*Video produced by SwimSwam contributor Coleman Hodges*
Garrett McCaffrey talked to Stanford Head Coach Tedd Knapp in the fall of his 2nd year as main man for the Stanford Men. Both Knapp and his Assistant Scott Armstrong take us through a Wednesday afternoon at the Avery Aquatic Center. Ted worked with the sprinters and Scott took the distance guys. It’s interesting to hear from the coaches themselves that although their sets were very different, the results they got from these workouts were very similar. Here’s what the distance guys did:
Warm Up
200 Get Wet on 3:00
6×100 Back Kick w/zoomers as 75 mod – 25 SHOOTER! On 1:40
300 Pad + PB [100 R/L 50 7th] on 4:00
3×100 IM Dec 1-3 on 1:30
8×50 2 of each 1 kick/dr 1 swim “get ready effort” on :50
200 flop
Main Set
3 rounds through
500 paddles optional on 5:15
350 Dec to all out on 5:00
***start descend at 400 IM time goal is to get to 400 IM goal time – 25***
(350 IM = 25fly/25fr/100ba/100fr/50br/50fr)
***fly group do 350 as 50 fly -50 free start dec at red effort***
50 flop
Kick Set
15×100 choice but last 5 must be all the same
5 on 1:35
5 on 1:25
<rest 30>
5 on 1:15
Warm Down
200 snork – 200 scull/sw x 25 – 200 IMDR – 200 1 breath per lap or under over
*Check out the footage from these workouts with the Stanford Men.
Great interview! I have to believe that their dynamic coaching philosophy played a huge part in getting the recruits that they did…imo, Stanford has ended up with one of the best recruiting classes this year. Awesome job Ted and Scott!
Agree, the program is looking up right now under Ted’s watch. The current class does seem to be flying under the radar, but will likely score some good points right away next year. Hope to see Wiser healthy by spring, he has tons of untapped potential
Fantastic interview!
Scott and Ted-
How many swimmers do you have doing this set? Would it not be more advantageous to have your swimmer train for 50-100 of all 4 strokes?
Fundamentally, there are more points scored at the distances of 100 and down for NCAAs. Therefore, most teams cater their training to sprint events. How do you guys account for this?
QUESTION… Wait for the video. Only the longer distance group did this. Sprint group did a combo set of 50’s at 200 pace and under.
Man, I sure like the work-out sets these days with specific pace goals. Not overly long yardage with a high intensity mix.
I cut my teeth at the wrong time with those gargantuan length yardage work-outs, curtosy of the trend started by Mission Viejo back in the 70’s. Not so fun.
Do you think average swimmers could do these same workouts (adjust the send offs and goal times of course), and expect to get a lot better?
The more I speak with coaches and athletes, the more I realize that many of the top swimmers/teams aren’t doing anything crazy. In most cases, they have very talented swimmers that work very hard, swim fast in practice, and have great technique/feel for the water/ability to UW kick.
Lets say you don’t have all these things, will the same type of workouts work as well for you?
imo it will. I think practices are/should be designed to target specific heart rate zones (intensities) and necessarily specific skill levels. While every swimmers speed at a certain intensity will differ, the same intensity can be reached by anyone. For example, swimming with a HR of 27-28 may equate to a 1:10 pace for one swimmer or a :55 pace for another.
If you adjust the intervals to match a slower swimmer, the same intensities should still be reached despite the slower time and the workout should have the same benefits. Obviously distances/repetitions should be changed, otherwise you may have a set that lasts 3 hours!
Keeping that in mind, you still need to swim a practice that has the… Read more »
Very good interview! It’s fascinating to hear the thinking that Ted and Scott put into the design of a workout. A lot of moving parts! I especially liked Ted’s comment that “all out is ambiguous — it’s better to give a swimmer a specific goal pace to provide a context for the effort.” You’re right, Scott’s got a lot of ideas and enthusiasm. (Scott also looks like he’s got a head start on Movember!)
The only thing missing was a cameo by the amazing Rick Schavone (which I thought was going to happen at the 10:20 mark when Ted turned).