Week 5: Speed Endurance
Speed endurance is the ability to hold a fast pace after you are already tired, and it is the difference between a good first 400m and a good last 400m. Week 5 of this intermediate swim workout runs 1,350m a session and finishes with a 600m continuous swim, comfortably handled in Salty Johnson recycled ocean plastic swimwear.
Week 5 at a glance: 3 sessions · 1,350m each · 25m pool · kickboard and pull buoy · about 55 minutes per swim.
Session 1: Sprint (1,350m, ~55 min)
Introduction: Twelve fifties on short rest, then race pace work once the arms are already loaded.
- Warm-up: 200m freestyle, 100m kick, 50m choice.
- Main Set: 12x50m freestyle descend 1 to 4, 30s rest; 4x50m race pace, 45s rest.
- Cool-down: 200m easy.
Technique: Fast hands at the front, do not let the catch slip when the rest gets short.
Tips: If rep 4 of any round is slower than rep 1, you started the round too hard.
Motivation: The last four are the ones that count, everything before is a warm-up!
Session 2: Mixed Strokes/IM (1,350m, ~55 min)
Introduction: Longer IM repeats with a stroke-specific back half to expose weak links.
- Warm-up: 300m (100m freestyle/100m backstroke/100m breaststroke).
- Main Set: 3x200m IM, 40s rest; 6x50m alternating backstroke and breaststroke, 25s rest.
- Cool-down: 150m easy freestyle.
Technique: On breaststroke, finish every glide, rushing the recovery kills more speed than it creates.
Tips: Note which 50m of each 200m IM you dread, that is your training priority for the next month.
Motivation: Your weakest stroke has the most improvement left in it!
Session 3: Endurance (1,350m, ~55 min)
Introduction: A 600m unbroken swim, the halfway marker on the road to a 1.5km time trial.
- Warm-up: 200m freestyle, 100m kick.
- Main Set: 1x600m freestyle continuous, 60s rest; 3x100m freestyle, 25s rest.
- Cool-down: 150m easy.
Technique: Settle into a rhythm by 100m and stop thinking, over-managing a long swim costs energy.
Tips: Split the 600m mentally into six 100s, never into 24 lengths.
Motivation: Six hundred down, and week 8 is only 1,500!
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Intermediate swim workout questions, answered
What is speed endurance in swimming?
The ability to sustain near race pace when fatigued. You train it with repeats that are fast but on short rest, so you never fully recover between efforts. It is what stops you fading in the last quarter of a race.
How long should a 600m freestyle swim take?
For an intermediate swimmer, roughly 10 to 13 minutes, or 1:45 to 2:10 per 100m. Aim for even splits rather than a fast start.
Should I swim IM if I only race freestyle?
Yes. IM balances shoulder loading, improves body position and builds the kick that carries your freestyle. Freestyle-only training is the fastest route to a cranky shoulder.
How does pool training transfer to ocean swimming?
The aerobic base and stroke efficiency transfer completely. What does not transfer is sighting, no walls, chop and starting in a pack, which is why weeks 6 to 8 of this program add sighting work.
Keep the series going
- Previous: Intermediate Week 4, Threshold and Pace Control (1,300m)
- Next: Intermediate Week 6, Efficiency and Sighting (1,400m)
- Too much? Beginner Week 5 (550m). Not enough? Advanced Week 5 (3,100m)
- All free plans: Salty Johnson swim workouts and Salty Sundays in Bondi