Dear Swimmers
I've been promising the following squad lane allocations for several weeks now and they are finally here for your reference:
Of course, not everyone is expected to turn up for every session that I have them allocated for - that's the beauty of the PAYG card system - flexible for you the swimmer, without being charged for the sessions you miss. I normally express this list with a "buffer" with 2 or 3 more people over the "normal" 8 to 10 per lane, however, this time I have not done that due to the "seeding" nature of what I have done with the list which should help to better manage the lanes. Would love to hear your feedback.
A great deal of observation from a) regular attendance, b) time trial results, and c) observable paces being held in the various squad sessions following the tests 3 weeks ago has gone into collating this list. I am hoping it's 98% complete and accurate, however, there are a few gaps with respect to paces per 100m of some of the very new faces in the squad (namely the Tuesday / Thursday 6.30pm sessions and the Saturday 1pm session) so if you have any amendments or additions for me, please just let me know.
As discussed in our
"Mind the Gap" blog a few weeks ago, I have been working diligently to try to ensure three things in the smooth running of the squads lately:
- that you are all pacing as well as possible in the harder interval sessions.
- that you know exactly what your current threshold (CSS) pace is (you will notice that I have made some minor tweaks to the resultant paces from the 800m time trial for some of you based on how you've responded and having been progressing recently) and that you're training at the right intensity*
- ensuring that you leave an appropriate gap** between you and that you don't try to close this down to draft on the feet of the person in front of you, unless I specifically state that as an aim for the session, i.e. Saturday 1-2pm
*you will also see from the linked file above that in some cases we have elected for 2 or even 3 sub-groups within a lane to try to ensure we are getting as close to everyone's individual threshold paces as possible within the realms of possibility of a squad session. The slight downside with attempting to do this is there usually comes 1 or 2 occasions during a main set when the faster sub-group laps the slower sub-group and it can get a little messy for 100m or so. If you're aware of this though and have respect for your fellow swimmers, all should be OK. You'll often hear me managing the lanes with firm commands to "leave now" or "cut in front" etc - these are there to help the sessions flow as well as possible - please don't think I'm barking at you! I know exactly what it's like to have the challenge of a target time in front of you and wanting to meet those targets - it's very easy to get a little snappy. Calm control in "adversity" will make you a much better swimmer all round ;-)
**in some of the busier sessions (i.e. Wednesday 5.30am specifically) it's a challenge to keep the flow of the session running smoothly at all times. I would like to take this opportunity to commend those of you there this Wednesday when 42 showed up for this session and how well you handled yourselves, especially in lane 2. It was a sudden jump up from previous weeks with several old faces popping up unexpectedly out of the woodwork. Luckily this specific session with its long intervals, short recoveries and little or no pull & paddles, drill / technique or fins work can operate well with several more people in the lane than some of the other squads and in theory with gaps of 5 to 8 seconds and at a lane pace of 1:40 per 100m (for example) we should be able to accommodate between 12 and 15 people in a lane for this type of session. However, the amendment that we are going to try next week in lane 2 (as promised) is to move 3 swimmers who normally swim at the front of lane 2 across into lane 1 as the faster of two sub-groups (as indicated by the double-headed arrows). What will then happen is that these three swimmers will be matched up with three swimmers across in lane 2 of similar speed and thus provide the opportunity for more of you to share the workload. I am hoping this is going to be a success, but we will trial next week and see how we go. We will need to be mindful of the other group in lane 1 who will be moving ~4 to 8s per 100m slower, but one of the things that I like about this session is that it very much accustoms you to controlling your pace and your temperament just like is necessary when you're racing in the open water - it's the perfect
Red Mist Set! The more turbulent water and the occasional draft from a passing swimmer is also great practice for those of you who race, after all, when is the ocean ever as smooth as the pool!
For those of you starting to build-up and prepare for Rottnest and wanting to either get some additional volume under your belt or seeking quieter lanes, I will personally be swimming "solo" at the following times and would welcome some additional company if you can make my rather weird hours:
- Tuesday 11.30am @ Claremont Pool (same session as the 5.30am, 6.30am and 6.30pm session - technique & low intensity endurance work)
- Wednesday 11.30am @ Claremont Pool (same session as the 5.30am session - long, hard endurance work)
- Thursday 5.45am @ Claremont Jetty (long, continuous open water swim building from 4km to 10km on our 2km circuit)
- Friday 1.30pm @ Claremont Pool (same session as the Wednesday 9.30am, Thursday 6.30pm and Friday 5.30am / 6.30am squads - hard intervals OR an easy recovery swim)
- Saturday 5.30am @ Challenge Stadium Outdoor 10 lane pool until the end of November and then Claremont Jetty (long, steady endurance work)
...I can't guarantee to be there every session, every week, but if I'm not then the morning's session is usually still on the whiteboard or of course you can follow the session suggestions in our
2014 Rottnest Channel Swim Program.
Finally, as of next week, the pool will be operating on it's
summer opening hours and as is customary, the Tuesday and Thursday sessions will shift to the slightly later time of 6.30pm for your reference.
Thanks for your attention - I think we are now pretty much set for the summer and I will now give you a break from my two long emails in as many days ;-)
Paul
