Every now and then at SwimSwam, we’ll get a copy of a workout from a major college or professional training group. But with our new series ‘Training Blocks,’ we’re aiming to go deeper, with a set of workouts over a longer period of time. It’s an effort to see how multiple workouts are structured, how they work together, and how the top minds in our sport build out a training block.
To kick off our ‘Training Blocks’ series, we connected with Indiana University head coach Ray Looze, who served as Team USA’s head coach for the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships.
Looze passed along some workouts from IU’s mid stroke/mid-sprint group, specifically mentioning several of the Indiana pros who swam these workouts: Blake Pieroni, Zach Apple, Lilly King, Annie Lazor and Ian Finnerty. (“We have a great deal of swimmers who move group to group by day,” Looze noted, “so this is by no means what everyone did in this particular week.”).
Looze also mentioned that this block shows how IU begins the taper process, which has begun for some athletes, but not for others. Looze says that a pre-taper practice involves similar volume and structure, but with less intensity and power. For example, a pulley set might be reduced to 3 hard/1 easy or 2 hard/1 easy depending on where an athlete is during their taper.
Notable abbreviations:
- BT = breaststroke
- BO = breakout
- H/E = hard/easy
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What are drag mittens?
Has this been vetted as their REAL workout or is it some sort of IU trickery/chicanery right before Big 10’s? 🙂 I liked Doc. Remember that guy? I did some training with Doc as an age grouper. He thought I had “potential” …but he was wrong. 🙂
I mean, if it’s fabricated, it was an awfully-elaborate fabrication. Within a few minutes after asking for it, coach Looze sent us over a word doc complete with dates and names of athletes/groups who participated in each workout.
Seems authentic to me.
Ray is one of the ONLY elite level coaches that actually shares workouts.
True, and that’s a big part of why we reached out to him for the first edition. However, we’re working on making this into a series, and several other coaches have indicated that they’re willing to share.
look into Energy Standard… there are a plethora of workouts there if you ask!
Dave Salo Twitter… you’re welcome
Interestingly enough so was Jonty. I ask Jonty a few questions via email a few years back and he sent me his Alabama season plan and a whole cycle of their Sprint group workouts.
Cody Miller posts his work outs with his vlogs, Ray doesn’t seem to care if workouts are out to the world or not
interesting speculation on Jonty. lots of mystery surrounding IU with multiple kids transferring the past few years, the hiring of Cory Chitwood after his removal from Arizona for poor conduct.
My kid didn’t choose IU but the current (well, current until today) staff was there (minus John) for our visit and throughout the process and I was very impressed with the staff, team, and pros. I went in very, very skeptical and we discussed whether to cancel amidst the Westphal saga, but we both found the whole environment very genuine, constructive, and supportive. Cory was impressive and I believe honest amidst some tough questions. I think his future is bright and he deserves it to be (not supporting past behavior but willing to forgive once for mistakes in your 20s). When you look at their great recruiting class in ‘21, it’s clear a number of others felt the same way.… Read more »
I don’t think that Cory should be judged by his past. And I agree that IU is doing very well for themselves. Just noting there is a lot of smoke around the program right now.
This is a great idea for a new series of articles! Keep them coming!
Another article on IU? Surprise! Where is Jonty? Why is no one talking about the fact that he hasn’t been on deck for 2 weeks?
He apparently got removed for misconduct and is no longer on staff. I am waiting to hear the IU AD come out with a statement about it..
Dang. I was waiting for the perfect marriage of the hydro-freestyle and the elusive quadrant.
Just a few weeks before BIG10s too. What could’ve taken place for this to happen and for IU to be quiet about it for this long? Anyone on the team have any answers? A shame for the pros that followed him too.. I hope someone looks into this, potentially a big story here.
maybe it is better to be silent that wheels of justice can turn their rounds, better than hangmen here in the comments….
You must be quoting Cameron Craig
Swimswam I want to know.
Who is the more iconic commenter:
Upvote: Ol’ Longhorn
Downvote Yohzik
That Bobo Gigi didn’t make this poll invalidates all of its results.
Bobo was last decade. Old news now.
An icon transcends time.
Bobo-4-Life.
where’s HulkSmash… or whatever his name is. I miss that dude!
CLASSIC response Braden!!!!
I wanted to include Bobo but I have not seen them comment in decades
He definitely doesn’t comment as often as he used to, but he still does from time-to-time. I think he left a few last week.
Im curious to know,
What is the most liked swimswam comment ever
Surprised he lasted that long. Jonty is a great coach but he is high maintenance as an assistant and needs to operate independently in his own spectrum. At Alabama Pursley gave him free reign to do what he wanted. Can’t see any other head coach allowing him to operate that way. Hope this works out for both him and the IU team with upcoming championship season.
How is “needs to operate independently” defined as “high maintenance”?
Unnecessary on so many levels.