SWIM50....WHO ARE WE?

Swim50 aims to provide extensive and exceptional training for Masters, Elite and Age-Group swimmers who are tired of the yardage principle, who are slow to improve, whose event times are not really progressing as they should despite putting in the hours.

We are the first independent squad in the UK that empahsises teaching swimmers how to race above training,the Racing Squad was formed by a select group of coaches and elite athletes dedicated to the art of sprinting.

This enables us to focus solely on the mechanics and the correct training that lead to faster swim times.

Although we have an emphasis towards the 50m event we can very successfully improve your swim times over the 100m—400m distances.

We also hold High Velocity Camps in conjunction with legendary U.S sprint coach Sam Freas.

Competitive swimming is all about swimming fast, and speed, in conjunction with technique, forms the most precious element of a swimmer’s make-up. Coaches should, after all, be dedicated to one task: preparing swimmers to swim their event as fast as possible, but in our experience the vast majority of coaches do not, they just teach swimmers how to train!

High Velocity swimming is a skill, and as such needs to be taught!
Take this short 'quiz' - if you answer most of the questions affirmatively, you may want to join us and LEARN HOW TO RACE…

1) For your 'best events' are you only a little bit faster in swim meets than what you have done in practices? YES or NO

2) Do you do on a regular basis, as an example, swim 12 x 200's Free (or other combinations) and then think "one fast 200" in a swim meet should be easy - only to wonder why you 'really tightened up' the last 50-75 yards? YES or NO

3) Try as you may you can never 'take out' the race any faster, no matter how hard you try? YES or NO

4) For the 'Open Water' swimmers and Triathletes - do you find yourself wishing you had another "gear" you could shift to-in order to breakaway and/or move up to the pack ahead of you? YES or NO


SWIM50 RACING is an independent programme, we are not attached to any UK club and will welcome swimmers from the U.K or Europe.

For many years now, sprinters have been regarded as the bottom- dwellers of the swimming world, in particular the 50 meter sprint specialists. Often people within the swimming community regard these swimmers as a bit of a joke, not giving them the respect they have duly earned.

It takes a special type of person to be a sprinter: some people lack the motivation; others just cannot overcome the pain. Sprint swimming is without a doubt the toughest event in swimming.

The swim itself isn’t the toughest – just ask Grant Hackett or Kieran Perkins - but the training is.

U.K swimming needs to wake up to the race that everyone wants to see. Picture it: a sleek, speedy swimmer fired up before a 50m race, knowing they have absolutely nothing to lose, their end in sight and nothing in their way except 21 seconds (in the case of freestyle), of full-blown power . . . . Now that is very inspirational!


Think about this.

It has been 43 years since we had Bobby McGregor our last finalist in the 100m freestyle at any major swimming championship!

Sprinting in the U.K needs a revival. Sprinting gives you an edge over any race distance. It can be taught. It can be learnt. It must be experienced.

The shorter your race event is, the greater the demand on the anaerobic energy systems...This is particularly true of the 50m, 100m and 200m events, lasting from around 20 to 120 seconds.

The longer events, from 800m upwards, demand a larger contribution from the aerobic energy system.

Evidence for this comes from blood lactate concentrations following 50m 100m and 200m competition swims, which are a very high 16 to 20 mmol/L, pointing to the fact tangible that a great deal of energy is derived from the anaerobic breakdown of glycogen, resulting in lactic acid as a by-product.

The highly anaerobic nature of High Velocity swim events would support the argument for more high-intensity and less high volume training.

Some athletes and coaches go wrong by assuming it is best to do training that will reduce blood lactate concentrations.

This philosophy is based on the idea that high lactate is bad and will have a negative impact on performance.



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