Swim Practice 4/4

Here is a triathlon swim practice emphasizing building (ie starting a single swim slower and getting faster throughout to the finish). The point of the primary set is to force the builds in order to encourage energy conservation at the start of any swim….enjoy 🙂 WU-200 Fr/100 Kick/150 Fr/50 Kick (500 total) 16×25 Fr on…
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Backstroke start challenge

Last week, the popular swim content site, SwimSwam posted a very cool video by Fitter and Faster for a fun backstroke start drill (or challenge as we came to realize) to help Backstrokers learn to get up and over the water on the entry portion of their start. After viewing the video, we thought it would…
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Excel Aquatics: Beginner friendly learn to swim program

Over the years Excel has evolved into a multi level program with the goal of provided the highest quality swim lessons possible for families in Albany and Schenectady. Although our curriculum has changed and improved over the time, we have always made it a priority to be a program that helps cater to beginner children…
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4 tips when looking for a swim team

During the Spring months each year, many upper level/pre-competitive swimmers who are a part of the Excel program begin to explore the option of joining a swim team for the summer months. Obviously, here at Excel we are HUGE advocates of children making that next step, should they choose (topic for another blog post 🙂…
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Swim Practice 3/28-Distance and Pacing

Jumping into Spring, here is a bit more of a ‘distance’ set to prepare everyone for those soon to be longer lake swims….. WU-50 Fr on rest :20; 100 Fr on rest :15, 150 Fr on rest :10, 200 Fr 2 rounds of: {6×25 drill on rest :20 {100 Fr perfect stroke on rest :30…
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Definitions in Swimming (sets)

For today’s practice, you will be doing a bit of alternating between build, descend, and uptempo swimming. Building in swimming occurs within the same distance (ie a single 200), where you start off at comfortable pace, and get faster as the swim continues. Descending occurs over a set of repeats (ie 4x50s ) where each…
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Lucky number 3 swim practice

For the third week in a row, we have a snowy Wednesday coinciding with our swim practice….using this as our inspiration, we have decided to embrace this ‘third’ week by making the number ‘3’ the theme of our practice. Enjoy! WU-300 Fr 3×100 Fr as 25 kick/50 single arm freestyle/25 full stroke on rest :30…
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March 2018 Bellyflop!

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   March 2018 Tentative Pre-Summer 2018 Learn to Swim Schedule **Please note that the below information is subject to change prior to registration opening. For the most up to date schedule info, please visit our website at www.goswimexcel.com** Sunnyview Wellness Center in Schenectady Saturdays: 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, 5/19, 6/2, 6/9 Sundays:4/22, 4/29, 5/6, 5/20,…
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The (almost) snow day practice

On this (almost) blizzard day, here is a practice to get moving begin thinking more about open water swimming! Per our major theme this winter, the goal of this practice is to control your speed, particularly with your legs. Kicking is/has developed into a must in the sport of swimming, regardless of the distance, BUT…
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Swim, Kick, Pull Practice for 2/28

For today we have a practice incorporating some swimming, kicking, and pulling throughout, along with some descend work. Enjoy! WU-50 pull/100 Fr/150 pull/200 Fr 4×50 Kick progression as 1-50 kick 2-37.5 kick/12.5 Fr 3-25 kick/25 Fr 4-12.5 kick-37.5 Fr Primary [1950] 3×125 Fr descend 1-3 as 75 pull/50 Fr on rest :20 9×25 Fr on…
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