A Swim Workout for Top End Freestyle Speed

Swimmers often over-complicate sprint training or fall into the trap of making it too long and too grindy. Instead of chasing true velocity, they swim in fatigue.

Real speed and explosive, boom-boom power live in the fairy tale land of generous rest and maximal power—not in the more familiar deep end of endless repeats on short rest.

The swim workout below is designed to build top-end speed. Short, maximal efforts. Decreasing resistance. And smart recovery to prioritize power.

The main set is broken up into three progressive blocks. Each block pairs near-maximal resisted efforts (with gradually lighter resistance) with unresisted sprints. By loading the stroke first, you increase muscle force and recruitment, potentiating your body for the lightning-fast efforts that follow.

Let’s unleash the beast.

WARM-UP

• 600 with fins as 200 swim, 200 kick build, 200 choice drill
• 3×50 freestyle swim desc 1-3
• 4×25 freestyle swim with medium drag chute at 90% effort – 45s rest per rep
• 100 choice to reset

MAIN SET

Block 1:  Heavy resistance → pure speed

• 3×10 strokes at 95% effort with heavy resistance – 90s rest between reps
• 2 mins extra rest
• 2×15 sprint unresisted – 90s rest between reps
• 100 kick easy

Block 2: Medium resistance → pure speed

• 3×10 strokes at 95% effort with medium resistance – 90s rest between reps
• 2 mins extra rest
• 2×15 sprint unresisted – 90s rest between reps
• 100 kick easy

Block 3: Light resistance → pure speed

• 3×10 strokes at 95% effort with low resistance – 90s rest between reps
• 2 mins extra rest
• 2×15 sprint unresisted – 90s rest between reps

WARM DOWN

• 10 deep water bobs
• Hot tub and foam roll

Workout Notes

• Total distance. Doesn’t matter—it’s all about the speed, baby!
• Generous rest. The goal today isn’t sprint endurance or lactate tolerance, it’s pure top-end velocity. Every rep should feel like a “fresh” effort.
• Where’s the warm down? No swim warm down—the last thing your stroke should feel is pure speed.
• Descending resistance. As resistance goes down, velocity goes up. The goal is to train across as much of the force–velocity curve as possible by strategically changing resistance.
• Potentiate the unresisted sprints. The unresisted sprints will feel like you are getting shot out of a canon after ditching the resistance.
• Equipment. Power rack works best for dialing in desired resistance. Alternatively, drag chutes can be used to adjust resistance. Fins. Kickboard. It will be a bit of yard sale at the end of the lane.

Happy sprinting!

ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.

The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.

It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.

The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.

👉 Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Guide today.