\Jí?^i ir7 ^ HA^ rn f.^ ' The Development of National 400 IM Champ Katie HofF BYPAULYETTER

Editors Note: North Baltimore Aquatic Club joined our team at NBAC. I am going - Coach of Katie Hoff, 400 IM to go through pretty much what is on One of the best ways we can National Champion. Paul Yet- this handout. I am probably not go- ing to go in the order that it is listed, learn to develop athletes from ter coaches for the North Balti- but I am probably going to cover all age group to senior, is to ex- more Aquatic Club. In 2004, Paul of these points. The first thing that guided 15 - year old Katie Hoff to I would like to talk about is the first plore what coaches have done time that I saw Katie swim a 400 a USA Olympic Team berth in the IM. I saw her swim at long course in the past to develop those 400 IM and 200 IM. Over the last Nationals in College Park, Maryland same age athletes. With swim two years, Paul's swimmers have last August. This was about three weeks before she joined our team careers longer than ever, it is broken 25 National Age Group at NBAC and I knew that she was records, over 40 Maryland State going to be with us. So I watched her more important than ever, to Records, and have achieved 23 swim with a lot of interest because get accurate information on I wanted to see what she did in that #1 National Age Group rankings, pool. I thought that maybe I could this process. including a 1-2 ranking in both the get a little bit of insight into where we were going with this kid. It is long course and short course 200 interesting because I went up to the Butterfly. Paul's swimmers have In this article, from the 2004 top of the stands to watch because won National, Sectional, and Zone it was packed. Michael Phelps was swimming and everybody was down ASGA World Clinic, Coach Championships. Paul has a degree on pool deck. So I went up to the top Paul Yetter, who coaches Katie in English from the University of so I could get a good view and see Hoff from her age group years Wisconsin, and he lives in Balti- what she was doing. As I sat down, I noticed that I was sitting kind of more with his girlfriend Amy and through the 2008 Olympic close to her mom. So I watched the his two cats, Ollie and Jorge. race with her mom and right before Games, reviews her develop- the race started her mom looks over at me and she says, "if Katie goes out ment up until 2004, The We are going to go off of the handout under 1:06 she says I need to pray for throughout the whole talk today. her." So, she went out that day in a perspective this supplies for [Editor's note: Handout is at the end 1:04.1 and we started praying a little of this presentaton.]I would like to our understanding of the long bit. She was so far ahead of every- thank ASCA for inviting me here body, she was probably three or four term development of the ath- and I would like to tharik Murray seconds ahead. By that time it was Stephens who is also here as the head apparent that she was going to win lete is invaluable. Our Thanks coach of North Baltimore Aquatic the heat and she just kind of took Club for helping me and giving me to Coach Yetter. over and ran away with the race. a shot and providing me with pool time and providing me with a group of kids that have developed over the If you have ever seen her race you last couple of years. know that she just kind of goes for it. It is one of her many charms in that I would like to tell you today about she just sort of lights it up and goes John Leonard Katie Hoff. I have been coaching for it and goes real hard at every- Katie since August of 2003 when she thing that she does. When I saw her

26 American Swimming Magazine - 2009 Issue 3 go 1:04.11 got real excited because as we talk about the stroke stuff and has made quite a progression. She 1:04.1 is a good enough split in my as we talk about the development has gone from a 1:16.1 to 1:11.5 at opinion to make the Olympic Trial fi- that she did through her training trials. She was 1:11.2 at the Santa nals. I didn't feel like she had to be a and that type of thing, you have got Clara Meet. 1:16 doesn't cut it. You heck of a lot faster in that part of her to understand that I am not pulling are not going to be in a position to swim to make the Olympic Trial final teeth. I am not working with some- win the race if you are going 1:16 so this talk today is about how we body that is hard to deal with. She so we knew that we had to make got better at a lot of other different is pretty easy to deal with so when I some changes. As far as technically, aspects of Katie's swim. We are go- ask her to do something she tries her what we noticed was she liked to ing to talk a lot about her splits and best to do it. It is just kind of up to enter with the top of her hand and about her strokes and that type of me to figure out what it is that she she would smack her hand down thing. One thing was for sure at that needs to do. as she was putting it in the water. I point in time she didn't need to get think when you do that you don't much faster on the front end of the So, back to the butterfly. We went get a very good catch on the water. swim. I felt like we needed to work to make that change and she made it It takes you a little bit too long to on some technical aspects of her pretty quickly. The main thing that get that catch. When you do get that butterfly and some technical aspects we did was I asked her not to lift her catch you are not getting a very good of other strokes too, but speed in the chin as much and I asked her not catch so it had to change. What we fly was not one of those things. What to breathe so much with her face. I did was #1 we focused on it a little I would like to do right now is go asked her to breathe more with her bit. You know, when Katie wants through some technical things that eyes. I wanted her to breathe with to do something and she knows it îwe did for each particular stroke. her eyes like this and I didn't want is important then she focuses on it. her to do this. So she kind of got She just does it. Then the other thing is we did a drill that I call the AOK I would like to start with the fly be- good at breathing with her eyes look- drill which is you make an AOK sign cause that is first. If you look on your ing forward and her mouth was kind like this and you put the hole in like handout you can see two pictures. of angled down. You can see in the that so that the hole goes in the water One of those pictures is a picture of right photo that it almost looks like and your palm is kind of going in a poorly swum butterfly and you her mouth is hardly getting out of first. She made the correction and did can see that the head is cranked way the water. It is at a 45 degree angle what we wanted her to do. By telling up and the body position I think is down, just enough to get a little bit her to put her palm in first and to •pretty bad. The arms are bent. Then of a breath. We worked on, instead put the hole in the water first, she in the picture on the right you can of lifting the chin, kind of lifting the was able to actually get her pinkie in see that it is a better body position. neck. So instead of making this mo- first which is really what we wanted. Her neck is flat as she is breathing tion with the face, she kind of made The other thing is with doing the and her arms are straight. To me it this type of motion with her neck AOK drill, your pinkie is, if you do just looks a little bit better. That is and it enabled her to just kind of flow it naturally like this, your pinkie is jone of the changes that we made across the top of the water. I didn't apart from the rest of your hand so it ;with her butterfly stroke. need her to go faster, but I needed her to do it a little bit easier. We is a little bit easier to get that pinkie in first. We are still working on that. We didn't make it right away. We were going to be working on some Actually all this stuff we are going to made it over the first two months. things with backstroke. I didn't want talk about today technically, as far as ¡We didn't make it over the first two her to have to feel like she needed the workouts go, we are still working ¡weeks because I was just getting to somebody to pray for her during on. Still she got better at that pretty ¡know Katie and I didn't want to put that part of the race. She needed much right away. That was one of itoo much on her plate right away. to feel comfortable with swimming those things where during the first Still it was certainly one of the things her backstroke well. By doing the month of practice she was working that we did first. I should say that it butterfly easily, as easily as she can, on that and she was getting better at was really pretty easy to make some while maintaining her speed, I felt that right away. of these changes that we made with like it would help the rest of her race 'Katie because her attitude is just and that was the goal. So as far as I unbelievable. When she comes to fly goes, that was our main thing Probably backstroke is the stroke 'practice she wants to do really well. that we worked on. To just swim it a where we made the most drastic I don't remember any time when little bit easier and just get out there improvement and the most drastic this girl has come into the pool and without hurting herself was the main change immediately. The other thing been like she didn't really want to be goal. she had to do on backstroke was get ¡there. She always wants to be there. a little bit better off her push offs. For She is early. She stays late. A lot of Moving on to backstroke. You can off her walls she worked on kicking the time she is the first person there see that with her backstroke she jand she is the last person to leave. So continued on page 28

www.swimmingcoach.org 27 continued from page 27 The Development of National 400 IM Champ Katie Hoff a little bit better on her band. We just that could help her get better at her tempo and they have got to try to tried to get her kicking times down. stroke that she does. Again, breast- maintain that power that they are She worked specifically on pushing stroke is something that we are con- taking with the tempo as they are off the wall and kicking better off tinuing to work on to this day. So, going down the pool. So that was our the wall. Kicking better off the wall here are the things that we worked technical focus for breaststroke. is another thing that we are still in on with breaststroke. Number one, the process of getting better at. She we worked on kicking just like we For freestyle, I liked her freestyle is not exactly where she needs to be worked on it with backstroke. Her a lot more than I think the rest of with that, but she got a lot better over breaststroke kicking times correlated her strokes when she got to NBAC. the first couple of months of train- perfectly with her long course split I didn't try to change her free too ing just focusing on being a little bit times when she came to NBAC. She much. But you should know that more powerful off her wall and also would kick a little bit over 1:20's, when I saw her swim that first 400 kicking a little bit more and kicking between 1:20 and l:25's, when she IM I watched her do something that a little bit harder and kicking a little was going all out kicks. When she makes me absolutely cringe. Going bit faster. With her backstroke kick I was kicking 50's real fast she would into her last and final turn she took a noticed as she first started with us at kick about 40 seconds or maybe a big breath on one side and then im- NBAC she would kick lOO's at about little bit under. That was about what mediately took another breath onto the pace that she swam long course her 200 IM pace was so we worked the other side. That just hurts me to lOO's. She would kick her long course on getting these kick times down. I watch and so we really worked on time short course so, if she was a think that she did a pretty good job not doing that. We worked on keep- 1:16 long course splits on her 400 IM of that this year. We are not as low ing the neck fiat. We look under the I noticed that she was kicking right as we want to be right now, but we T instead of at the T so that the head around there when she was kicking are getting there. is not like that. The neck is fiatter real fast. I wanted her to kick faster going into the turn. We worked on and I wanted her to get her kick- The other thing we worked on with taking at least one stroke no breath ing time down as low as she could breaststroke was we worked on her going into the wall. Although we are go. It got to the point after a couple pull-out and we worked on squeez- trying to do two strokes going into of months where she could go four ing real tight, not only on the stream- the wall without a breath. I think lOO's on 1:30 short course kicking line, the initial streamline, but when you can flip faster. I think you get and kick 1:11 on all four of them. So she went down into her pull. We a better view of the wall and so you I think that she made some progres- worked on squeezing real tight here are going to get a better push off sions with the kicking that directly with her whole body and getting when you do that. That was really correlated with her split time and herself to be real tight all the way the main thing that we worked on her long course swim. I don't think through that pull-out. Then we also with her freestyle. We also worked that is going to work for everybody. worked on as she was coming up. on her kicking with freestyle. The I think you have some kids that are She was kind of going into her break- same thing with backstroke applies just great kickers. I feel like Katie out stroke, re-establishing a real tight for freestyle. She just tended to come when she started with us was a me- squeeze. So, she was in a real tight off the wall and float up and not re- diocre to poor kicker and now I think squeeze when she pushed off the ally get power going into her swim she is a mediocre to pretty good wall. She pulled down and was real which is a pretty powerful stroke. I kicker. So that is where we were go- tight again and then as she came up felt the better a freestyle kicker she ing with backstroke. she was re-establishing a really tight was, the better she would be com- body position as she broke out. To ing off the wall and the more speed With breaststroke, if you have seen me, that is pretty fundamental and I she would take going into her first Katie swim, she swims with a really think for Katie it helped her because couple of strokes. high tempo and a really high turn- she was able to take more velocity over and that is not really the stroke into that first stroke. We worked on So, technically, that is where we that I teach young kids to do. I was the first three strokes of each length. went with Katie's swims and her caught a little bit. It was her best That was it. I didn't want to mess swimming on a daily basis. We kept stroke. It was the stroke that she did with her stroke any more than that it short. We pretty much just had a at Nationals. She did the IM's and at first. I wanted her to make sure couple of different things to focus the breaststroke and she made it back she was getting a really powerful on and we really tried to make sure to I think the C final or the B final squeeze with her body position com- that those things were real good. in the breaststroke so I didn't want ing off the pull-out and I wanted her Now I would like to tell you a little to mess with it too much, especially to take that squeeze and that tight- bit about training and workouts. I right away. So with breaststroke we ness and that velocity through her am going to talk to you first about came up with a couple of different first three strokes. Somebody like the first time that I saw Katie train. goals that were really small goals Katie with a high tempo breaststroke that I felt that she could accomplish has just got to try to maintain that continued on page 30

28 American Swimming Magazine - 2009 Issue 3 continued from page 28 The Development of National 400 IM Champ Katie Hoff

I think it is important to watch kids I asked the kids to do was to go the I said okay Katie you know, you are when you are just kind of getting first five 200's at 2:08. The game that just too fast. I guess you can just go to know them and see what they we played was they were to go 1:04, ahead and go 2:06, but let's try to do do. I believe in seeing what they do 1:04. It is huge at NBAC to even 1:03/1:03. She was pretty success- without you yelling at them to do split. It doesn't count if it is not even, ful doing that. She was able to go something better so you can really particularly on freestyle training. To 1:03/1:03 and so we swam the next see what their tendencies are. The us, it doesn't matter what the total couple of 200's like that. first lap she swam with NBAC when time is. It matters what you are doing she actually visited our team to make after you have kind of swum a little We are taking a minute rest on the sure that it was the kind of place that bit and the times that you are do- wall and everybody is getting a drink she wanted to be, she swam down ing toward the end of the repeats or and they are kind of sitting around the pool on the first length of our what you are going to repeat in the giggling and stuff and I am telling warm-up and did that double breath race. people what to do. Okay now let's thing. So right there it solidified to flip a little faster. Let's try to stream- me, well, this has got to stop. I knew So the game was for the kids to all line a little bit better. Katie you don't at that point we really had to go to kind of swim along and flip on 1:04 need to do anything different. You work on that. flat and go 1:04 flat and be 2:08 flat. are already going 1:03/1:03. You are Since we were doing five of them I right where you need to be because I would like to tell you about the felt that if they were to do the first the second round of 200's I wanted workout that we did on that day one and go 1:04/1:05 then I could a 2:06 - 1:03/1:03.1 flgured well this because the workout really gave me easily say, well you just need to flip is a piece of cake, she has just got to some insight into what Katie needed a little faster on your second 100 or keep doing what she is doing.. .not to do better, what she needed to something like that and even it up the case. She had to go out in a 1:02 get better at through the course of and just try to do that over and over and go 1:02/1:03. We went through the fall to improve her split on her again. After they have got that then the same thing for the next set of five freestyle and to improve her overall maybe they can make sure that their 200's. I would say well okay, try to swimming. The set we did that day stroke count is the same throughout go 1:03 again. She couldn't do it. was we swam three sets of five 200's the 200. You know, we can play little She would go 1:01/1:03 and so we freestyle and we took a minute rest games like that so we make sure that dealt with that. She basically that day in between each set of five. After the they are being real efficient. My kids had to have a little bit of a different third set we did a set of five lOO's that I had on the team had done the thing going on where she was just a freestyle. I put the intervals on 2:40 set a couple of times before or that little bit faster than everybody else. for the first round. We are in a yard type of set before. They were pretty The goal though was still the even pool. I put them on 2:35 for the sec- good at that and they would come split whatever it was that she did. ond round and I put them on 2:30 for in and they would pretty much go I let them go at the end on the five the third round which is pretty me- 1:04/1:04, thus we started out the lOO's on 1:15 and I kind of just let dium intervals. We tend to not really set real well. Katie didn't do that. them swim. I think she went .57 on crank the intervals down too far. We Katie had to go 1:03/1:04. So I said all five of them. I thought to myself, also don't want to have them sitting okay Katie, after the first one, that's well this is pretty good you know, on the wall for too long so I would good, just a little too fast, it's okay. we are going to get this kid next year define the type of interval training We have 14 more of these. Let's just and she is 14 and she is going 57's. I that we do as medium interval type make a game of it. Let's go 1:04/1:04 am adding all that up and that is be- training. So, we are doing these and see if you can do it. I think it is tween a 4:45 and a 4:50 to me, so she 200's last year when I was kind of on a skill to be able to hit that time and is a 4:59, 500 freestyle at that point in a little kick with my group of swim- to know what you are doing with the time so my excitement continues. I mers where I would want them to splits. I was trying to see if she could continue to get psyched about this hit a certain time and I would try to do that. She pushed off on the second girl coming to our team and I con- get them to hit it exactly on the nose. one and she went 1:02/1:04 and now tinue to get psyched about what she I don't normally do that because I she is at a 2:06.1 thought to myself, can do in terms of training, but the like to let the kids go and just kind well okay. I didn't want to get real insight that I got with her was she of see how fast they can go. I don't frustrated and I certainly didn't want has got a heck of a lot of speed. If the normally put limits on what the kids her to get very frustrated so we tried only thing she does is even split, she are supposed to do and what kind of one more time. She still couldn't do is going to end up being pretty fast. times they are supposed to do, but it. She likes to get out there in front. If she is able to go a 57 on five lOO's the group that I had was responding It doesn't really make sense for her in a row, I bet that we can get her to pretty well to that type of work. I felt to train and not be out there in the go 57/57 if she just gets good at even it would be a good type of workout front. After she did the third one she splitting. So that was really the main to do on that particular day. What was pretty much the same 1:02/1:04. focus that we had with her train-

30 American Swimming Magazine - 2009 Issue 3 ing, especially her freestyle training speed. If we did an endurance type was not going first. That really made pver the first couple of months of the of workout like ten 300's freestyle or her mad because she really does not season. something like that, almost all the like not going first. She doesn't re- time we would warm it down for a ally consider herself to have won the With Katie we tried to get this kid few hundred and then we would pop workout and to have done real well with a lot of easy speed to even split a fast 50 for time. We would do that at the workout if she is doing it go- her swims. If you look at her splits not to get an increasingly faster time ing second or third in line. It makes for a 400 IM, she was out in 1:04 in as we went through the season, but her mad and so when we kicked she August and back in a 1:07.8. Because we would do that to stay in touch would have to work I think in a dif- she was so far ahead of everybody with our speed. I would know, based ferent way. She would have to work in the C final of Nationals, she was on those times, if somebody was get- a little bit harder and just kind of dif- able to, when she evened it up... ting really beat down and we were ferent in a more intense way to keep well first of all, she was only in the C doing too much endurance work. If up with everybody.. .to keep up with finals so she was able to win that by their times were a couple of tenths people that she knew she was faster a lot, but she was able to swim with off, a half a second off, no problem. than. She eventually got to be one of some more accomplished swimmers We have still got our speed, but if the better kickers in my senior group by evening. That picked her pace somebody who pushes off the wall that I had last year. Probably, she up a little bit and you can see by the and goes 24 seconds for a 50 freestyle was in the top three or four, whereas time we got to Trials she was pretty at the end of practice and one par- she was probably in the bottom three even 1:03.5/1:04.1. If you take into ticular week goes up to a 25.9 I am when we started the season. She account the dive they are pretty even starting to look back at our weekly works pretty hard and she doesn't splits. Time matters a lot at NBAC. plan and thirtk to myself, well, what really want to not progress so she It is our main focus. We want race did we do? Maybe we did a little bit just set her sights on being the best pace swimming and we want race too much in terms of endurance and kicker. She is now a pretty good kick- pace swimming all the time. If we not enough speed. Even for young er because of the type of work that have what we would consider to be girls where we are trying to get their we did. We do quite a bit of kicking. kind of a recovery type of workout, aerobic capacity up and we are try- It really has helped her mentally a lot of the times we will put on the ing to get them to swim further faster to have to chase people in practice. fins. Even if they are swimming a we have got to make sure that the She wasn't doing it when we did little bit slower and they are working speed is there. In particular, for Ka- ten 4OO's freestyle. She wasn't do- not quite as hard, they are still going tie, I felt like that was real important ing it when we trained breaststroke race pace. We try to make sure that because she is such a fast swimmer. as much as when we were kicking happens just about every day. A lot She is such a powerful swimmer that breaststroke, nor as much as when of what we do is based on lap speed to lose that aspect of her swimming we were kicking IM kick or kicking and it is based on what you are doing would completely ruin her training freestyle kick. So she had to be moti- per 25. It is based on what the last 25 so we really wanted to make sure vated in a different way and be just (pf a repeat is or the last 50 of a repeat that we kept in touch with the speed. a little bit more intense maybe than is, not what the total time is. It is real when she was swimming. important that she understand that Okay, there are a couple of other as we go into talking a little bit more things that we did in terms of train- Another thing that we worked on specifically about the workouts that ing that we worked on that I think a lot was breathing, specifically, she has done. really helped Katie improve. One of breathing during breaststroke swim- I them I have touched on a little bit ming. With somebody with such One of the things we consciously and that is kicking, but I would like a high tempo breaststroke I think did last year with Katie is we started to touch on it in a little bit of a differ- those kids tend to hyperventilate a the season by doing some speed ent way right now. You know, Katie little bit because as they are going type of training which is a little bit wasn't a very good kicker when she through their stroke they tend to not backwards from what I have done got to NBAC. She was, as I said exhale very well. If they have a real in the past and what I know a lot before, a mediocre kicker to a poor high tempo they don't have enough of us do which is we pile on a lot of kicker. When she got in the lanes time to blow out all of their air, par- yards. We build up endurance. We with the rest of our group at NBAC ticularly with a 400 IM long course make sure that they are physically she found that she would be really swim. If you are hyperventilating fit. We focus on doing a certain thing fast on the swimming and the pulling going down on that first 50, you are with energy systems and that kind aspects of our training and just about going to hit acidosis real quick and it of thing which we don't really do. on everything that we did she would is going to really hurt coming home. We try to get the endurance I think be leading the lane. She would be That is when you really fade at the á little bit too much without getting just crushing people. With the kick- end of the race when you start not the speed. What we did this year was ing, she would have to go third in we made sure that we always had line or maybe second in line, but she continued on page 32

www.swimmingcoach.org 31 continued from page 31 The Development of National 400 IM Champ Katie Hoff getting enough air. I noticed with Ka- a way to convert times that is at least fourth one fast all the way through tie that she was doing that a little bit some kind of way to think about the with the final set of only two of them and one of the things that I thought times so that we can know if we are just kind of going one easy and then about was maybe she is not exhaling doing some race pace swims. So here one real fast. She got down to 42.1. very well in her breaststroke. Come is the conversion that I use. I think She is pacing 14 seconds a length. I to find out that that was correct. She 225 yards is about the same as 200 don't think she split it quite evenly was not exhaling very well so she meters so if you go off of lap speed on that but she is at least 15 seconds just thought about it a little bit more or 25 length speed you can figure a length on that so she is going 2:15 and she just worked on exhaling a lit- out long course pace off of a 225 pace which you ought to take down tle bit better and just a little bit more yard swim. Let's say for instance, to 1:07.5 pace. So early in the season often. Thus when she was swimming you are going a 2 minute 200 yard she is doing 400IM pace that is very down the pool she wasn't getting swim. We are going to say that is 15 significantly faster than what she has into the hyperventilation mode. She seconds a length and of course you done in the past. In the yard pool, wasn't blowing out, taking in, blow- have to split that evenly for it to be coming into our season, she was a ing out, taking in and not taking in 15 seconds a length, but if it is split 2:07 short course 200 backstroker and full breaths. She was blowing air evenly, you add a 25 to that so you in her 100 backstroke I believe she out and then she was able to take in add 15 seconds and you get 2:15. was a 58 high or a 59 flat. By going a fuller breath of air which I think We feel like if you go 2 minutes in a 42.1,1 felt like that was a pretty big warded off fatigue a little bit better yard pool you are going about 2:15 improvement off of even her best 100 than when she was doing her breath- pace for long course or somewhere time. She was ready I thought at that ing so rapidly. I think particularly around there. That is kind of the con- point to go her best time. About two that helped her with her freestyle. So versions that we use. You can think weeks after that we did a set which it not only helped her breaststroke about that as you are looking at these is kind of the same. We did it the split and her breaststroke swimming, workouts that we did and you can same way where we would do an but I think in the IM it helped her kind of think about where her race 800 of just some general swimming come home on that last 50 a little bit pace is with that type of conversion. and then we would swim a pretty better. focused backstroke repeat. We would The object of this part of the talk is to start off with a 300 and work our We are now going to talk about show you how her training relates to way down. We would go 300 and some specific workouts and you can her race so we will be talking about then a 250, a 200 and then a 150. We flip over and you can look and see the sets, but we will be talking about are trying to make that 150 real fast that we have got some workouts the splits that she has done on her at the end, but we are also focusing there and they are all backstroke. I race as we talk about the sets. The on getting some pretty good speed made them all backstroke because I first set that I have indicated here is on the 300 as well. If they are going wanted to show you a progression in October of last year, about a year pretty fast on the 300, hopefully and the types of progressions that ago. You can see there that we did a their speed per length comes down we make with our stroke training at 900 of just some mixed up swimming as they go through the set. Then we NBAC. I wanted to give you a little and drilling and kicking, mainly with are looking for a real good one on bit of an insight as to how we think the backstroke stroke focus, although the end and you can see she is 1:29 about how the kids train. First off not all of it was backstroke. Then we on the end so now a couple of weeks you should know we train mostly in did a set of twelve 75's after that and later she is able to go 150 yards at a short course pool throughout the we went through that set four times. about 1:07.5 long course pace. So, year. I think that Katie trained prob- Each time we went through the she is progressing. She is able to just ably less than 15 times long course set, the amount of 75's that we did kind of hold that time for a little bit before she swam at Olympic Trials. decreased and the interval got a little longer. I will add that one of the moves that bit harder, but interval is never really we kind of didn't make was when an issue. The interval on all of these Moving on to the next workout we did get the option to swim a little sets is never an issue. I mainly in- which is eleven days later she made a bit more long course in the summer. dicated the interval to let you know pretty big jump where we did a set of It happened to be right about the that it is not an issue and it is not forty lOO's and the intervals kind of time when we were getting into the part of what we are trying to do in worked up. We worked every fourth phase of the season where we were terms of us not trying to crank the in- 100 backstroke on the first 16 and focusing on Olympic Trials. I think terval down real far. We want these then every third on the next 12 and long course training sometimes beats guys to swim fast and so whatever then every other on the next 8 and you down a little bit and so we made the interval is to make them swim the final four on 1:35 we went as fast sure that we didn't go too much long fast or to have them be able to swim as you an go. We are just trying to course. In fact, we did most of our fast, that is the interval we are going get a little bit of speed at the begin- long course training in April and to choose. You can see on that set ning of the set and then as the fatigue over Christmas. We have got to have she progressed. We are doing every grows we are trying to maintain that

32 American Swimming Magazine - 2009 Issue 3 speed as long as we can. So you can you add 16 to 2:08 you get a 2:24 so Actually, when we are doing a set see there that Katie is going 59's. She for me she is going a 225 yard swim like this, I ask them to go pretty fast went 59's on every one of them, on and she is going 2:24 so I am thinking by the second round of three rounds. the first twelve of them and then the she is about 1:12 pace per long course On that particular day Katie came last four when she is going them all hundred off of that. If you follow my down to 1:27.5 and 42.9 and she had in a row she averaged 1:01,1:01.4. conversion at the end of the 400 she about a minute and a half in between She was like 1:01.1,1:01.4,101.6, is fatigued. She is swimming real those two things. When you add 101.7, something like that. She did hard. She is going 1:12 pace and that those two things up, a 150 plus a 75 1200 yards that day under a minute is January 8 of 2004. Then you can you get 225. You add them up and I pace in the yard pool so she has gone see at the February Nationals she did think it is a 2:10.5. So now we are re- from being able to do 150 on Novem- a month later and was able to drop ally on 200 pace, long course pace. ber 1 last year to then being able to her split down to a 1:12.8. That split go 1200 yards. That is a pretty signif- was trained. She did it in practice. About a month, well less than a icant improvement in less than two It happened in practice and then she month later, about three weeks later, weeks. At that point in time I started did it in a race. She was able to do we did a set that I really like to do. getting pretty excited again about the fly a little bit easier at that point Katie finds that she does pretty well her progression. What can she do at in time. She was focused and had at it, but she doesn't like to do it the end of the season? I am thinking confidence in her backstroke and she quite as much as I like watching it. if she is already doing this and if she did it. I think her time progression She does a 200, then a 400 and a 600 is making these kinds of gains then in backstroke at first had a lot to do and then an 800. The focus is on the things are looking pretty bright. with her technical changes that she 800 being real fast. We are trying to made and then I think after the US go pretty hard on the first round. I Moving on, the next thing that I have Open in December I think that she shouldn't say pretty hard, we are indicated was our Christmas meet kept her technique changes real good trying to go pretty fast on the first that we have at NBAC in Decem- and she was able to progress with round and then we are trying to get ber. She swam a 200 back. She went her training as you see here. faster on the second round. The 400 2 minutes and her second 200 or is supposed to be pretty good as second 100 of her 200 was a 1:01.4. The following month after Nation- well, although that is sort of not quite You can see there that she trained als we swam in our short course as good as the 800. You can see, she that pace. A couple of weeks before championship meet in Maryland and came down to 8:26 and she came when she is going four in a row and that was when she went 4:08.4. That back in a 4:10.9 on that so now she is she is really hurting a lot and she is was a NAG record at that point in splitting under 1:02 for that final400 . trying her best just to maintain her time by a few seconds. On that she She is just taking her splits to an- time she is averaging l:01's on this split 1:02.1, so there you go again other level. She continues with that final four lOO's. She is able to come with her splits popping up. She is progression on the next workout on back a few weeks later and she is pretty much hitting it right on the June 7th. which is a month out of Tri- there on her second 100 of her 200 money. She is easily programmed. als. You can see, she is going a 57.8, a so it wasn't like she just kind of did She does the times in practice and 2:00.5 and a 3:03 in the same workout it magically. She trained it, just like then she does them in the race. I felt for backstroke. I think that is pretty she trains everything else that she like she started training real well good backstroke swimming. has done this year. She has trained after that meet. When we got into it: to happen. The next is in Janu- April you can see on the next set she The next workout is short course me- ary. We did a 400 backstroke and has made quite a bit of progression. ters. I threw that in there just to give that 400 followed a set where we did The same kind of set happened on you an indication about what we did two rounds of a 200 which was just April 14 that we had done earlier in as we got closer to Trials. You know, general aerobic swimming, just kind the season where we just did some it is a little bit of a softer workout. of some mixed up stuff with a little mixed up swimming. We did some She is not having to swim quite as bit of backstroke emphasis. just different strokes and a little bit hard for as long, but she is hitting of drilling and we would go three those paces swimming short course We came down and we did a 400 rounds of a set where you do 150 fast meters times. They do not really time trial at the end and I wanted her backstroke, take a hundred IM drill correlate to the rest of the page, but to split it a little bit better, but she which is pretty moderate and then you can figure it out. She is going was still trying to get better at that. pop a fast 75. The times are supposed pretty good on those too. She does She wasn't quite there yet and so she to come down for each round. The a great job at relating her workout went 4:11 and she went 2:07.6 at the time for the 75 is going to be faster times to her splits. It is a big deal end of that. I would like to note that than the 150 just because it is half the for us at NBAC to do those times at I jam going to round up to 2:08 right distance. Most kids are just going to practice. She has done a lot of her there and I would like to note that go faster on the 75 so I asked the kids that is about 16 seconds per length. If to go pretty fast on that final 150. continued on page 34

www.swimmingcoach.org 33 continued from page 33 The Development of National 400 IM Champ Katie Hoff best times right in practice. I know and IM. We try to get better at all the The last thing I will leave you with for older kids it tends to be a little bit strokes. is I think it is real important to keep tougher to get them to do that, but I your eye on the prize. When Katie think for younger girls, for girls that We do more stroke training like you made her improvement from 4:50 to are Katie's age, they can swim those see here on the sheet than we do IM 4:42 in February, I think the tendency times in practice if you ask them to training. We do more backstroke was for us to kind of relax and say do it. She has been 1:48 in practice and breaststroke and freestyle days, well, that's pretty good. She will for the 200 freestyle. She has been 2 butterfly days than we do IM days. probably make the Olympic Team minutes, as you see, in 200 back. She I think if you focus too much on just doing that. She would have made it has pushed a 2:12 breaststroke and trying to do a lot of IM's then you in 2000 with a 4:42 and I think that she has pushed a 1:27,150 yard fly are not going to get quite as much of most people say well you taper and which are right on about where she an improvement as you are going to you shave and you go real fast and has been for her short course routine get if you are focusing on getting the then you know. Your next meet you or for her short course races when times for each particular 200 of the do not have to go that fast because we race real hard. stroke. If you add up Katie's times then you will taper and you will in August of last year for long course shave and you will go even faster. I have a formula that I would like swimming they were 2:21 fly, 2:24 Maybe if you have a 20 year old guy to share with you that I think about back, 2:34 breast and 2:07 long course then you can kind of work like that for 400 IM training and I use this free. You add those up and you get and you can think like that, but I formula with my kids and I think a 9:26, half it and you get 4:43. You think that with teenaged girls and that it works for kids that are high then add 7 and you get her 4:50. Her teenaged guys too, you have got to school age. I am not sure it works fimes now are 2:12, 2:16, 2:31 and keep your eye on the prize and keep for kids that are older quite as well 2:02. You add those up and you get moving forward. We were not satis- as it works for kids that are younger 9:01, half it and you get 4:30. You fied with a 4:42. We tried to keep it because I think that this formula add 7 and you get 4:37. It works just moving and we definitely wanted to has a lot to do with how well they like that with Katie and it works just be faster than that, not only at Trials, swim aerobically, but the formula like that with a lot of the kids that I but the very next time she swam the is this. You take a kid, you can try am coaching right now. I think it is race. I think it is important to keep it with your swimmers and see if it a pretty neat formula and it is really that motivational thing going with works. You take their best time for motivational for the kids if you can your kids and it is hard to do, but I their 200 fly, the 200 back, the 200 sell them on it to get their weak- think it is our job as coaches to push breast and their 200 free and you add nesses better. them forward and to ask them to do them up and you get an 800 time and that. Otherwise, they might not do it. then you take that 800 time and you I think another thing that is interest- I will leave you with that. divide it so you get a number that ing to note is Katie's times in the is like a 4 something or if they are 200 breaststroke. Her time in the real fast a 3 something and then you 200 breaststroke came down three Questions. add 7-10 seconds to that number and seconds this year in the long course The question was, "While that should be about your 400 IM pool. In the 400 IM her split for the Katie was doing these time. The reason this formula works 100 breaststroke split improved over for me is when I look at a kid com- backstroke sets, what are 4 and a half seconds. I don't know the rest of the kids in the ing into our program, let's say they what the heck is going on with that are a new swimmer, I am looking but I do know that it is interesting. training group doing? Are for what their weaknesses are and She is a lot faster swimming that they doing backstroke too or I am trying to get their weaknesses breaststroke right now in the middle is it just because it is Katie's better. There are a lot of us I think of that IM. I also think that it is inter- that have kids that are great flyers, weakest stroke that we are esting to note that her butterfly has doing that?" backstrokers and freestylers that can- improved from a 2:21 to a 2:12. Now We tend to work on each particular not swim breaststroke. If you do this she is in a position to race some of stroke at least once a week so we are formula, the breaststroke time is so the best swimmers in the country in hitting backstroke with everybody slow that it really throws it off. If you that race, but her butterfly split time on that particular day. Then we are can get that breaststroke time down in the IM has only come down .6 of probably going to finish it with some and plug that into your formula then a second. That really shows you that breaststroke kicking and maybe do those kids are going to be a heck of a she can swim that swim a lot easier breaststroke later on in the week lot faster at their 400 IM. I also like than she did a year ago and it has re- with everybody. that formula in training for the 400 ally helped the rest of her race. IM. We don't focus just on training Okay, thanks a lot. •

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