Nail your Ironman from the start with these killer swimming drills
Photo: Bakke-Svensson/Ironman

Photo: Bakke-Svensson/Ironman
Whether it’s your first or your fifth Ironman, these sessions will help you as you prepare for the biggest physical challenge of your life.
Before having a crack at these killer sessions, you should have been working towards your Ironman goal for a couple of months and have built up your swim, bike and run volume.
The sessions are designed to take place at the end of a structured and progressive 10-to-16-week build phase and to see you into the race preparation phase of training. These workouts aren’t for the faint-hearted, but then neither is the challenge of an Ironman.
Keep the pace hot throughout with our killer bike and run training drills.
Session One: Open-Water Race Simulation
Time needed 1 hr 15 mins
Equipment needed Wetsuit, goggles, swim cap.
Coaching tip The point of this session is to get in the lake or sea and practise starting off fast then settling into race pace swimming. Practise sighting every three to five strokes. Do this session well and you’ll be more likely to catch the feet of faster swimmers and stay there.
Warm-up | 400m steady swim. Focus on faster stroke final 100m. |
Main set |
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Warm down | 400m (approx) easy + wetsuit removal practice on exit. |
Total: 3,000m
Make it easier Only do the first three repeats of the main set.
Session Two: Pool 500s
Time needed 1 hr 15 mins
Equipment needed Pull buoy, fins, hand paddles, kick board, goggles.
Coaching tip This session develops the ability to surge and control swim speed under pressure. Complete this session and you’ll be able to hold your race pace from start to finish.
Warm-up |
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Main set |
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Warm down | 200m easy as 50m FS – 50m kick – 50m FS – 50m kick on back. |
Total: 3,400m
Make it easier Drop the 500m efforts to 300m efforts.
Session Three: The Big Aerobic Booster
Time needed 1 hr 30 mins
Equipment needed Goggles, pull buoy, kick board.
Coaching tip This session really builds your aerobic swim strength and stamina. As the session progresses, concentrate on holding your IM race pace after the effort sections.
Warm-up |
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Main set |
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Warm down | 200m easy swim. |
Total: 4,400m
Make it easier? Drop the distances in the main set to 1,200m/1,000m/600m.