The Session Bank [3]
Pre-Competition Week: How We Started It
Pre-Competition Week: How We Started the Week
The final week before the European Championships had two key short-course sets planned for Tuesday and Thursday. That meant Monday needed to set the tone physically, technically and mentally without creating any fatigue. It was a day to prepare the body, prime skills and re-build some rhythm after a slightly unusual weekend.
Context: Why Monday Mattered
The squad had been given Saturday and Sunday completely off. They’d had busy weekends - training blocks, AquaticsGB Awards, BUCS, race-simulation work. Most the athletes were carrying accumulated fatigue - more from not having a clear break.
Two days off was the right call but it can leave swimmers feeling a touch “out of rhythm.” They come back in mentally fresher but the water can feel odd until they reconnect with their technical patterns and race skills.
So Monday morning had a clear purpose:
Get the swimmers feeling technically better & connected
Sharpen up ready for the two key sets ahead
Monday AM: Improve ‘Feel’, Build Rhythm, Sharpen Speed
Warm-Up – 2K
A mixed warm-up designed to reconnect feel for the water:
Easy swimming
Simple sculling patterns
Drills and DPS
A few short spikes
Kicking on their main stroke
The aim was to gradually switch the brain and body back on.
Combination Set - Short Speed + Smooth Pulling
This was a hybrid set mixing short bursts of speed with smooth, technical pulling focused on distance-per-stroke through the catch, pull and press.
Main Set Structure
4 rounds of:
4x50m with an assigned speed exercise
300m smooth, technical pulling (DPS focus)
Each round had a different speed theme:
Round 1 – Underwater short dolphin kick efforts
Round 2 – Short swim efforts
Round 3 – Fast starts and turns
Round 4 – Fast turns and finishes
The set was written simply in ‘Commit Swimming’ but the real detail lived in the session notes:
Exact instructions for each fast effort
Key technical points (highlighted in green)
This allowed the swimmers to self-manage the set effectively while I was running technical slots at the far end.
Biomechanics Integration – 10–15min Individual Slots
While the short-speed/DPS set was running, I moved to the camera end with our biomechanistic. Across an hour, swimmers rotated through 10–15 minute technical slots featuring:
Slow-motion video playback
Reinforcement of Cycle 1 technical goals
Fine-tuning details that are difficult to see in full-speed
This is one of the most effective ways to sharpen skill execution before competition.
The swimmers self-managed the combination set without issue - the detailed notes and pre-brief ensured clarity and consistency.
Outcome: Activated, Connected, Sharp
By the end of the session, my intention was that each swimmer left the pool feeling:
Technically tuned
Mentally switched on
Physically activated
Confident about the week ahead
Monday wasn’t about volume. It was about working on components that would help Tuesday and Thursday key sets be executed to a high level.
I hope this gives you an insight into the thinking behind how we opened the week and maybe some ideas for how you might structure your own pre-competition Monday sessions.




Loving the individual slots idea. I’ll be trying that for sure, at least once a week! Thanks for sharing. Dan.