Benchmarking Your Swim
5x400, 2K Sets & True Benchmarks
The lessons of this article apply across all modes of exercise.
Let’s start by recapping the Principles of Pace
Choose - the ability to select pace
Change - the ability to change pace
Sustain - the ability to hold pace over time
The embedded thread will let you dig deeper.
Next, a bit of tough love…
If you can’t speed up from “Steady Pace” then it’s not Steady Pace.
Most adult swimmers are fooling themselves.
Gasping and fading across their workouts.
Working “hard.”
Plateaued in terms of pace.
To become a better swimmer you need to give yourself choices.
Specifically, two choices:
The Ability To Swim Easy
The Ability To Swim Five Different Speeds
Athletes focus on the wrong end of the pace curve.
The ability to swim easy unpins all other speeds.
Don’t worry about your benchmark sets until you’ve learned to relax in the water.
I built you a ten-week plan to teach you how to relax in the water.
With that out of the way…
If you prefer video then I recorded a version of this article over on my YouTube channel.
The 5x400 Test Set
Here’s what you do:
Swim 5x400 on not more than 15s rest between each 400.
Swim each interval a little quicker than the one before.
Intervals 1-4 should be done three-stroke breathing.
Interval 5 can be done with whatever breath cycle you want.
Ideally, you’ll end up with a nice progressive profile.
You now have an estimate of Zones 1-5 as well as five different swim paces.
However, and it’s a biggie, these are short duration intervals.
Just like our submax benchmarking for the run and bike, we need to test these paces with longer duration sets.
2K Benchmark
When my Kiwi training partners were growing up in Christchurch, John Hellemans set the standard for triathlon. He was also their swim coach.
Every so often, John would schedule a pop quiz. He’d arrive at the pool and announce…
2K Time Trial
It served a multiple purposes.
Confidence in swimming the distance, in any fatigue state.
Training the body to perform, on demand.
Knowing that you can swim OK, without a warm up.
1-2-3 are essential mental skills training.
I don’t recommend you start by blasting a 2k.
I do recommend using 2K sets to test your swim paces.
Testing Easy & Steady Paces
Swim 1000 continuous, Easy
Rest 10 seconds
Swim 1000 continuous, a little faster
That’s it
Compare these average paces to the results from your 5x400 swim.
To test Steady pace, use the same set and start with Steady pace.
Repeat after me…
If you can’t speed up then it’s not Steady Pace.
Testing 3rd Gear
Many masters swimmers discover “3rd Gear” is their threshold pace.
“Threshold” in the sense that the clock starts ticking once they are working continuously at a pace faster than 3rd Gear.
Here’s how we test that hypothesis.
2000 continuous holding 3rd Gear Pace from your 5x400 benchmark
Alternatively…
4x500 on 5s rest holding 3rd Gear Pace
The very short rest lets you:
Check in with your breathing
Get splits across the 2K
Compare those splits to your 5x400 results
Most everyone discovers they have been doing an inverted 80:20 program.
Meaning, 80%+ of their swim volume is Tempo/Moderately-Hard or faster.
No wonder, they are not making gains.
The 2K TimeTrial
If you want to bust one out then I recommend you use this strategy.
2,000 Best Effort Strategy
100 Steady,
400 Fast, 100 Steady,
400 Fast, 100 Steady
300 Fast, 100 Steady
200 Fast, 100 Steady
200 Fast
This approach simulates the changes of pace you will experience in open water. It’s also easier mentally.
Finally, it teaches you to regroup, after a surge, with 100 Steady.
Racing fast is about being able to recover, while moving.
Advanced Options
Some favorite variations to test your Swim Gears:
5x800 Descend 1-5
Short rest, not more than 20 seconds
End with a 4th Gear effort, don’t max out
8x500 Double Descend
Short rest, not more than 15 seconds
Descend in twos
Don’t max out
Aim to finish with 4th Gear pace
5x1000 Descend 1-4 then swim Steady/2nd Gear
Rest up to a minute
Good set for Open Water
2nd Gear “changes” after 4K of swimming
An effective test set to decide on early Ironman swim effort
True Benchmarks
It’s possible to get very good at swimming a fast 400 at the end of the 5x400 set.
Even if you are a Sprint Distance triathlete, your race performance will not correlate with a fast 400.
Resist the urge to optimize for test sets.
The real action is what’s happening with 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gear, your sustainable pace. The bottom half of your performance curve is where you want to see improvement.
Two important metrics for you to track:
Swims Per Month
Distance Per Week
Touch the water, often, and get your aerobic work done.
The tests sets help you see the impact of your program.
Make sure your Easy/Steady is truly Easy/Steady.
Link To My Favorite Swims
Back To Table of Contents