When it comes to triathlon, the swim portion is what typically scares most athletes. There’s no need to worry though – with some strategic swim training, you’ll be zipping right along in the water at your race. Today, I’ve asked the coaches over at Multisport Mastery to share some swim workouts for triathletes – and they’ve been kind enough to share a five new ones for you to try!
These workouts are broken down by the race distance you’re training for, so you’ll find the perfect workout for you whether you’re training for a sprint or an Ironman. For each, you’ll find a warm up, a main set, and a cool down.
With these swim workouts for triathletes, the warm up serves two purposes. The first is pretty obvious – it gets your muscles working and ready to take on the faster paced swimming in the main set. But the second reason is important too – you’ll do some drills and focus work to help you refine your form.
Enjoy these workouts – if you try them, be sure to let me know what you thought in the comments! And of course, pin for later so you have this to refer to anytime. 🙂
5 Swim Workouts for Triathletes
1. Swim Workout for the Sprint-Distance Triathlete (1500):
Warm-up:
- 100 Easy Free
- 4X50 as Drill/Easy Free; Rest: 15 seconds
- 50 Pull
- 50 Kick
- 4X50 as Build/Fast; Rest: 15 seconds
Main Set:
- 25 Fast; Rest: 5 seconds
- 50 as Build/Fast; Rest: 10 seconds
- 50 Pull; Rest: 10 seconds
- 75 as 50 Fast/25 Easy; Rest: 15 seconds
- 100 Fast; Rest: 20 seconds
- 100 Pull; Rest: 20 seconds
- 100 Fast; Rest: 20 seconds
- 75 as 50 Fast/25 Easy; Rest: 15 seconds
- 50 as Build/Fast; Rest: 10 seconds
- 50 Pull; Rest: 10 seconds
- 25 Fast; Rest: 5 seconds
Cool-down:
- 200 as 75 Easy Free/25 Backstroke or Breaststroke
2. Swim Workout for the Olympic-Distance Triathlete (2500):
Warm-up:
- 200 Easy Free
- 4X50 as Drill/Easy Free; Rest: 15 seconds
- 100 Pull
- 100 Kick
- 4X50 as Build/Fast; Rest: 15 seconds
Main Set:
- 2X200 as 75 Fast/25 Easy; Rest: 30 seconds
- 4X150 as 50 Fast/25 Easy; Rest: 20 seconds
- 4X100 Fast; Rest: 15 seconds
- 2X50 Fast; Rest: 10 seconds
- 4X25 Fast; Rest: 5 seconds
Cool-down:
- 100 as 75 Easy Free/25 Backstroke or Breaststroke
3. Swim Workout for the 70.3-Distance Triathlete (3500):
Warm-up:
- 200 Easy Free
- 4X50 as Drill/Easy Free; Rest: 15 seconds
- 200 Pull
- 200 Kick
- 4X50 as Build/Fast; Rest: 15 seconds
Main Set:
- 500 Pull as 25 fast/25 easy/50 fast/50 easy/75 fast/75 easy/100 fast/100 easy; Rest: 1 minute
- 5X100; Odds-Fast; Evens-Easy; Rest: 20 seconds
- 2X250 Pull as 75 steady/100 fast/75 stead; Rest: 30 seconds
- 5X100 Fast; Rest: 20 seconds
- 2X125 Pull as 50 steady/50 fast/25 easy; Rest: 30 seconds
Cool-down:
- 250 Easy Free
4. Swim Workout for the Iron-Distance Triathlete (4500):
Warm-up:
- 400 with every 4th length backstroke or breaststroke
- 8X50 as Drill/Easy Free; Rest: 15 seconds
- 100 Pull
- 100 Kick
Main Set:
- 1000 at IM pace; Rest: 1 minute, 30 seconds
- 50 Pull, breathe every 9 strokes; R: 15 seconds
- 800 as 25 fast/150 IM pace/25 easy; Rest: 1 minute
- 50 Pull, breathe every 7 strokes; Rest: 15 seconds
- 600 as 50 fast/150 IM/50 fast/50 easy; Rest: 45 seconds
- 50 Pull, breathe every 5 strokes; Rest: 15 seconds
- 400 as 75 fast/100 IM/25 easy; Rest: 30 seconds
- 50 Pull, breathe every 3 strokes; Rest: 15 seconds
- 200 as 100 fast/100 IM; Rest: 20 seconds
- 50 Pull, breathe weak side only; Rest: 15 seconds
- 100 Fast
- 50 Pull, breathe bilaterally; Rest: 15 seconds
Cool-down:
- 100 Easy Free
5. Open Water Swim Workout for Every Triathlete:
Warm-up:
- 5-10 minutes Easy, sight every 7-10 strokes
Main Set:
- Beach Start to 1-minute Fast/2 minutes Easy (Repeat 3-6 times)
- Deep-water Start to 1-minute Fast/2 minutes Easy (Repeat 2-4 times)
- 60 seconds fast/3 minutes steady/60 seconds easy (Repeat 3-6 times)
Cool-down:
- 5-10 minutes Easy, sight every 7-10 strokes
Download a printable PDF version of these swim workouts right here!
About the Authors: Multisport Mastery specializes in individualized performance plans for multisport athletes of all abilities. Whether your goal is to run a marathon, compete in a triathlon, ride in a week-long cycling event or finish an Ironman, we offer customized coaching to bring out the best in each athlete no matter who you are or where you want to go.
Share: Are you training for any triathlons right now – and if so, which ones?! Is the swim your favorite or least favorite part of the race? What did you think of these swim workouts for triathletes?
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I’m getting ready for my first tri. What are the numbers before the workouts? I assume they’re not laps but are the intensity percentages or meters to swim?
Hi Jordan! Great question – those are meters to swim. 🙂