SJ Swim Series - Intermediate - Session 7 (1.2km)

by Salty Johnson July 20, 2025

Intermediate Swim Series (1,200m per Session) – IM Focus

Target Audience: Swimmers with basic skills aiming to improve endurance, technique, and speed.
Total Distance per Session: ~1,200m
Duration per Session: ~45–50 minutes
Equipment: Salty Johnson chlorine-resistant swim briefs or board shorts, goggles, pull buoy, optional fins.
Goal: Smash those 100 free, build through 100s and finish with effort.

Session 7: IM Focus

· Warm-Up (300m):

o 4 x 50m Freestyle, easy pace (30s rest);

o 2 x 50m Choice, easy pace (30s rest).

· Drill Set (400m):

o 4 x 50m Butterfly, pull-only drill, moderate pace (45s rest)

o 4 x 50m Backstroke, arm rotation drill, moderate pace (45s rest).

· Main Set (400m):

o 4 x 100m IM, moderate pace (1min rest).

· Cool-Down (100m):

o 4 x 25m Choice, easy pace (30s rest).

Swimming and Training Tips:

· High Pain Tolerance: Much like a butterflyer, IMers have to have the highest of pain tolerances. Something about taking out the IM with relaxed speed always seems to bring the pain of speed, not relaxation. And, by the time breaststroke rolls around, true IMers know how to push through the pain, and not how to use the third leg as a break.

· Ability to Focus: Unlike the other strokes, backstrokers really aren’t aware of where their competition is during a race. For some swimmers, this is better. Putting your blinders on and being able to focus is not only a quality of a backstroker, but an IMer as well. Not everyone will have the same race strategy, so IMers tend to be confident in their abilities and are able to zero in on what they need to do to swim their own race. IMers don’t let anything get in their head.

· Flexibility: While physical flexibility is always beneficial, mental flexibility is equally important, especially for breaststrokers. IMers are typically thrown into any event a coach needs them to swim, whether they like it or not. They are dependable, reliable, and usually successful if they put their mind to it. Everyday tasks seem simple when you do them one at a time instead juggling four at once. IMers tend to be great multi-taskers as well.

· Stay Calm Before the Storm: IMers need to be a mixture of a distance freestyler and a sprinter. Ask anyone: In the last four laps of a 400 IM, you are relying on your distance background to get you to the wall, but it is an all-out sprint to the finish. There is no real pacing. It’s a 100 freestyle. IMers have the ability to do both of these at the end of an IM, as well as in general. IMers are typically laid back, relaxed, and generally fun to train with. But when it comes down to racing, nothing is going to stop them.