Masters Swimming | Triathlon Training
Looking for some guidance during your practice sessions to improve your technique, build your endurance, or increase your speed? Maybe you are current or former lesson client of ours who wants a structured practice plan, so you know exactly what to work on when you go to the pool. We are launching our Fast Forward program in 2023 to provide just such a practice and conditioning program for our adult clients.
We are calling our training program Fast Forward because its system and resources will fast forward the progress toward your goals. The program will provide you with clear and extensive practice resources for you to take to the pool, so your pool time is as effective as possible. We will use performance test sets to create and track metrics that will individualize your practices toward your current skill level and objectives.
What Fast Forward is not is a large group practice program like a traditional US Masters Swimming team. We will develop training plans targeted to Masters swimmers and Triathletes, but the program will meet you in your pool rather than rent a pool for you. If you are looking for such a traditional Masters Swim Team, please follow this link to get a list of programs near your zip code.
What types of resources does Fast Forward include?
Our Fast Forward Swim Training Program is a technology-enhanced, accelerated swimming program for adult Masters, triathletes, and fitness swimmers. Fast Forward is the program for you if you are looking for more intensive coaching, individualized practices, and specific training sets designed for fitness and racing needs. We designed Fast Forward to rapidly develop and refine the skills and fitness that you need to achieve race day and personal fitness successes. Since good technique is such a critical part of swimming, we will apply a set of cutting-edge skills drills to help you practice mindfully and improve your strokes in a shorter period of time.
The complete list of resources we’ve imagined are:
- Monthly Practice Packs: A month’s package structured practices (2-3 per week, depending on skill level) that will improve your technique, build your endurance, and increase your speed. The difficulty of the practices will increase as your skills improve.
- Practice Feedback: Distribution of practices using Training Peaks to allow you to easily access the practice and provide feedback to your coach including actual time and yardage and comments on how the practice went
- Video Links: Links to videos for key skill drills and activities contained in the practice pack
- Circle Community: A private community group using the Circle Platform where you can ask questions to our coaches, post items of interest to the community, and collaborate with other students. The Circle community will the home for the video links, article/resource library, and any group events.
- Paid Calibration Clinics: Once per month optional, paid “calibration” clinics where we will guide you through a test set, get your key swimming metrics (pace, stroke count, tempo, heart rate), and identify your key technical focus. You will individualize your practices using this information. This clinic would be in addition to any fees for the program. If you can’t make this session, we will provide the instructions for you to run the set yourself.
- Article Library: A library of articles or links to articles to provide you the conceptual background behind the program you are using
- Student Practice Directory: A master directory of other students, the pools they use, and practice times to enable you to “team up” in your practices
Are there any Prerequisites?
To take part in the Fast Forward program, we require our swimmers to be able to swim at least 200 yards of freestyle with just minimal stopping at the walls to turn around (note: flip turns aren’t required). You should also be comfortable swimming in and out of a 12-foot-deep end. This fitness, technique, and water comfort threshold is intended to make sure you can do most of the sets that we have in store for you.
If you don’t feel like you can meet these standards, we’ll need you to complete either a CBD Freestyle 1 class, a Total Immersion Level 1 Freestyle workshop or an equivalent series of private lessons with a CBD coach. Even if you can meet these requirement, Fast Forward is a program based on the Total Immersion set of drills, exercises, and philosophy. Taking a class or lessons where we teach you these drills will make the training more effective — even if you do the class or lessons while simultaneously doing Fast Forward.
If you are on the fence, you can always schedule a 25-minute assessment lesson, and our coaches will let you know for sure where you fall. To schedule that lesson, simply contact our office and someone will get you on the schedule.
What is the Cost?
We are still in the pilot phase of the Fast Forward program, so we haven’t set the monthly membership rate yet. We will post the rates as we closer to a full roll out of the program.
How Does Your Billing Work?
When you for the Fast Forward program, we will charge you for the first month on the date of your registration. Each month on the anniversary of your registration, we will charge you for another month of membership. We will keep you on auto pay until you notify us in writing that you are planning on leaving the program. If you would like to cancel your membership, please contact our office at (773) 342-7250 to remove your registration from our systems.
Interested in the Program?
If you are interested in the program, please fill out the form below to provide us with your contact information and some background on your skills and goals. Our office will contact you to get you set up in our systems and with your first practice installment.
