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By Casey Barrett // Swimnetwork Columnist
All swimmers work hard. Wait... Scratch that. All swimmers think
they work hard. Even the sprinters. Pain is a proud partner for all
of us, at some point all of our bodies have been broken and
crippled into lactic acid induced paralysis. But some are a breed
apart. Aquatic masochists who can take a degree of coaching sadism
that's certainly cruel and unquestionably unusual. The sets they
complete send shivers down the wet spines of lap stroking
mortals.
Best times might be the final word on swimming success, but there's
another standard that counts for swimmers: the sets they did to get
there. They're a shadow currency that carries serious weight among
those who know how much it truly takes - and those who can take
ever more.
This January 4th to 17th, in Potsdam, Germany, an international
crew of the some of the hardest core swimmers on earth is gathering
for what's shaping up to be the ultimate distance training camp.
They plan to attack the hardest sets any coach can possibly
conceive. They're calling it Battle Training. It's the brainchild
of German National Team coach Dirk Lange and it's an open
invitation to any and all who think they can hang. Germany's
Phelps-beater Paul Biedermann will be there, along with Germany's
open water four-time world champion Thomas Lurz. Russia's European
champion, Yuri Prilukov is going, along with the top distance stars
from Australia, South Africa, Canada, and elsewhere.
In an email last week, Dirk Lange summed it up for me nicely: "The
strongest will survive," he wrote. "We're offering it for everyone
who is not scared of pain." A fine taunt for all you
self-respecting distance swimmers out there...
It got me thinking about the all-time hardest sets I've ever heard
of... or, in some cases, ever swam myself. Here are five workouts
that the folks at Battle Training can try to live (or die) up to...
if they can take the pain:
5.) 24 x 400's, long course - by Tom Dolan. 6 of each stroke,
descending each series 1 - 6. Devised by Rick Curl, it was sets
like this that helped make Dolan the greatest IM'er of his
generation. 6 x 400's Fly is a back-breaking set any day. When it's
just 1/4 of the main set, you know you're going around the bend and
asking for rare and memorable pain.
4.) 80 x 200's Free on 2:30, long course. Wearing gym shorts and
tights. Ok, I'm biased, I did this one myself when I was at the
Bolles School in 1993. But I'll take the challenge with anyone
who'd like to say it doesn't belong. 16K wearing shorts (with
pockets) and tights, while holding 1:10+ for over three hours. 1996
Olympic champ Trina Jackson was among the last standing; others had
to be dragged from the pool barely conscious. Literally.
3.) 20 x 1500's on 20:00, long course - by Larsen Jensen. Had he
made it, this one would be number one. However, word has it that
Jensen made it to #17 before missing the interval and having to
stop. No shame there. It's sets like this that made Jensen step up
every time under pressure and always perform at his best when it
mattered most. With this in the bank, it must have seemed easy.
2.) 4 x 5000's on 50:00, short course - by Jeff Kostoff. The
distance king of the 80's reportedly did this one while he was at
Stanford. Makes you delirious just thinking about it. 20K averaging
under 1:00 each 100... Flipping at every wall for 200 consecutive
laps before a few gasps of rest, then doing it again, four times.
Kostoff did this 25 years ago. You can take the fast suits and the
tech-assisted records, sets like this are more impressive any
day.
1.) 30 x 1000's on 10:00, short course - by Erik Vendt. The gold
standard by, quite possibly, the greatest training animal in
American swimming history. Vendt performed this masochist
masterpiece in high school when he was with the Ocean State Squids
in New England. It happened one Saturday morning when Vendt and his
coach, Josh Stern, decided to show up at the pool an hour and a
half before workout started for the rest of the team. When his
teammates arrived, Vendt had already plowed through half of this
monster. They dove in and pushed him through the back-half -
another 10 miles at minute pace! Anyone who's swum with or even
crossed swimming paths with Vendt has a story to tell about his
training toughness, but this set may set the standard for every age
grouper who wants to know where those outer limits lay...
Here's hoping the swimmers in Potsdam push these limits further
still... If you'd like to be one of them, the invitation is
open...
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