Heading to the pool? Need a workout? From distance to sprint, beginners to triathletes--check out our ever-growing collection of swimming sets. Next step? Find and register for a swimming event to show off your improved swimming.
3200-Meter Swimming Workout
Focus on your technique and endurance with this 3200-meter workout.
Swimming Workout for Triathletes
Practice bilateral breathing, balance in the water and intervals with this swim workout designed for multisport athletes.
World Class Workout 1: Core Conditioning in the Pool
Pro triathlete and swim coach Peter Hursty starts off the series World Class Workouts with sets designed to strengthen your core and improve endurance.
World Class Workout 2: Climb the Ladder With a Distance Diva
Open-water ace Lisa Hazen shares one of her favorite endurance workouts--and it's a toughy! Plus: Alternatives for novice and intermediate swimmers.
World Class Workouts 3: Hone Your Speed and Pacing
The third World Class Workout is a competitive lifeguard's favorite. The main set is only 3,000 yards, but it will help you develop a winning combination of speed and endurance.
World Class Workouts 4: Try the Grand Prix with Olympian Cristina Teuscher
A gold-medalist at the '96 Olympics, Cristina Teuscher believes in versatility when training. Here, she offers us her most challenging workout--the Grand Prix.
World Class Workouts 5: Practice Swim-to-Run Transitions
Triathletes, open-water swimmers and those looking for a good cross-training workout will like this one. It combines ladder sets of 200s with running.
World Class Workouts 6: Go 8,000 Meters With South African Star Ryk Neethling
Olympic freestyler Ryk Neethling offers a workout that will give even the most endurance-prone swimmers a run (or swim) for their money.
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
World Class Workouts 7: A Short, Fast, Speed-building Set
Dawn Heckman, a fierce competitor on the open-water race circuit, shares a short but intense pool set designed to increase speed.
Use IM Swim Training to Boost Fitness and Technique
For a non-IM'er, the individual medley is a daunting, scary event, but swimmers (and triathletes) who favor only one stroke are missing out on a beneficial cross-training opportunity.
Four Focused Swim Workouts
"Jump in and swim for 30 minutes" isn't a workout; it's a recipe for boredom. These workouts promise to add variety and purpose to your pool sessions.
3 Swimming Sets for a Faster 1,500 Meters
The first leg of an Olympic-distance tri can be grueling. Improve your speed and endurance with these sets to maintain a high-intensity effort over the entire swim.
Structure Drills Into a Beginner's Training Plan
Some swimming novices blindly stick to the idea that technique will improve with conditioning. Structure these two drills into your training plan to improve balance and body position.
Swim Drills to Build Your Negative-splitting Skills
Although it may sound like a painful gymnastics maneuver, negative splitting is a training technique that is simple in theory, but takes discipline and a healthy dose of endurance to execute.
World Class Workouts 8: Learn the Clock With this Tough Set
Its origins are unknown, but nearly every swimmer who has stepped onto the blocks of a major competition will have endured this legendary set at some point in their training.
Swim Fast to Get Fast
Has your swimming speed hit a plateau? Stop pacing over long distances during your pool workouts and try these three fast sets instead.
World Class Workout 9: Use These Bricks to Build Triathlon Power
Brick workouts are the best way to prepare your body for race-day conditions. Here are two workouts to get your legs going.
One of My Favorite Fast Swim Workouts
When training for sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons, speed is the name of the game. Try this fast pool workout to add some giddy-up to your swim leg.
World Class Workout 10: Climb the Ladder With Janet Evans
Try these workouts from swimming legend Janet Evans to help build your endurance and develop the back half of your distance race.
Keep Your Feel for the Water With These 30-Minute Swim Workouts
Swimmers are prone to falling out of shape fast in the offseason. Try these intense 30-minute workouts to stay in swimming shape.
Swim Fast to Get Fast: The 50s
Incorporate these three sets into your pool workouts to add speed to your swimming. A focus on 50s gives each set a fun, fast flavor.
World Class Workouts 11: Repeating 200s With Olympian Lindsay Benko
Build middle-distance speed and endurance with this workout from Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Benko.
World Class Workouts 12: A Distance Set From Open Water Champ Kalyn Keller
Offering a little bit of everything--pulling, explosive kicking, stroke work and drills--this distance set is perfect for triathletes or open water swimmers.
World Class Workout 13: An IM Set With Swim & TV Star Summer Sanders
Summer Sanders has had a successful career both in the pool and on TV. The Olympic gold medalist returns to her swimming roots with this tough IM set.
World Class Workout 14: Different Strokes With Kristy Kowal
This stroke-intensive drill set from Olympic silver medalist Kristy Kowal is easily adaptable for breaststokers, backstrokers and butterfliers, but challenging for freestylers and triathletes too.
World Class Workout 15: Active Rest With Record Holder Klete Keller
To swimmers, rest usually means watching the clock at the edge of the pool. Not so in this workout, which keeps you moving in preparation for the fast interval.
5 Swimming Tools to Spice Up Your Workouts
Ever wonder what swimmers are doing with fins and snorkels? Here's a breakdown of helpful gadgets and how to incorporate them into your workouts.
Get ACTIVE on the Go
Meet Mobile
Swim smarter: heats, lane assignments and real-time results in the palm of your hand.
Available for iOS | Android
Discuss This Article