Swimming Training Camp Mid-Season: Why 14 of 15 Swimmers Swam PBs

Does a swimming training camp in the middle of the season actually work, or does the hard training just leave swimmers tired for their meets? I asked myself the same question before our October camp in Tenerife. My sister and I agree it was the best camp we have ever run. Here is what worked, what did not, and what we are changing, from episode 41 of Swimpros News.

Can a swimmer swim a PB at a training camp in the middle of the season?

We had 17 swimmers. One got sick and one hurt a finger, so 15 raced on the last day, and 14 of them swam a personal best, most of them by quite a bit.

I did not expect that. We call it the Rocktober camp because it is mid-season, and we worked very hard. On day one I told the swimmers I would not be worried if they did not PB at the end of camp, because the real PB comes when they go home and rest for nationals or regionals. They smashed it anyway.

One of the younger swimmers started at a junior camp in the summer and came to this elite camp with a 50 freestyle best of 33-something. At the end of the camp he swam 29.7.

What made the difference?

First, one technique fix at a time. We film every swimmer in the flume channel, analyse the video, and pick the single most important thing to change. That is what each swimmer works on for the rest of the camp. Not a million things, the most important one. I wrote about why this works in how to improve swimming technique faster by fixing one thing at a time.

Second, the competition skills: starts, turns, streamline, underwater kicks and breakouts. When those get clean, swimmers shave off seconds, especially in short course.

The breakout is the clearest example. A messy breakout bites a swimmer twice. It slows them down in that moment, and then they have to accelerate again instead of carrying the momentum from the wall. That costs a lot of energy, and that energy is missing on the last 25. More on the underwater part in how to improve the underwater dolphin kick.

What should swimmers eat at a swim training camp?

We stayed in the new athletes-only residence at Tenerife Top Training, and the food was the biggest win. Everything is cooked fresh: different breads, rice waffles, peanut butter, yogurts, salads, pasta, vegetables, red and white meat, and fish at every meal. Swimmers with allergies got their own food, with gluten-free pasta and bread, and the chef came out to ask what we needed. It was so clean that after three days I had sugar cravings myself, because there was nothing unhealthy anywhere.

The one thing that did not work was on me. The swimmers looked at me with big eyes and asked if they could go to the shop, and I said yes. They came back with bags of gummy bears.

You could say a swimmer burns so many calories that they can handle it, and that is true: they are not going to gain weight from it. But on a 10 or 11 day camp, straight sugar instead of pasta, rice and good bread is not the same fuel.

Carbs do not equal carbs. It may not show after a day, but a hundred percent it will show up after two, three, four, five days.

What is the best recovery routine after a hard morning session?

We changed the order this time, and I think it shows in the results. Morning: mobility, the swim, then active recovery straight away. We explained the recovery shakes on day two, and the swimmers were 100% consistent: right after training they mixed their shake with cold water, then went to the ice bath or hot and cold.

Then lunch. Many swimmers eat only a light breakfast before morning training, so by noon they are starving. Instead of doing a confidence session while they are hungry and drained, we go down to the residence and eat first. The talk comes after. If your swimmer comes out of practice starving, the same order works at home: food first, then the conversation. See what to eat after swim practice.

Why does living together make swimmers faster?

The rooms in the residence are simple, and that is the point: they are for changing and sleeping. Everything else happens in the common areas, with a pool table, card games and couches. At first some swimmers asked why they were in a room of four. A few days later they told me they loved it, because they could be with their friends all the time.

Some swimmers were dropped off so nervous that I was seriously worried about them. A couple of hours later, after the first get-to-know-you workout, they were learning names. Two days in, it looked like they had known each other for years. In the last days they begged me to extend the camp.

That matters for performance. A swimmer who feels comfortable in the group can do some really hard things in training, and swimmers race for each other when everybody is cheering. More in will my child be homesick at swim camp.

What did not work: the air conditioning

The air conditioning in the residence works incredibly well, and that was the problem. The boys set their rooms to 18.5 degrees. They would play games outside, come in sweating, and walk into a room cooled to 18 degrees. That invites a cold, and one of our swimmers caught a bad one and could not train for the rest of the camp.

That is not the swimmers’ fault. If the student does not get it, it is the teacher’s fault. My sister and I ran our room at about 23 degrees when it was really hot, and switched it off at night. For the next camps we are working with the residence to limit how cold the rooms can go. If your swimmer travels to meets and stays in hotels, it is worth checking too.

What changes for the next Swimpros camps?

We now build every swimmer a personal report after camp: the coaches record voice notes on a coaches app during the week, and the flume channel analysis with its video and feedback becomes a PDF with the most important observations and what to work on next. It keeps the relationship going after the camp, together with the year-long mentoring in our online community.

For the New Year’s camp the elite group is full. For Easter, Peter Mankoč is confirmed as head coach for the elite group with me. Peter is a former short course world record holder in the 100 m individual medley and one of the most successful swimmers in European Short Course Championships history, and I watched him coach at our summer camp. For the New Year’s elite camp, a fellow London 2012 Olympian joins me as head coach. I will introduce him properly soon.

Frequently asked questions

Can a swimmer swim a personal best at a training camp in the middle of the season?
Yes, if the camp is built for it. At our Rocktober camp in Tenerife, mid-season and after hard training almost every day, 14 of the 15 swimmers who raced on the last day swam a personal best.

What should swimmers eat at a swim training camp?
Fresh, athlete-specific meals with plenty of real carbohydrates: pasta, rice, bread, rice waffles, plus vegetables, fish and meat, and very little sugar. Over a 10 or 11 day camp, sweets from the shop are not the same fuel as real food. It may not show after a day, but it shows after two to five days.

What is the best order after a hard morning swim session?
A recovery shake right after training, then active recovery such as an ice bath or hot and cold, then lunch. Only after the swimmers have eaten do we do the confidence session, never while they are starving and drained.

Who coaches the Swimpros Easter elite camp?
Peter Mankoč, a former short course world record holder in the 100 m individual medley and one of the most successful swimmers in European Short Course Championships history, leads the elite group with me.