Mixing Art and Science: SPL and Training Paces

By Terry Laughlin

For an example of the assimilation of art and science, of the objective and subjective, in TI Training, look no farther than this exchange from last month on the TI Discussion Forum. SPL refers to Strokes Per Length, or stroke count for freestyle, in a 25-yard pool.

Topic: What SPL for training paces or races?

Conf: Freestyle

From: Chris Livingstone

I’m getting to a point in my swimming where I want to start experimenting with what SPL works for what speed. Does anyone have suggestions from personal experience for which short course SPLs (with N as the lowest sustainable SPL) work for which race distances? For example, would you use N+1 for a 1500m race/time trial? N+2? What about a long aerobic swim? What about other common race distances?

From: Terry Laughlin

Chris,

My SPL tracks pretty neatly with the five levels of training speed/intensity that I use to categorize the different types of training I do.

Perfect = 12SPL

This is the effort level at which I’m likely to swim with the very best technique of which I’m capable. I swim the first 400 to 600 yds (or six to 10 minutes) of every practice at this level and SPL for warm-up.

Cruise = 13SPL

Not quite as exacting, but nearly perfect technique. I could continue swimming nonstop at this effort level almost indefinitely – or at least for hours. Think of it as like conversational pace in running. In racing terms, I’d probably aim to feel like this in the first 400 to 1000m of a 5k or 10k race, while I’m trying to “groove” my stroke.

Brisk = 14SPL

At this level and SPL I’m exerting lightly. I wouldn’t fatigue very quickly at this pace, but I can maintain this effort and SPL better with brief rests — sometimes as little as 5 or 10 seconds — every 100 or 200 yards. This also feels the way I’d want to feel in the early stages of distance races.

Race = 15SPL

This feels much like the effort level and pace I associate with the middle to latter stages races of 800 meters to 2 miles.

Race-Plus = 16SPL

I’m right at or crossing over my “red line.” I feel this way in the last one or two repeats in a set of 100s, or the final 100 to 150 of the last of a series of 200s, or in the final 100 to 150 yards of a distance race.

The key thing about how I use these descriptions of effort and their associated SPLs is that they give me both a clear, consistent framework for training, and also relate specifically to racing goals. When I swim in the described zone during a practice session, I’m vividly visualizing a particular stage or situation of a particular race. And if I progress through two to four of these zones in a training set or swim (it would have to be a long swim to go through four zones), I view it as a rehearsal for doing the same in a race.

When I do swim a race, I’ve rehearsed any situation that can occur (and my practiced response) hundreds or thousands of times. No surprises.

Note: Your SPLs won’t necessarily match mine but the concept can be applied by anyone to their own SPL range.

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