# Getting swim fit hardcore version.



## Chris Hobson (Feb 29, 2020)

Ever since I posted about my own efforts to get swim fit I have been meaning to post the account of swim training from the book Accidental Ironman by Martyn Brunt. I have done various swim classes in the past but the session that is described here is on a totally different level.

"The swims take place in Coventry’s main sports centre, or ‘Coventry Baths as it is better known, which happens to be one of the few 50-metre pools in Britain despite the Council’s persistent attempts to turn it into some kind of tiresome splash pool. There are seven swimming sessions on offer to members of the City of Coventry Swimming Club each week, two of which take place from 5:30-7:00 a.m., which is why I am up with the lark and wrestling the turkey into my budgie-smugglers. The reason for starting so early is because the pool is not open to the great unwashed public until 7:00 a.m., so this way we get to have some quality training time without having to dodge round some old gimmer who blocks the lane by hanging in the water like a bloody jellyfish. The session is presided over by Alison Stony, former international swimmer, multiple medal winner and highly respected ASA coach, who possesses the most important qualification any swim coach can have – that of having a voice like an estuary foghorn that can be heard even when your head is under water. This morning’s session involved a warm up of 8 X 150m freestyle (yes, that’s a warm up of 1200m!), followed by a prep set of 1,000m worth of drills, before the main set of 2,000m worth of 100m and 50m sprints punctuated by recovery swims of backstroke and fly. By the time we are done I feel as though someone has spent the last ninety minutes hitting my upper arms with a frying pan, and I have clenched my jaw so hard to achieve Alison’s target times that the enamel may have dropped off my teeth. Alison is a hardened coach of the old school who operates a competitive masters team, but she doesn’t mind a few triathletes joining in with the sessions provided we also turn out in relay teams for the big national galas. Sharing the lane with me this morning is fellow triathlete Keith Burdett, a silver haired freestyle powerhouse who looks like a bleached wookie. This session is not unusually hard by Alison’s standards. No matter what she throws at us we keep turning up like we’ve all got Stockholme Syndrome."

I was made aware of the gulf between my abilities and that of proper swimmers when watching the world championships on the telly a year or two ago. The 1,500 metre freestyle was done at a faster pace than I can do a 25 metre sprint. Of course, at my local gym there are swimmers who are much better than I am, and also some who are not as good. I don't have any wish to be world champion and I'm happy to be somewhere in the middle just trying to improve with practice.

Accidental Ironman is one of my favourite books. It tells quite an uplifting story and is consistently funny. I've recommended it elsewhere on this forum of course so I'm repeating myself a bit.


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