If you’re a triathlete trying to juggle swimming with bike sessions, long runs, work, and family life, you’re not alone. The good news? You don’t need to spend endless hours in the pool to make real gains. With the right focus, 45–60 minutes in the water can be more than enough to build speed, efficiency, and confidence for race day.
We at Optimal Endurance have pulled together our go to sessions that includes, threshold work, speed intervals, and open water skills work to help give you guidance on how to approach that swim.
Our golden rules
- Focus on quality, not quantity: You’ll improve much faster focusing on quality work rather than volume
- Short rests: Keep your technique tidy but don’t over‑recover; it’s about building fitness that sticks.
- Technique under pressure: Swimming well when you’re tired is what matters on race day.
- Open‑water skills are a free speed boost: Sighting, drafting, and buoy turns can save you more time than adding another kilometre to your session.
Your Core Sessions
1) The Threshold Builder: CSS 200s
Build your sustainable speed and learn to hold form at race pace.
- Warm‑up: 300–400 easy swim + 4×50 drill/swim by 25, 15 sec rest
- Main set: 6×200 at CSS pace, 20 secs rest; 4×50 strong, focusing on long strokes, 15 secs rest
- Cool‑down: 200 easy
Progress the length of the CSS effort up to 400 the more developed you become
2) Speed Session: 16×50 FAST/Controlled
Develop power and efficiency so your race pace feels easier.
- Warm‑up: 300 swim + 4×50 build, 20 sec rest
- Main set: 16×50 — 1 fast, 1 easy, repeat ×8, 15-25 sec rest; then 4×100 pull steady
- Cool‑down: 200 easy
Progress the session by doing 12x50 all FAST with 15-25 secs rest; then 4x100 pull steady
3) Race Skills: Sight & Draft Builder
Practise the skills that really count on race day. Sighting every 4-6 strokes helps you to stay on track
- Warm‑up: 5-10 minutes easy swim + 4×20 strokes hard sighting every 4–6 strokes, 20 strokes easy
- Main set: 3×7 minutes at race effort with sighting; 2×5 minutes drafting with a partner on their feet and on their hip; 4x10 strokes hard into a buoy, 10 strokes hard out sighting early once round the buoy
- Cool‑down: 5 minutes easy
To do this in a pool complete reps of 400 and 200, for the buoy practice try not pushing off the wall
How to Fit It In
- Swim twice a week: one threshold session, one speed or skill session.
- If you can add a third, make it the skill‑focused one.
- Progress gradually by reducing rest, adding reps, or pushing up the pace.
The Takeaway
You don’t need long sessions to be a faster swimmer. Consistently completing 2-3 quality sessions a week, with a focus on pace and skills, will give you the best return on your time. Keep it simple, be patient, and you’ll notice the difference in your next race without living at the pool.
Thanks - Coach Rosie