Hello,
My 16 year old has been swimming 3000-4000 yards 5x week on the local team for the past 5 months. (This is after a year out for shoulder surgery, and a year of swimming prior to that. His shoulder is doing fine.) He has 6 months until high school varsity swim team tryouts in August. High school workouts will be 6000 yards 5x week beginning in August.
I want to plan his training to both peak for his varsity tryout in August, and to be acclimated to the increased yardage.
I know nothing about swimming tapers so I'm strictly guessing. Roughly I thought he might begin now adding 1 - 6000 yard workout a week say for the first month, then 2 per week etc, until in June he can do 6000 - 5x a week. I would guess that July he would taper in some way....maybe:
First week 6000 yrd 1x, 3000 4x
Second week 3000 yrd 4x
Third week 3000 yrd 2x
Fourth week 3000 yrd 1x
Your advice is appreciated.
Thank you!
Tapering for the tryouts seems a little strange to me. The most important thing is for him to be ready for the workload and I think your approach makes sense: gradually buildup the yardage. I don't think you necessarily need to add in 6,000 yard workouts, just make sure the weekly volume is increasing and that he's able to handle the increased workload. Back off if he seems to be overtraining (i.e., constantly fatigued, getting slower rather than faster). If you really think he needs to be rested to make the team then have him rest a few days before the tryout. Just cut back on the yardage--maybe two days where he's doing 2K or less. A full taper at the start of the HS season just doesn't seem like a good idea. The idea is to peak at the end of the season, after all!
And, as others have already said, the best way to accomplish this is to get him on a USA Swimming club that is doing the kind of workouts he'll be doing with the HS team. Being on a good team is much preferred than trying to swim alone.
Tapering for the tryouts seems a little strange to me. The most important thing is for him to be ready for the workload and I think your approach makes sense: gradually buildup the yardage. I don't think you necessarily need to add in 6,000 yard workouts, just make sure the weekly volume is increasing and that he's able to handle the increased workload. Back off if he seems to be overtraining (i.e., constantly fatigued, getting slower rather than faster). If you really think he needs to be rested to make the team then have him rest a few days before the tryout. Just cut back on the yardage--maybe two days where he's doing 2K or less. A full taper at the start of the HS season just doesn't seem like a good idea. The idea is to peak at the end of the season, after all!
And, as others have already said, the best way to accomplish this is to get him on a USA Swimming club that is doing the kind of workouts he'll be doing with the HS team. Being on a good team is much preferred than trying to swim alone.
