1. DEVELOPMENT OF ENDURANCE IN YOUNG SWIMMERS A. R
DEVELOPMENT OF ENDURANCE IN YOUNG SWIMMERS A.R.Vorontsov PhD, GB Swimming, Russian State Academy of Physical Education © A. R. Vorontsov, Last upgrade –

2. AG TRAINING OPTIMAL DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR ABILITIES
MAIN OBJECTIVES:
OPTIMAL DEVELOPMENT
OF MOTOR ABILITIES
NEEDED TO SUCCEED IN ADULT ELITE SWIMMERS
BUILDING OF SPECIFIC BODY TYPE
AND COMPOSITION
BUILDING OF SPECIFIC STRUCTURE OF
SPORT ABILITIES
LEARNING OF MOTOR SKILLS
Performance results in AG are secondary!

3. Before & during puberty
Development of Anaerobic
System and Maximal Power
After puberty
Before & during puberty
Development of
Aerobic Power & Capacity
Specific Strength and
Strength Endurance
Teaching Core
Swimming Skills
Development of Aerobic
Capacity & Efficiency
Before puberty

4. development of Endurance
Part II.
Training of age group swimmers
SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON
SKILL TRAINING and
development of Endurance
i.e. - Power, Capacity and Efficiency of the
energy delivery systems

5. George Haines, “Swim Magazine”, April 1996
“…Tom Jager, Rick de Mont, Don Schollander, Mark Spitz & Matt Biondi, all started as distance and middle distance swimmers. You only have to look back in history to see the number of swimmers who were good at distances…”
+Jim Montgomery
+Mark Foster
+Vladimir Bure
+Alex Popov
Peter van der
Hoogenband +…+…

6. Aerobic training of age group swimmers
Profound effect of aerobic training
Aerobic training of age group swimmers
is accompanied by significant improvement
of result throughout the entire
range of swimming distances [ ]
-----
Sprint focused training
improves results mostly in sprint events
Limited effect of anaerobic training

7. ENDURANCE TRAINING OF AGE GROUPERS:
How often and how much they should train?
Are there any optimal numbers of
swimming volumes per: week, month, year?

8. How to find out whether training volume and intensity match to adaptation ability of young swimmers?
Scientific recommendations: education, clinics, books, etc.
Practical experience, vision, ambitions, responsibility
Individual approach: age, maturity, abilities, training history
Monitoring of training workloads, working capability,
physiological response, adaptation and growth
Systematic medical control
Availability of facilities, pool time, water tº

9. Personal moments Recruit and attract young swimmers best
suited to swim in your program and
sharing your coaching philosophy --
Set clear standards for squad selection
for each level of swimmers based on:
training commitment,
level of performance, age,
level of maturation, etc…

10. John NABER:
“…even though I was the slowest swimmer in the pool,
I could gauge my progress against the stop-watch,
and could feel successful, in spite of losing races…” 

11. Criteria for individual assessment and selection
1.Training Attendance:
good - > 85%, excellent - 100%
2.Training Performance:
real AG starts from regular training performance
(age does not matter):
400 free under 5.30,
1500 free under 22.30,
400 IM under , 200 fly/200 IM - under 3.00
- now he or she is ready for endurance training
3. Competitive Performance
DISPLAY
TRAINING AND COMPETITIVE CALENDAR,
MAIN SETS’ AND TRIALS’ RESULTS,
WEEKLY & MONTHLY VOLUMES,
VOLUME SINCE SEASON STARTED, ETC.

12. Commitment & consistency in age groupers - best criteria for selection
Swimming volumes (km) performed by APSC swimmers in the season
Commitment & consistency in age groupers - best criteria for selection
Chan U-Nice – at the age of 14 represented Singapore at the World Championships 2001 (4x200 m free relay)

13. Swimming volumes (km) performed by swimmers of PRAWP KL in the season 1994-1995

14. Establish LT training goals
Identify potential swimmers
Establish LT training goals
Plan the Progression to LT goals
Plan content of training/ “tool set”
Control the progression

15. Tool Set of AG Swimming Coach:
Freestyle –
stroke of cardio-
respiratory fitness
Steady swimming,
progressive increase
of the volume
Kicking - basic
training skill: fitness and
core body strength!!!
Time controlled -
80% of the kick
IM swimming:
second event for
every AG swimmer
before 13-14
Transition from
stroke-to-stroke =
fitness factor
+ motor learning
Butterfly - the best
way of specific
strength training
Both interval and
continuous
20x50/15x100/10x200/
5x400/

16. Optimal Training Progression
Maximal use of training time in every single session
Gradual increase of the number of sessions per week: 3-4/5-6
Gradual transition toward 2-session a day training:
during 3-4 days camps, during school holidays [5-10 days],
alternation of 1 session a day weeks with 2 sessions per day
weeks for a few weeks or month period
Introduction of a regular 2-session per day (8-9-10
sessions a week) schedule
Recovery days/recovery weeks when required

17. Rick Benner (American Swimming Magazine, 5, 2002) “eight levels of our program”:
Novice: times per week x 30 min
Developmental: x week x 45 min
Pre-Age Group: 5 x week x 45 min
Age Group: x week x 90 min
Pre-Senior: x week x 120 min [2 doubles]
Senior: x week x min [3 doubles]
National: x week x min [5 doubles]
Olympic: x week x min [2 triples]

18. From AG to seniors: progression of weekly swimming volumes of Trend Steed (coach M.Reagan, “Australian Swimming, 1998)
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season
km a season

20. More volume & intensity For girls at every age from 11 to 17 years

21. Training progression of Ian Thorpe
Training sessions a week
Average Swimming
50 m
100 m
200 m
400 m 
AGE
Swimming
Land
Volume per week
free 
free 9
1x1 hour
xxx
2-3 km
33.11 10
3x1 hour
6-8 km
31.59 11
3x30'
7-9 km
29.69 12
5x1.5 hours
3x45'
20-25 km
27.46
58.81 13
6x2 hours
30-40/40-50 km
25.75
55.83 14
8x2 hours
40-70 km
24.78
52.49 / / 15
10x2 hours
50-80 km
50.21   16
49.71 17
50-90 km 18

22. Butterfly is a keystroke to challenge people who are talented !
Bob Bowman: Progression of Michael PHELPS
9-10 years of age:
4 sessions a week x 75 min  5 session x 90 min Aged 10 – ranked 1st in 200 IM and 200 fly
11-12 years of age:
5 sessions a week x 120 min Trained with years old swimmers. Stroke development  BR, Fly and free. Age 12 – ranked 1st in 50 fly/100 fly/200 IM.
13-14 years:
6 sessions a week x 120 min + 2 session x 90 min
1999 – still 13 years old - ranked 1st in 200 fly, 400 IM, 1500 free / /
BREAKTHROUGH: at the age of – sessions a week x 150 min + 2 sessions x 90 min
Summer time - 10 sessions per week x min
Butterfly is a keystroke to challenge people who are talented !

23. Bob Bowman: Progression of Michael PHELPS
2000 Spring Nationals – Still 14 years old – fly=  final  / 200 IM / 400 IM
2000 aged 15 – Olympic Trials  focus on 200 fly (still did IM) Fly = Failed IM
Aftermath preparation to Sydney Olympics:
Planning  day after swimming: Refocusing  back to water in Sydney  flight home/camp in Australia:
High Performance Stage – years of age/7 days a week
Winter 6 sessions x 180 min + 5 sessions x 120 min
Year 2001 – turned to pro

24. REST IS THE NECESSARY ELEMENT
The most precious quality in younger AG swimmers they do not know their limits - what they can or “cannot” do – coach can develop a programme matching his/her vision or dream, ambitions...
Use this quality with great caution and patience !
- Training is a movement toward the limits, not beyond
Rational training expands the boundaries of individual
abilities
Excessive training destroys all positive achievements
REST IS THE NECESSARY ELEMENT
OF ADAPTATION

25. The fact that children recover faster than adults
after both aerobic and anaerobic exercise
does not mean that their adaptation abilities
are as high as in adults
To avoid over-reaching and over-training and maintain optimal growth rate: - an optimal rate of training volume’s increase - an optimal ratio of aerobic and anaerobic workloads - an optimal rest at the level of training session, week cycle, meso-/ and macro-cycles is important (Adaptation Weeks ON DEMAND)

26. lack of the rest That’s not a swimming volume itself
but intensive swimming volume and
lack of the rest
represent a potential
danger for AG swimmers’ health

27. Reverse side of the coin: “Too little/too late..!”
Artificial restrain of rational training may prevent young athletes from achieving their full physical potential
Optimal hardship and duration of training stimuli provides optimal development of motor abilities
Training should be optimized in respect to swimmers’ age,
maturity, talent, skill and projected performance in
the future

28. Career progression for 400 M Free, Women
© S.Gordon, © algorithm - G.Sokolovas

29. Possible patterns of result progression to achieve the planned goal  fast track vs slow track
“Corridor”/”Window of opportunity
narrows with every year of age !
Coach & Swimmer - Don’t be late!
NB!
Potential Olympic Champion
Two years before Olympics
Must be ranked among best
50 in the World

30. How hard? Training Intensities for age groupers

31. Cardio-vascular response to workloads of different intensity in children and adolescents
Before growth spurt the size of heart and major blood vessels is small. Organism can respond to increase of intensity exceptionally by increasing HR In pre-pubescent age-groupers even moderate aerobic exercises may be accompanied by very high values of HR
Lengthy exposure to intensities causing high HR - is a factor of risk, leading to overtraining In pre-pubescent swimmers extensive aerobic training should be a prevailing form of endurance training

32. Recommended Training Regimens for age- group swimmers (HR intensity zones)
TR 1a + TR-1b - “aerobic” threshold to sub-anaerobic threshold workloads
[development of slow aerobic endurance = aerobic efficiency and capacity= BE-1 ];
TR-2 - anaerobic threshold + TR-3 VO2 max [=aerobic power=BE-2]
IV - anaerobic glycolysis [special endurance - SPE].

33. HR as indicator of training intensity and stress
Establish HR max of your swimmers
HR max - (10-20 BBM/min)= VO2 max pace
[close to 400 m max pace]
HR max - (20-30 BBM/min)= AT pace
[800 m max pace]
Minimal intensity to develop aerobic
efficiency = HR max - 50 BBM
(in 9-11 year old b/min)
Monitor dynamics of HR
during recovery
Already among year old may
be found individuals with very low HR
at rest and after swimming - these are
potentially endurance swimmers.

34. Particularities of endurance training in age group swimmers - Longer rest intervals between repeats (from sec) are recommended
Better recovery is facilitated and swimmers are able to concentrate on stroke technique (smooth movements, correct skill elements, stroke rate/stroke distance)
Longer pauses allow for more coaching to occur
As the ages of swimmers increase rest intervals should be shortened and total swimming distance increased in order to provide overload and stimulation

35. Training categories for age-group swimmers:

36. BASIC ENDURANCE-1 BASIC ENDURANCE-2
Training categories for age-group swimmers [girls under 13 & boys under 15] :
BASIC ENDURANCE-1
BASIC ENDURANCE-2
RACE PACE (SPECIAL ENDURANCE)
RACE SPEED

37. DEVELOPMENT OF BASIC ENDURANCE-1 (“slow” aerobic endurance – HR=30-50 BBM)

38. sport games and general fitness exercise
DEVELOPMENT OF BE-1 (=A1, A2) - a major form of training for young swimmers 8-11 years of age [HR max – 50 BBM]< HR< [HR max – 35 BBM/min]
Development of BE-1 may be provided by:
continuous cyclical activities such as swimming, running, skiing, rowing, walking, and cycling
gradual increase from practice to practice of the number of exercises, number of repeats, frequency of movements
gradual increase of the number of training sessions within week cycles, meso- and macro cycles
sport games and general fitness exercise

39. General Vs Specific Training
General fitness exercises and cyclical locomotions are efficient for development of BE-1 in girls younger than years and boys younger years - up to those ages occurs positive transfer of endurance between different types of continuous activities and swimming
Positive transfer of endurance into swimming decreases with the age and maturity

40. Swimming training of BE-1 includes
distance swimming with constant or variable speed from m up to m
extensive interval training using middle (300, 400, 500, 600 m) as well as short (25, 50, 100, 150, 200 m) distances
In all AG development of BE-1 may be accomplished by using front and back crawl, drills pulling and kicking

41. A high level of BE-1 is a very important precondition for efficient development of BE-2, - ability to perform physical work demanding maximal aerobic power

42. DEVELOPMENT OF BASIC ENDURANCE-2 (“fast” aerobic endurance - HR=15-30 BBM)

43. Activities to develop BE-2 in pre-pubescent and pubescent children (ages 8-12 years in girls; years in boys) are
cross country running
skiing
rowing
circuit training with moderate resistance
swimming training

44. In children 8-11 years of age it is normal practice to use repetitions of a short and middle length (25, 50, 100, 150, 200 m) because they generally cannot maintain efficient swimming techniques over longer distances. Longer distances (400, 800) are used time to time as a challenge Starting with the age – more frequent use of longer laps/distances: 400, 500, 800, 1000, even 1500 – [by the age of 12 years both in boys and girls the “adult” patterns of swimming technique are established]
Development of BE-2 during swimming: repeated distance training (1-4 x m rest 1-4 min)
maximum effort repetition training over middle and long distances (5-8 x m i=30’’-2’)
interval training with shorter distances (e.g., 25, 50, 100, 150 m) and more repetitions per set and shorter rest intervals (e.g., x 25 m rest = sec; x 50 m rest = sec; x 150m, etc.).

45. The best type of exercise to achieve VO2 max -!
The best type of exercise to achieve VO2 max -
stage-like increase of intensity: 7x200 or 10x100 step-test, 15x200 [des. in blocks x 3], 10x400 [des. in blocks x 4/3/2/1], 40x50 [des. in blocks x 5 or 10] ...
Optimal exposure time
at VO2 = 80-95% VO2 =10-15 min

46. PROGRESSIVE SET

47. RACE PACE TRAINING: (DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIFIC ENDURANCE - SPE)

48. RACE-PACE TRAINING
Sets of ½ , ¼ or ⅛ parts of the race distance, swam at race speed. Rest intervals are usually short, but long enough to allow a swimmer to maintain target speed (broken swims)
As a target pace the present as well as desired race pace may be used
Performing 1-2 race pace set a week for 2-3 weeks for swimmers aged and 2-3 sets x 4-6 weeks for swimmers aged (2 –3 weeks prior to main event) should be sufficient
Focus on target speed and stroke rate while maintaining perfect technique and doing perfect turns and finishes

49. RACE-PACE TRAINING
Contribution of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism depends on the race length a swimmer is training for, age and individual’s maturity
This training develops sense of pace and optimal combination of the SR and SL at particular speed
Technique and SR/SL ratio is very important and should be stressed particularly in fatigue
Swimmers are taught to understand relationship between training times and competitive race time. It improves confidence of swimmers in their ability to demonstrate target time

50. n x ( 2 x ½ race i=5-15”) rest 1-4 min,
n x (4 x ⅛ + ½ race) rest = 3-6 min
Return speed sets (holding last ½ , ¼ or ⅛ length pace)
Starting speed sets (holding 1st ½ , ¼ or ⅛ length pace)
n x (½ race pace/ ½ moderate) rest 2-3 min

51. For middle and short distance training examples are:
1-5 x (4 x 100 m or 8 x 50 m with i 5-10 sec) rest 5 min
3-8 x (4 x 25 m i=5-10 sec) rest = 3-5 min
3-6 x (4x50 m i= sec) rest 3-5 min
4-6 x ( or m i= sec) with 4-6 min rests between sets

52. For long distance training examples are:
1-3 x (8-15 x 100m ; rest intervals i=5-20 sec);
1-3 x (4 x 200 m i=20-30 sec) with 5-8 min active rest between sets;
5-10 x (4 x 100 m i=10-15 sec) with 3-7 min rests between sets;

53. Stroke Rate/Speed control
FRONT END SPEED TRAINING n x 50 from dive #1stroke on 50’’/150 recovery]
BACK END SPEED SET n x [ No.1stroke on 50’’/150 recovery] (as ##1,2 – controlled, #3 race pace)
1-4x[8x25 on 60/55/50/45/40/35/30”]
Stroke Rate/Speed control

54. For young swimmers 8-12 years of age the major
form of development of anaerobic abilities and SPE
are competitions themselves (distances 50, 100, 200 m)

55. Monitoring of training workloads and testing of endurance in AG swimmers

56. How to ensure efficient training progression?
Evaluate your own program:
1. Monitor training workloads of age groups and individuals (weekly or monthly volumes, volumes performed in training Macro-Cycles)
2. Introduce testing and control training sets, monitor dynamics of test results, HR, rate of perceived effort, SR, Stroke Count
3. Analyse performance outcomes
4. Make the records accessible to swimmers and parents for discussion

58. Before March 24th 2002 - mostly 6 session a week, than 8-9 sessions.
Weekly swimming volumes (km) in two girls swimmers Age in the beginning of the season years
Before March 24th mostly 6 session a week, than 8-9 sessions.

59. Monitoring of training progress using Standard Training Sets
Training sets used in specific training periods of every MC , 3000 m, 10x400 m, 3x[4x50 m I=20”] <rest 5-6 min>
Training set used through entire MC: - 7x200 m step-test,
3x200 m [3/4/5 or 4/5/6 Step-test times], x50 max rest 30”],
Double Distance, Cold Swims (main distance),
10x100 kick max on 2.15;
Training sets, modified in accordance with training phase m instead of 2000, x[3x50 on 50”]  1-3x[3x50 on 50”]

60. Tracing monthly progress in training times

61. Testing of endurance in AG swimmers
Aerobic efficiency and capacity Time Trials at 1500, 2000, 3000 m / 20 min swim, 30 min swim
AT - maximal swim 800 m
Aerobic power [VO2 max]- 400 m
Step-test 7x200 m with HR, splits, Stroke Count x 50 m and subjective evaluation of intensity

62. Testing of endurance in AG swimmers
Anaerobic Capacity m max swim, broken swims [6x50 m or 4x50 m with maximal intensity and rest sec] - HR, total swimming time, St Count and StR x 50 m.
Anaerobic power - 50, 100 m max [splits, St Count x 50 m, StR x25 m

63. Results of 7x200 m step-test in two 13 year old girl-swimmers [BR]

64. Lactate testing in AG swimmers
Expensive [?]
requires well trained staff
safety concern [parents!!! - matter of parental consent]
may be justified during camps for well prepared young athletes
lack of reference data for comparison and evaluation

65. Results of 7x200 m step-test: a year later…
Lactate mmol/l

66. QUESTIONS ??? a_vorontsov@hotmail.com 50 Lamplighters Walk,
TROWBRIDGE, Wiltshire,
BA14 0NF UK