Is your hard work (really) that hard?
In 2016 (Rio Olympic year), Katie Ledecky’s best time in the 100 FR (LCM) was 53.75, and her 200 FR (LCM) was 1:53.73. Her times convert to 47.51 (SCY) and 1:40.53 (SCY).
In preparation for Rio, Katie’s coach gave her dozens of challenge sets, two of which appear here.
The first was 12 x 200 FR (SCY), and the interval was 2:10 for the first four, 2:05 for the second four, and 2:00 for the last four. She held 1:56s on round one, 1:52s on round two, and 1:48s on round three!
The second was 8 x 100 FR (SCY) on a 1:20 interval. She averaged 52.1 for all eight!
Swimmers often tell me that they wish they had the confidence of an Olympian like Katie (as if she was born with it). But sadly, she wasn’t that fortunate. She got her confidence the old fashion way by working her butt off in every practice and then using her hard work to defeat her rivals!
How about you? In your way, do you train as intensely as Katie? If not, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to build racing confidence!