Practice + Pancakes: How to Train at an Elite Level with a Full-Time Job

SwimSwam wants to give you an inside look at what a normal day-in-the-life looks like for any given swimmer, and how that differs from team to team or city to city. We send our head of production, Coleman Hodges, to be a fly on the wall at practice, then relay what he discovered back to you over pancakes. Or at least breakfast.

If you didn’t know it, I have an older brother, Wyatt Hodges, who swims competitively. He swam for Purdue from 2008-2012, graduated from Purdue in 2013, and headed to Cal Berkeley to pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. During much of his time at Cal (April, 2014 – February 2019), he wanted to continue swimming at the highest level he could, and trained with the Cal men’s swim team. Last summer, at the Santa Clara Pro Swim, he dropped a nearly 2 second lifetime best in the 100m breaststroke, going from a 1:03.4 to a 1:01.8.

Wyatt now lives in Albuquerque, where he has a full-time job doing research in his field of study. He still loves swimming, and still continues to pursue his goals, one of which is qualifying for a 3rd Olympic Trials. However, his training environment is a little different than in Berkeley. As of late, Wyatt has mostly been swimming by himself, waking up around 5:30am to get in a quality swim/lift between 6-8am before going to work until around 5-6pm. I went to visit him not too long ago, and filmed what is a pretty routine Saturday morning workout for him.

The workout was around 3k of general warmup (similar to a meet warmup), then the goal was to swim 8×50 (no interval) at 2nd 50 of 100 pace (32.9 or better). In 8 50’s, Wyatt was 32.3-33.8, going 32+ 3 times. It wasn’t what he wanted, but granted that he moved 4 months ago, and has been swimming by himself lately, I’d say it’s a pretty solid effort.

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mike
4 years ago

“This is a cocoa butter waffle with a 6 ounce T-bone, sauteeed mushrooms, marshmello fluff, and just a dusting of crystal meth”

Here Comes Lezak
Reply to  mike
4 years ago

COMMENT OF THE YEAR

The Original Tim
4 years ago

A few years ago one of my Masters swimmers swam with us for a season–he was in his mid 30s and had swam 4 years at Duke back in the day. At our zone championship meet that season, he said he came within half a second of his old sprint times from college. Not too shabby for full time adulting!

Speaking for myself, while I’m absolutely not an elite swimmer, or even in the same zip code as any elite swimmers, I’m hitting lifetime bests in some of my events in my 30s, with a family, full time day job, a side job, and coaching both USAS and USMS teams. My 200 breast is now about 2.5 seconds faster than… Read more »

tea rex
Reply to  The Original Tim
4 years ago

Good for you Tim! For me, the hardest part is getting to the gym, getting my suit on, showering and dressing before going to work. The swimming part is great, but it takes a lot of discipline to actually get in there.

SAndra
Reply to  tea rex
4 years ago

Thanks for this. It’s really different training in your mid 30s and competing against people half your age. It’s harder to get those second workouts in after a long day of training and work. I’m not nearly at that level either. But it’s always good to hear someone is going through something similar and having success.

CraigH
4 years ago

He’s like Brandon Fischer 1.0!

Nort Group
4 years ago

WYATT!!!!!!!

Gen D
4 years ago

Thanks for doing this, Coleman! It’s a good example of staying true to what you want and what you believe you can do. I found it very inspiring!
PS SO to the Pointe-Claire cap, probably the last cap I would expect to see worn all the way on Albuquerque haha

Tony R
4 years ago

Thanks for sharing your brother’s story, that was fun to watch. For myself, even after swimming Div I, all of my best times came at the age of 27. Then came family life….

Curious mile high club
4 years ago

Great video as always. Curious how the altitude has played a role in the training. In the video he seems to have that altitude sprinter heavy breathing for a 50 on no interval. What adjustments has he made since coming from Cali group?

Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Really impressive. So I guess …. you’re adopted?

Markster
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Bold but funny

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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