National Age Group records for 200m FS, 400m FS, and 800m FS. At the 2012 USA Olympic Trials the fastest 14 year old on the psych sheet in the 200 FS is 2:01.60, over 3 seconds behind the 1978 Sippy Woodhead. By age 13 Perkins began training 11 practices a week. At age 13 these were 5000 meter practices. By age 18 he was going 8000 meters a practice, 11 times a week. Converting meters to yards, this is 8800 yards a practice for a total of 97,000 yards each week. His additional daily dryland included 20 minutes of bands, 20‐30 minutes on the stationery bike, and a bodyweight dryland program similar to ours. He also rode his bicycle to all practices for further cardio development and building endurance in his leg muscles. "I'm not the most talented swimmer. So I try to outwork everyone else." Ryan Lochte Megan Quann, Started Swimming at 9, Olympic Champion and American record holder at Age 16 By age 19, Perkins shattered the long‐standing World record in the 1500m FS by over 14 seconds. At one point he held freestyle world records at 400, 800, and 1500 meters. (Perkins best time of 14:41.66, swum in 1994 is faster than the current American record as of June 2012.) Starting in the sport at age 9, Megan Quann was at first an awkward swimmer. It took her a while to get her stroke technique fixed. At age 12 she started bothering her coach, Rich Benner, at Puyallup Aquatics 4 More American Swimmers Could Reach Their Potential… just for the “very high caliber athlete.” This is simply wrong thinking. Whatever level of success a swimmer aspires to, most finish the sport never knowing how good they are, simply because they didn’t practice enough to fully develop their endurance and get great stroke technique. All great swimmers were average swimmers before they developed. And they developed by training 10 or more times a week for a few years. In America, most people – like the doctor writing in the swim magazine – think the amount of training that provides full cardiovascular development at a young age is only for the “very high caliber athlete.” So the swimmers with early success tend to do more training, while those who might improve later never do, because commonly‐accepted wisdom believes they ought to miss out on the opportunity to supercharge their aerobic system. Talent helps, but it won’t take you as far as ambition. It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be, and Your Willingness to Prepare. Do the “Good” Swimmers Come to Practice More Often? …Or are they good because they come to There is biological development at young ages practice more often? I was asking myself this question enhancing the effect of endurance training. If when a copy of a swim magazine arrived in the mail. Its swimmers are not exposed to this “window of opportunity” because they did not start the sport early table of contents touted an article “Is Your Kid enough to get ready for the “window” or because they Overtraining?” The article was written by a pediatrician in response to a letter from a reader inquiring whether are not practicing enough times a week throughout the his 10 and 13 year olds are training too much (they’re year, or because they are in a low yardage program, the swimming 1 or 2 hours a day on weekdays, and 4 hours window closes forever. These swimmers will be limited on Saturday). In his reply, the doctor passes along in what is possible for them to achieve at whatever level misinformation that most people believe as common they compete at. They will feel like the driver of a 1963 wisdom. Discussing double practices, he says they are VW bug trying to qualify for the Indy 500. Some swimmers have the talent of feel for the water. This is of great benefit – helping good stroke technique come more easily. The other 99% of us need to learn better feel for the water. What’s the best way to learn or improve feel for the water?... Spend a lot of time swimming. What weekly yardage does it take to “be in shape ”? If the swimmer puts effort into training sets as requested by the coach (not all do), and attends practice consistently (many don’t), then •
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35,000 yds/wk is the minimum to be “in shape” for scy racing. 50,000 yds/wk is the minimum to be “in shape” for lcm racing and training. Achievement at the level of the swimmers in this article requires doing more, consistently, over a period of years, after establishing proper background as described at the beginning of this article. 5