Hi swimmers, so as we head into the next phase of our cycle and are looking at what events are coming up in June, May becomes an important month of swimming! Our main targets are Middlesex and TIP

Firstly you would have noticed that some sessions are getting more intense and so they should, as we are now starting our completion phase of training.

For May we will be working on getting faster in the water. So what does this mean for you the swimmer:

Well to start there will be more sets of fast swimming, this will include Lactate sets, V02 Max sets and Heart Rate sets as well as work on speed development. Why do we do these sets, I hear you ask? The answer is simple, we spent the winter months doing lots of aerobic and endurance type of work to build up our fitness and our aerobic capacity, as we move into competing more we also now need to speed up! These sets will help improve your speed so that when you do take to the water for a competition you will feel fast.

Some tips for these types of sets:

Warm up as you are asked to by the coach, but do not swim fast in the warm up. Instead as you get the feel of the water, increase your speed just enough to get the heart rate working a little harder.

Most coaches will add some HVO work into the warm up or some build-up work to get you ready for the main set.

Do swim fast when asked to whether that is at max effort or a % of your max. Swim slow during recovery and easy swims.

Do try and maintain good technique through out the set and ensure you get a good feel of the water.

Do ask if you don't understand what the coach has asked you to do!

Finally if you do all these things you should notice improvement as you start to compete.

Remember you will not always get a PB in every race you swim