After a full weekend at Loughborough with Swim England’s Senior Coach Programme, my notebook is overflowing with notes and half-formed diagrams; my phone with shots of the presentations. The slides will follow soon as PDFs, but already one question sticks: what skill do I most want to develop from here?
For me, it’s learning how to write S.M.A.R.T. session plans.
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Simple on paper, but challenging in the real world when faced with the variety of swimmers I coach:
PC1 (10–12 yrs): just stepping up, butterfly still a mountain to climb, and every metre of planning counts.
C2 (14–16 yrs): technically skilled, county-level athletes training in A1/A2, needing the right aerobic progression.
P2 (12–14 yrs): county and regional swimmers, some already edging toward national level, training up to 13 hours a week plus land work.
I’ve done the hard graft of Macro, Meso and Micro planning – the annual cycle, the three-term structure, the week-by-week design. The next step is to translate that into whiteboard-ready sessions that are both challenging and clear.
I want my plans to be more than distances and intervals. I want them to be:
Purposeful (linked to the right point in the season).
Measurable (so athletes and I know when they’ve hit the target).
Progressive (building from week to week without overloading).
Personalised (flexing for the RS4, AS6, FS5, or ES4 in front of me ).
That’s the skill I want to master: to craft SMART plans that not only fill the two-hour session, but also give every swimmer a clear sense of why they are doing what they’re doing, and how it moves them closer to their goals.
Part 1 – SMART Planning for PC1 (10–12 yrs)
Title: Making Every Metre Count: SMART Session Plans for PC1
Hook:
In PC1, an hour in the pool goes quickly. Between briefing, skills focus, and fun challenges, we rarely swim more than 1,500m. That’s why every metre must have meaning.
Content Flow:
Specific → Skill targets like butterfly drills or starts/turns.
Measurable → Holding technique over 4 × 25m fly kick, or 50m timed challenges.
Achievable → Sessions capped at ~1,200–1,500m to match age and attention span .
Relevant → Focus on County time readiness within 3 months.
Time-bound → One-hour sessions split into warm-up, skill block, main set, fun challenge, swim down .
Closing Line:
SMART planning here means giving young swimmers confidence that butterfly is possible and that County times are within reach.
Part 2 – SMART Planning for C2 (14–16 yrs)
Title: Training Smart: Building Aerobic Engines in C2
Hook: C2 swimmers are pushing toward county-level as teenagers, technically skilled and training in aerobic zones A1 and A2. Their sets need structure, discipline, and progression.
Content Flow:
Specific → Aerobic development through disciplined A1/A2 sets.
Measurable → Intervals and HR checks to ensure the right training zone .
Achievable → 4–6k per session, with careful balance of endurance and skills.
Relevant → Targeting County progression, with pathways toward Regional standard.
Time-bound → Structured around their 4 weekly sessions (Mon, Thurs, Sat, Sun).
Closing Line: SMART planning for C2 means delivering sets that are tough but purposeful — the right workload at the right stage of the season.
Part 3 – SMART Planning for P2 (12–14 yrs)
Title: From County to National: SMART Planning for P2
Hook: P2 swimmers train 13+ hours a week. They include County finalists, Regional qualifiers, and even a couple aiming for Nationals. SMART planning here means managing detail, progression, and individualisation.
Content Flow:
Specific → Sets designed for A2 → AT progression and stroke specialisms .
Measurable → Whiteboard clarity: e.g., 50 × 100m threshold test set .
Achievable → Balancing challenge with consistency (holding form under fatigue).
Relevant → Linked to their Macro plan, competition calendar , and individual targets (Rose, Amelie, Flynn, Ellie ).
Time-bound → Two-hour sessions across three evenings + Saturday morning, with early mornings for aerobic volume.
Closing Line: SMART planning at this level transforms busy sessions into clear pathways: from holding A2 pace on a Thursday EMT to racing at Arena League or chasing Regional qualifying times.
