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With swim meets beginning this month, how does preseason and early season training differ from offseason training? What are the focuses and emphasis placed on during the first weeks of practice?
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Chris Plumb
Carmel Swimming |
 | At Carmel High School, we like to focus on the fundamentals in the beginning of the season. We spend a majority of our time learning the drills and skills for all four strokes to give our athletes a solid foundation to begin their season. We also move away from general conditioning to more specific training. |
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Jacqueline Dilts
Martinsville Swimming |
 | I think preseason is very important. They do a lot of dry-land workouts, as well as team unity activities, which helps the younger or newer athletes become acclimated with the rest of the team. We aren't just building strong athletes but also a strong team. Early training allows me to focus on drills and the little things while building on endurance. It is easy to do things well when they are rested and fresh, but when they are tired and still getting used to the daily grind, it is a lot harder. That's why it's the best time to make sure they are developing good habits. This way, they can maintain them when they are used to the daily routine. This differs from offseason training because offseason is a way to continue to move forward and get a jump start to the next year of high school swimming and diving. |
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Tom Addington
Whiteland Swimming |
 | During the offseason, we like to focus on increasing flexibility and strength. Improving on swimming technique is also a major emphasis. In our preseason, improving our cardio-conditioning is our major goal. We accomplish this mostly through dry-land training, high-repetition weight training, running, biking, push-ups, sit-ups and agility exercises. More time is spent out of the water rather than in during this period. In the first few weeks of the season, we focus on improving our aerobic base in the water. We do this by swimming longer distances on shorter rest intervals - basically getting in shape for Christmas break. |
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Kyle Messmore
Westfield Swimming |
 | In the offseason, we focus more on the development of overall endurance and understanding of training techniques and methods. You could call it “training school.†We build an overall better swimmer, focusing on technique and endurance, while helping them understand why we practice the way we do all year long. Then as we transition into the high school season, we can focus on what we’ve learned and apply the knowledge and endurance base we’ve built. Later, we accelerate the preparation of athletes, transitioning the focus on specific events. |
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