SPECIAL SETS: TRAINING KAYLA WILSON

TRAINING Kayla Wilson

Coach Richard Hunter of TIDE Swimming in Virginia Beach, Va. discusses goals and workouts for one of his top swimmers, Kayla Wilson, a rising senior at Norfolk Academy who recently committed to Stanford for fall 2022.

BY MICHAEL J. STOTT

Seventeen-year-old Kayla Wilson shares some swimming genes. Her brother, Will, was a multi-time Virginia Independent School champion. Mom, Katy Arris, was a USA Swimming national team member, NCAA 1650 yard freestyle champion and 17-time All-American at the University of Texas.

Kayla herself has compiled an impressive résumé since beginning a competitive aquatic career at age 5. Currently she is a six-time VISAA and six-time Virginia LSC state champion. Her home club is TIDE Swimming, where she has trained with Richard Hunter and the team’s national group since joining as a freshman in 2018. Following is a snapshot of her improvement in best times:

“As an age group swimmer, we saw a lot of upside with Kayla,” says Hunter. “She was very coachable, had a tendency to swim big and loved to race, especially when it mattered most. She is also one of the most competitive athletes I have ever coached. She has a quiet demeanor and is generally fairly stoic, but she hates losing. She is an athlete who wants the responsibility to anchor every relay.

“When she joined the national group, my job was to improve her in-season racing and give her confidence to perform in practice. Kayla was not bad at practice, but she raced better than she practiced, and had labeled herself as a ‘meet swimmer,’” he says.

EVENT

50 Free

100 Free Best Times through 2017-18 Season Current Best Times

SCY LC SCY LC

24.06 26.94 23.03 25.91

51.29 58.57 49.30 55.68

200 Free

1:49.74

500/400 Free 4:58.46

100 Back

1:03.26

200 Back

2:05.22 2:04.55

4:39.28

1:09

2:30.72 1:44.90

4:47.37 1:59.54

4:23.15

55.28 1:02.76

1:58.05 Unrested THE PLAN

“I set four main goals for her:

“First, I gave her measurable data points so she could monitor improvement outside of competition. She had to learn to train different energy systems and get faster within a given energy system. Kayla had a black-and-white mentality of “I am either going fast or slow” when it came to training.

“We use beats below max (BBM) when asking the athletes to measure heart rate. This gives them training zones that are relevant to them and their individual max heart rates as opposed to just asking everyone to be at a specific heart rate, i.e. 150.

“As an example, Kayla’s max heart rate on a 10-second count is 34 (204/1:00). For our purposes, we use 30BBM as a threshold training zone. Her heart rate in that range is 29 beats in 10 seconds (174/1:00). We use a 10-second count so swimmers can get a quick snapshot of their heart rates during a set rather than waiting a full minute on the wall. So the priority was to get her to go faster in practice, swim more efficiently and increase her training capacity in order to hold a faster time without requiring her to go anaerobic.

“When Kayla started at age 14, she would average roughly 1:091:10 per 100 on a threshold set. She currently is anywhere from :591:01, depending on the day and phase of our training. * * *

“Second, I tried to get her to believe in herself in any setting (in-season/champs season, practice/race, etc.). During her freshman year, she struggled adjusting to what was being asked of her each day—not from a volume standpoint, but from an intensity and recovery perspective.

“She felt run down, and was comparing herself with her teammates, many of whom had been training with me for two years. She also had a very narrow scope in terms of what a successful practice looked like.

“For any athlete who is struggling, there is tremendous value

>> Kayla Wilson and Richard Hunter in the snow at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs

in giving them opportunities to figure things out for themselves,” Hunter says. “I look for opportunities to meet an athlete ‘where they are that day.’ For Kayla, at times that meant adjusting the set to ask her to be really good on a few repeats instead of doing the set exactly as written.

“She has come a long way in her approach to training. She is extremely consistent, and while we still adjust aspects of practices, they are based much more on mutual observation and feedback versus her thinking she needs specific things in order to be successful,” he says.

* * * “Third, I put her in unfamiliar and uncomfortable scenarios where she could legitimately fail. This may seem counter to the No. 2 goal, but it actually supports it. I wanted to take her to higher-level competitions than previously. In December of 2018, we attended Winter Juniors rather than an alternative competition where we knew she would make it back in all her events. The second meet would likely have been faster for her, but with fewer growth opportunities. At juniors, her highest individual finish was 48th, where she did not record any time drops.

“While she struggled there, exposing her to the next level was a net positive. She came out of the meet extremely focused and ready to implement daily adjustments. In December, her SCY 200 free was a 1:50.5, and in February at her high school championships, she went a 1:47.2, achieving her first Summer Junior Nationals cut. Later she attended Summer Juniors, finished fifth in the 200 free and achieved her first Olympic Trials cut.

“Fourth, I opened up her repertoire to be competitive in the 500 free, 100 and 200 back in addition to already strong 50-100-200 freestyles to ensure she was not just swimming freestyle in practice.

“I believe in developing an athlete to move through the water in multiple ways. For Kayla, we factored that her stroke naturally inclined toward middle distance. Interestingly, her biggest improvement has come in the 100 backstroke, which has enhanced her sprint freestyle by fostering a more connected catch at a higher stroke rate.

“In her first year, we focused much more on her middle distance free and backstroke and some IM. In the second year, we started focusing a little bit more on her sprints and dedicated more time to backstroke. This year we are practicing faster and competing more frequently in a wider range of freestyle events,” he says. * * *

Hunter and Wilson have also discussed the following goals over the last three years: • Summer Juniors cut...check! • Final at Juniors...check (fifth in 200 meter free, 2:01.34)! • Olympic Trials cut in the 200 free...check! • Wave 2 Trials cut in the 200 free...check! • National Junior Team member

“We also talked about her competing at Canadian Olympic Trials since she has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Canada, but that has been challenging based on all of the changes due to COVID restrictions,” says Hunter.

TRAINING CYCLES

“At TIDE, we break our year into three macrocycles, with each further broken down into three to four mesocycles. We run each week on a three-day microcycle. Very generally, each macrocycle culminates with a championship-type meet, where we can evaluate and measure performance in order to make adjustments for the next cycle. Normally, we repeat the following cycle two times per week: Day 1-threshold, Day 2-active rest, Day 3-quality/anaerobic work. The amount of time spent in any system fluctuates based on the mesocycle.

“Our practice schedule is: • Monday-Friday: 3:30-4:05 p.m. dryland, 4:15-6:15 p.m. swim • Wednesday: 5-6:30 a.m. swim • Saturday: 7-9 a.m. swim • One weight session per week for each athlete.”

SAMPLE SETS

The bulk of TIDE swimming this year has been done short course based on capacity and distancing guidelines. Wilson did the following set twice in April to work on Kayla’s 500-400. Both times the set was done at the end of practice upon completion of a main set: • 5 x 100 @ 1:15 @ 500 Pace (57.0 for Kayla)

“If she missed one, then the next repeat was a 75 instead of a 100, but still at her 500 pace,” says Hunter. “For a 75, she would need to hit 42.7. If she made it, she would go back up to a 100; if she missed, she would go down to a 50. The goal of the set is to hit as close to 500 yards @ 500 pace.

“The first time we completed the set, we did it on 1:20 per repeat, and Kayla did a 100-75-50-75-50 for a total of 350 yards. The second time, we dropped the interval down to 1:15, and she completed a 450, going a 100-100-75-75-100. I like the set because it is a different approach to pace and allows the athletes to find a way back to pace if they are struggling initially. It is something we can fit in, given that it takes less than seven minutes. So far, I have always used it as an add-on after the main work has already been completed—kind of an ‘after-burner’ set.” * * *

“The next set was done in mid-March as we were coming off of our Senior Champs meet and starting to get ready for our April LC Spring Showcase meet. Both meets were prelims-finals and suited, so the goal was to go fast twice within about a month:

6 Rounds:

• 3 x 50 @ :50/1:00/:50 #1 @ 26.0 from push #2 @ 26.5 from push #3 @ 25.5 from dive

“We had roughly 300 yards of set-up swimming after each round, which included some kicking. The first 50 was at each athlete’s 200 pace, the second gave a half-second buffer, and the third had to be a half-second faster from a dive. Kayla’s averages were: #1 25.8, #2 26.2, #3 24.7. Her fastest repeat was a 24.4 from a dive, and her slowest was a 26.5 from a push.”

“The following mid-January set was done as we were shifting toward more speed work after a few weeks of heavy training. It has a lot of active recovery with one focus repeat per round:

6 Rounds:

• 5 x 100 @ 1:40 * 1 x 100 per round = ALL-OUT from dive (within :03 of best 100 = 5 pts, :04 = 4 pts, :05 = 3 pts, etc.)

“Each athlete’s point total at the end of the set determined what their next set would be. More points equaled an easier set, fewer points equaled a harder set. Kayla’s best time is 49.30. Her times were: 51.8-52.1-52.6-52.2-52.4-52.2.

“Most recently, there were two practice swims that convinced me she was well positioned going into the May Indy Pro Series meet, where she broke 2:00 (1:59.54) for the first time in the 200 meter free.

“The first was a get-out swim in which Kayla raced Stanford commit Samantha Tadder. Kayla did a 100 back while Sam did a 100 fly. If Kayla won, half the group got out; if Sam won, the other half of the group got out.

“Their times from a push were 56.6 for Kayla and 56.7 for Sam. The second was after a 7,000-yard practice with a threshold focus. I like having them go fast after threshold work to see if they can still generate some pop when they are tired. Kayla went a 100 free from the blocks and hit 51.9 to end practice. Pretty impressive,” says Hunter.v

>> TIDE Swimming coach Richard Hunter set four main goals for Kayla: “I gave her measurable data points so she could monitor improvement outside of competition...I tried to get her to believe in herself in any setting...I put her in unfamiliar and uncomfortable scenarios where she could legitimately fail...and I opened up her repertoire to be competitive in the 500 free, 100 and 200 back in addition to already strong 50-100-200 freestyles.”

Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” was published in June 2021, and is available from Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.