Week 6: Efficiency and Sighting
After the intensity of week 5, this intermediate swim workout deliberately drops the throttle and picks up the technique. Volume nudges to 1,400m, effort comes down, and sighting drills go in so your pool fitness actually converts to an ocean swim. Worn, as always, in Salty Johnson recycled ocean plastic swimwear.
Week 6 at a glance: 3 sessions · 1,400m each · 25m pool · kickboard and pull buoy · about 55 minutes per swim.
Session 1: Sprint (1,400m, ~55 min)
Introduction: Short bursts inside longer steady swims, speed without the wreckage.
- Warm-up: 300m freestyle.
- Main Set: 8x100m (25m fast/75m steady), 30s rest; 4x25m sprint, 40s rest.
- Cool-down: 200m easy kick.
Technique: Return to your steady stroke immediately after the fast 25m, no drifting.
Tips: Hold the same stroke count on the 75m steady portion of every rep.
Motivation: Changing gears cleanly is a skill, and this is the set that teaches it!
Session 2: Mixed Strokes/IM (1,400m, ~55 min)
Introduction: Four 200m IM repeats at controlled effort, prioritising form over the clock.
- Warm-up: 300m (100m freestyle/100m backstroke/100m breaststroke).
- Main Set: 4x200m IM, 40s rest; 4x50m (25m butterfly kick/25m freestyle), 25s rest.
- Cool-down: 100m easy freestyle.
Technique: Streamline off every wall for at least three kicks, free speed nobody uses.
Tips: Swim these at 80 percent, this week is about consolidation, not heroics.
Motivation: Easy weeks are where hard weeks turn into fitness!
Session 3: Endurance (1,400m, ~55 min)
Introduction: Two 400m swims, the second run as a full ocean swim rehearsal.
- Warm-up: 200m freestyle, 100m kick.
- Main Set: 2x400m freestyle, 45s rest. Swim the second with two sighting lifts per length and no push-off streamline, to mimic open water; 2x100m freestyle, 25s rest.
- Cool-down: 100m easy.
Technique: Sight on the stroke before your breath so the two movements become one.
Tips: Removing the streamline off each wall is the closest a pool gets to no-wall swimming, expect it to feel 10 seconds per 100m slower.
Motivation: The second 400m is the one that will feel familiar on race day!
Salty Johnson Spotlight: Sighting sets mean your head is out of the water and the sun is on your shoulders, repeatedly. Our women's one-pieces and men's briefs carry UPF 50+ built into recycled ocean plastic fabric, not sprayed on. Shop www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/sustainable-womens-one-piece-swimsuits for her or www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/sustainable-mens-swim-briefs for him.
Our suits sight better than you do, mostly because they never panic about the buoy!
Intermediate swim workout questions, answered
Why does week 6 have less intensity than week 5?
Because fitness is built during recovery, not during the hard session. A consolidation week lets the adaptations from week 5 land, so you arrive at the peak week in week 7 fresh rather than flat.
How do I train for an ocean swim in a pool?
Add sighting every 6 to 10 strokes, skip the push-off streamline so you lose the free speed a wall gives you, swim longer continuous sets, and occasionally swim with someone close beside you to simulate a pack.
How much slower is ocean swimming than pool swimming?
Typically 10 to 20 percent slower for the same effort, because you lose push-offs and add sighting, chop and currents. A 25 minute pool 1.5km often becomes a 28 to 30 minute ocean 1.5km.
Do I need a wetsuit for ocean swimming in Sydney?
Not from roughly December to May, when Sydney water sits around 21 to 24 degrees. Through winter many swimmers still go without, but a wetsuit adds warmth and buoyancy if you are new or swimming long.
Keep the series going
- Previous: Intermediate Week 5, Speed Endurance (1,350m)
- Next: Intermediate Week 7, Peak Volume (1,500m)
- Too much? Beginner Week 6 (600m). Not enough? Advanced Week 6 (3,200m)
- All free plans: Salty Johnson swim workouts and Salty Sundays in Bondi