Over the holidays is a common time to really put in a solid block of training for many swimmers, as they don’t have school to worry about for a couple weeks. Texas head coach Eddie Reese is no exception to that rule, and he was even kind enough to share one or two of those workouts with SwimSwam.
The first set Reese described was for the distance men, who put suits on and went 5×100. 5 out of the 8 of them went on 1:00 with a goal of averaging under :50 per 100, which 4/5 did. The other 3 went on :55, and held between :50-:52 per 100.
The second set Reese described hesitantly, not because he was worried that someone would steal his secrets, but because he was worried that they would use the set and actually ruin their team. It was an “extended broken swim”, consisting of (for faster 100/200 freestylers): 100 @ :55, 75 @ :40, 50 @ :25, and 25 @ :10. Eddie didn’t make it sound like many men made that last 25.
I’ve never met anyone in my life that is as humble, friendly, down-to-earth and relatable as he is confident, masterful and legendary. Absolute master at his craft.
Unrelated, but where’s the Washington Open article for the last day of the meet?
With practically every UT swimmer getting their own article on training it’s only fitting that Eddie get his own article.
I was waiting for him to mention the 20×50 too lol
meanwhile, Michael Andrew did a single 25 for practice this morning….
And, in spite of being the equivalent age of a high school senior, has a faster personal best than every member of the Texas varsity in the following events in LCM alone:
50 breast
100 breast
200 IM
50 free
50 fly
50 back
If I could swim 25 yards per day and be faster than everyone on the Texas varsity in 6 events I’d probably take it. So maybe, just maybe, there’s more than one way to skin a cat in this sport.
Joseph schooling is faster then M.A. In the 50 fly
Wil LIcon 200im
Andrew Wilson 50-100 br
Didn’t Licon gradate?
Andrew Wilson never competed for UT. He swam for Emory.
@Swimobserver That’s not the best comparison for a couple reasons. First, Andrew places emphasis on 50s stroke training, no collegiate swimmer does this as 50s stroke aren’t NCAA events. Also, most collegiate athletes have trained/races their whole lives in terms of SCY while Andrew has done it in LCM since he was 14. Texas swimmers have better SCY times and Andrew has 3 LCM times that are better, and both focus on those respective courses.
Also, I believe unbelievable was originally drawing attention to the fact that Michael Andrew has struggled in nearly every event except for 50s since the summer which is disappointing as he showed a lot of potential in the 200IM and 100Breast but seems to… Read more »
Michael Andrew would be an amazing SCY swimmer if he went to college.
Actually he wouldn’t because he would be ineligible to swim. But he can be an amazing SCY swimmer without going to college 🙂
(I took the above post to imply he would be a great collegiate swimmer in SCY, hence my reply.)
I mean I think the point here probably is that these sets are FAST. They’re not “garbage yardage” like USRPT folks might try to make you believe. This isn’t ultra short race page training, this is extended and repeated efforts at race pace. Same if you listen to bob bowmans talk about phelp’s training in ’03. Nothing garbage about that yardage when you’re beating world record pace in repeat 100s on a daily basis.
You’ll hear rushall and Andrew and others talk about what other people are doing as though it’s 15,000 yards of easy swimming and then you’re done. These guys are swimming FAST all the time, and they’re doing it for longer than a 25 or 50… Read more »
spot on.
And they can do it because they have the base to swim the workouts that make you fast.
And the base was added to this fall when everyone was talking about who was beating Texas in dual meets…
Eddie Reese literally said if you want to beat us swim us in November haha
Or there’s only one cat without skin… different observations!
Amazing some people can do those sets
It depends on the person. In the mid-80s Amy Berzins (Stanford) did a set of 4 x (100 @60, 75 @45, 50 @30 and a really fast 25 @1:15). It was a tough set for her, but she asked to do it several times after that. You just have to find the right people, then they challenge you to challenge them.
Favorite set to get in a sprint race zone.
Yes – I was shocked the other day when Jack Conger said his heart rate wasn’t too high after 20 x 50 butterflies on the :35. How is that kind of aerobic base possible, to make that set not challenging enough? Too bad here isn’t a 400 meter butterfly, Conger would win.
if I recall, Jack said he did 10 on :30 and 10 on :35 !!
I think it has more to do with his mixture of speed and endurance than just his raw endurance. I know distance junkies that could have grinded out 20x50s fly on :35 but only go 50/1:50 in the 100/200 fly races. Jack has the base of being a good 500 freestyler in high school but he also goes 44/1:37 in the 100/200 fly. His 200 pace is ~24.2 which gives him 10 seconds of recovery. If he’s just cruising to make the interval he could be going 30s and that’s pace +6, it’s a totally different set for him and one that doesn’t even really challenge him aerobically or force him into survival fly the way it would for someone… Read more »