LONG TERM

ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT
A GUIDE FOR THE
SCOTTISH BORDERS
SWIMMING COMMUNITY
By Alex Jordan, Borders Performance Swimming Coach

BORDERS ELITE SWIM TEAM

swim
www.bslt.org.uk

Borders Sport and Leisure Trust Registered Charity No. SCO34227

INTRODUCTION
This educational document has been produced with
one major goal in mind... to explain the importance
of increased training frequency to convince Borders
swimmers to train more often. As Borders Performance
Swimming Coach it is my remit to provide help
and advice to clubs and their members with a view
to improving the competitive standard of Borders
swimmers.
The British Swimming Long Term Athlete Development
Framework sets out guidelines for the work swimmers
are required to do to eventually become capable, senior
athletes. This includes guidelines on training volumes and
frequencies as well as the various activities that should
be performed at critical periods throughout a swimmers
development. Long Term Athlete Development
(LTAD) models also provide a training guide to help
prevent: interference with growth and normal physical,
psychological and emotional development; overtraining
and undertraining; injury; over-competing; and underperformance in the short, and especially, long term. Long
term planning is so important for the competitive future
of athletes that there are now very few national governing
bodies of sport throughout the world without an LTAD
model in place.
The LTAD approach was designed to help prepare
athletes to reach elite levels, but is equally valid for a
healthy lifelong participation in sport. Youngsters must
be adequately prepared for a life in sport (many people
enjoy working hard to improve, even without aspirations
to be elite performers). Children may play in school teams
but, in adulthood, many discover new pursuits to better
fit their lifestyles. The commonality is that sport lovers
should have the confidence and skills to move between
sports. LTAD provides a model to work from. *

Some athletes decide to focus on one sport later in their

development, having tried a range of sports previously.
It is important that, through participating in a range of
sports, an athlete has established an adequate training
background allowing them to focus on elite level
performance in their eventual sport of choice.
There are always exceptions to the rule with late-comers
to a given sport experiencing success at the elite, senior
level. However, such cases are few and far between. To
gain the best chance of eventually achieving their goals
at the elite level, athletes must have an adequate training
background.
In short, if a swimmer has serious aspirations of
developing into an elite level competitor over the
long term, and many children do dream of eventually
competing at the Olympic Games, it is important that:
a)

b)

They are aware of the work they are required

to do from a young age to achieve this, and
They are prepared to do what it takes to
achieve this.

The BEST Performance Squad, in conjunction with a

number of local Borders swimming clubs, is working
hard to ensure there are adequate training opportunities
available in the Borders to cater for swimmers who are
prepared to put in the work required to ultimately swim
at the elite level.

- Alex Jordan, Borders Performance Swimming Coach

* Long Term Athlete Development Model - Worcester City Council

TRAINING FREQUENCIES & VOLUMES

The table below displays training frequencies and durations for the four group levels that a number of Borders clubs
implemented with the advent of the Borders Performance Development Programme in June 2008. These levels and
recommendations are aligned to the British Swimming Long Term Athlete Development model.

It is quite obvious to coaches when a swimmer must be moved down a level due to their stage of development &/
or standard of performance. However, the decision to move a swimmer up a level should not be taken lightly and the
serious consideration of a number of factors is required.
Clubs with swimmers training more frequently and
completing higher volumes, within recommended
ranges, will almost always produce more
competitive swimmers over the long term. This
seems obvious but there are still many swimmers
with competitive aspirations who do not complete
enough training. There simply is no substitute for
hard work and commitment.
LEVEL ONE
Meeting recommended training frequencies, and the
development of technique and skills in a fun environment,
takes precedence over workload in this group level.
The LTAD model recommends that children in Level One
participate in general sport activities five to six times
per week. This should include land work and multisport activity. Put simply, participation in a wide range of
sporting activities is recommended in order for children to
develop a wide range of skills and abilities for the future.
From the suggested five to six general sport sessions
it is recommended that Borders swimmers complete
three of those sessions in the pool. One of the reasons
for recommending a higher proportion of swimming over
other sports is that a greater proportion of time is

required (in the water) to comprehensively develop swim

specific skills compared to that required for developing
land-based skills.
LEVEL TWO
Coaches should prescribe the correct volumes and activities
for their swimmers according to their chronological &/or
biological age if the swimmer is also capable of becoming
more competitive on this amount work this is a bonus.
Parents and swimmers must focus on the process rather
than the result. However, few children will continue with
their sport if they are not experiencing some competitive
success at all stages. Pre-pubertal swimmers race with
speed through well-developed aerobic/endurance systems.
Therefore adequate training volumes are essential for this
group level.
Level 2 swimmers should be aiming at 8,000m 16,000m/week. Therefore if a Level 2 swimmer is
attending the recommended 4 sessions per week they
should be completing a minimum of 2,000m per session.
Swimmers will need sessions of up to 1.5 hours to
complete these volumes. This should be occurring over
44 to 48 weeks of the year.

LEVELS THREE A, B & FOUR

At the beginning of Level 3A swimmers should be
completing 24,000m - 32,000m/week. Therefore if a
Level 3A swimmer is attending the recommended 6
sessions per week they should be completing a minimum
of 4000m per session. Swimmers will need sessions of
up to 2 hours to complete these volumes. This should be
occurring over approximately 48 weeks of the year.
By the end of Level 3B the swimmers should be aiming
at 44,000km 52,000m/week. Therefore if a Level 3B
swimmer is attending the recommended 8 sessions
per week they should be completing a minimum of
5,500m per session. Swimmers will need sessions of up
to 2 hours to complete these volumes. This should be
occurring over 48 weeks of the year.
Level 4 swimmers should be doing similar or slightly higher
volumes to Level 3B swimmers each session, but should be
aiming to train over ten sessions per week. Swimmers will
need sessions of up to 2 hours to complete these volumes.
This should be occurring over 48 weeks of the year.
WHY DO SWIMMERS NEED TO TRAIN SO MUCH?
Its common knowledge that participants of many
team sports can often perform at the national level on
just two or three training sessions per week. This is
certainly not the case for swimmers the norm for high
school-aged swimmers in Australia and the U.S.A. is
10 two hour pool sessions per week plus additional
land training activities. So why do swimmers train so
much?
Adaptation to the Medium of Water and Swimming
Activity The more often a human swims the more
quickly and effectively their body and senses adapt to
water, and the activity of swimming. An example of an
adaptation to water is the increased feel swimmers
often develop for reducing drag and for manipulating
the water for maximum propulsion. An example of an
adaptation to swimming specific activity is an increase
in general size and strength of the upper body while the
legs of swimmers remain generally quite underdeveloped
in comparison. As land-based animals, water is not
the natural environment of humans. Therefore, to
facilitate greater adaptation to the water for increased
performance, young humans should swim often while
growing and developing. This is why it is so important for
young swimmers to be in the water frequently, rather than
less often but for longer periods. For example, four 1.5
hour training sessions per week are more beneficial than
two 3 hour sessions per week.

Development of Feel, Depth Perception & Spatial

Awareness Swimmers who train more often tend
to develop a greater feel for the water, an increased
perception of the depth of their body after starts and
turns, and improved spatial awareness in the water...
which, for example, is useful for a swimmer in knowing
how far from the wall they should prepare for a turn or
finish. These intuitive qualities, which collectively could
be referred to as the art of swimming, are developed
to a greater degree the more frequently swimmers train,
particularly while still growing and developing.
Establishing Automatic Movement Patterns Through
Repetition As for all sports, repetition of
movement establishes habitual movement
patterns. Once the neuromuscular
system has been exposed
to sufficient repetition of a
particular movement pattern,
desirable techniques and
skills can be performed
more easily and
automatically.
Creating a Foundation
Within both an entire
swimming career and
a single preparation/
season, swimmers must
establish an aerobic and
technical foundation, through
completing significant training
volumes, on which to develop
all components of fitness more
comprehensively.
Recovery Active recovery from significant workloads is
generally accepted as being more effective than passive
recovery (i.e. remaining idle). The need for active recovery
subsequently leads to a requirement for additional
training sessions.
Windows of Opportunity There are critical periods,
during a humans development, of optimal trainability for
various components of fitness. These critical periods are
often referred to as windows of opportunity. It is generally
accepted by sports scientists and coaches that if the
development of a component of fitness is neglected
during its window of opportunity, the athlete will never
develop that component to its optimum, no matter how
much time and effort is spent on trying to develop it later.
It is essential that enough time is spent training relevant
components of fitness during critical periods.

Pathway By training adequately when young, Borders

swimmers can be developed within the clubs along a
pathway focused on providing them with the skills and
abilities to eventually move into the BEST Performance
Squad and beyond. Learn to Swim4Club Training4Club
Training + BEST Performance Squad + Athlete Support
Programme4Club Training + BEST Performance Squad
+ Scottish Institute of Sport
Because they Can Swimming is a weight-supported,
low impact sport which allows the body to absorb a
higher frequency and volume of training compared
to other sports. Over time, this has led competitive
swimmers to progressively increase the amount of
training they complete in order to gain an edge over their
rivals.

RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES &

WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY

There are periods during an athletes growth and
development where certain skills and abilities can be
trained more easily and to a greater degree than during
other periods. Sports scientists and coaches agree that
if these windows of opportunity are neglected during a
swimmers development, the swimmer will never develop
the corresponding components of fitness to
their maximum potential... no matter how
hard they work at it in the future. For
example, if an athlete completes
a large proportion of aerobic/
distance training after the
window of optimal trainability
for aerobic capacity, they will
improve their endurance, but
never to the extent that could
have been possible.
Swimmers performing less
than the recommended volume

of training as outlined in the British Swimming LTAD

Framework risk not only under-training, but are also likely
to neglect performing activities that develop the targeted
elements of the various windows of opportunity during
their optimal stage of development.
Conversely, swimmers performing over-advanced
and inappropriate activities for their developmental
age, or completing greater volumes of training than
recommended in the LTAD Framework, risk not only
over-training, but also risk performing activities that do
not correspond with critical periods.

COMPETITION

Overemphasising competition in the early phases of
training will always cause shortcomings in athletic abilities
later in an athletes career I Balyi and A Hamilton.
Dr Istvan Balyi, quoted above, is considered by many to
be the worlds leading expert on LTAD and all/most of
the content in the British Swimming LTAD Framework is
supported by his work. Dr Balyi warns that the biggest
negative impact on performance is over competing.
British Swimmings former Performance Director, Bill
Sweetenham, stated that he believed British
swimmers raced too much and trained too
little. We must ensure this does not
occur here in the Borders. While
the situation in Britain may have
improved since Sweetenhams
tenure, some are of the opinion
that it can still do with much
improvement.

Competition is a good
servant but a poor master!

FOCUSSING ON THE PROCESS RATHER THAN THE RESULT

THE KEY TO FUTURE SPORTING SUCCESS!
It is not a coachs job to get age group and youth
swimmers racing as quickly as possible it is a coachs
job to get age group and youth swimmers racing as
quickly as possible whilst adhering to LTAD principles.
When a coach is following LTAD principles, and a
developing swimmer is achieving their full potential
under these circumstances, it must be understood that
these short term results, however un/competitive, are
adequate for the time being, while the swimmer also has
an increased likelihood of achieving their full potential as
a senior athlete in the future.
Parents (and swimmers) need to understand that
performance cannot be accurately assessed by times and
results achieved. Performance should be assessed by
determining how closely a swimmer follows their race plan
and how close they have gone to achieving their potential.
A swimmers body is not always capable of producing
PBs, even when a race plan is followed perfectly.
Remember that a PB is a result, not a process, and too
high an emphasis can be placed on the achievement
of PBs. The only thing swimmers are in control of in
producing their best possible result is getting the process
correct. Properly focussing on the process involves:
1)


2)


3)

Prior to competition the swimmers training

performances and lifestyle practices over the
long term;
On race day The quality of the swimmers pre
and post-race practices (e.g. hydration, refuelling, warm ups and warm downs etc); and
On race day the swimmers race performance
compared against their race plan and their
perceived potential.

A swimmers body will produce only the result it is

capable of on the day if these three points are adhered
to, and no amount of impatience or focussing on results
can alter this fact.
When parents (and swimmers) accept all of the above, a
considerable amount of pressure is removed. Coaches
are more likely to feel less pressure to get results and

consequently make more sensible decisions on the activities

they prescribe to their swimmers. Parents are more likely to
be content that their child is performing to their potential
which is all we can possibly expect of them. Most
importantly, swimmers are more likely to perform at their
optimum when they, and everybody around them, view their
performances with appropriate perspective.
Focussing on the process rather than the result will make
the sport more enjoyable for all parties, while also being
more likely to produce positive competitive results over
the long term.
The progression in figure 1 below identifies five stages of
long term athlete development. Note the emphasis on
the process/training comes earlier in the progression than
the focus on competing, while the emphasis on results/
winning comes even later still.

Parents and athletes should understand that a

swimmer cannot be expected to achieve more than
their full potential, but they should not be satisfied
with achieving anything less than their full potential
on the amount of training they have committed to.

Coaches and parents should not expect children

to perform training activities designed to achieve
short term results. Rather, coaches should be
planning training based on long term athlete
development principles. If the child is physically,
psychologically and emotionally ready to make
immediate improvements under these
circumstances it is a bonus in the short term.

There are so many factors affecting performance

that parents and swimmers should not compare
performances with those of other athletes.

Parents should focus on their childs efforts rather

than on PBs, winning or losing.

Parents should leave it up to their childs coach to

provide evaluation and feedback on performances.

Figure 1

Losing is not coming second. Its getting out of the water knowing you could have done better.
For myself, I have won every race Ive been in.

Ian Thorpe
If I am nothing without a gold medal, then I will be nothing with it.
Kirstie Marshall, aerial skier & multiple world cup medallist

PREMATURE STROKE/EVENT SPECIALISATION

As a general rule swimmers should not specialise in a
particular event or stroke until they are 16 years or over
(females)/18 years or older (males). Early specialisation
can lead to troublesome musculoskeletal imbalances.
In any case, an athletes main event cannot properly be
identified until they have fully matured anyway. Swimmers
benefit in many ways from performing all strokes and
distances during training and competition throughout
their development. Swimmers can also perform better or

worse than expected in a given event from year to year

due to on-going growth and development. It is important
that a swimmers competitive future is not jeopardised
by focussing on a particular stroke/event when younger
while neglecting the development of other strokes/events
which may suit them more in the future. Neglecting the
development of these events early in ones career will
leave swimmers ill-equipped to tackle them later in their
career when they may be better suited to these events.

Comparison between Early Specialisation versus General Development (Harre, 1982), DDR.

RESPONSIBILITY & INDEPENDENCE

Independence and the ability to accept responsibility are
essential life skills for everyone. Not only does possessing
these skills assist a swimmer to excel in and out of the
pool, but sport is a great means for developing these
skills in general. Parents should support coaches in

encouraging swimmers to take responsibility for their

performances and in being honest with themselves
about their efforts. Parents should support the coach in
encouraging swimmers to develop independence and
become self-regulating wherever appropriate.

THE BORDERS PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMME/BORDERS SWIMMING PROGRAMMES
The Borders Performance Development Programme
involves a partnership between Scottish Swimming,
Borders Sport and Leisure Trust and five local Borders
clubs. The five member clubs are Duns, Gala, Kelso,
Peebles and Teviotdale Amateur Swimming Clubs. Since
its inception in June 2008, the Borders Performance
Development Programme has provided its member
clubs with an opportunity to improve the services they
provide to their members by aiming to establish quality
club training programmes following long term athlete
development recommendations.
In late 2008, a number of Borders clubs went through a
standardisation process to ensure their squad levels were
in line with the various levels of the LTAD model.
Member clubs are striving to provide the best possible
training programmes to their members but many
clubs are limited due to a lack of resources. Clubs
often struggle to attract volunteer coaches and secure
additional pool time. The requirement of suitable lane
time often places an additional strain on club finances. All
swimming families are investing time and money in their
childrens swimming development. It therefore makes
sense for parents to ensure they help their clubs to thrive
and run efficiently so their children can get the most out
of the experience. Parents can help here by:

Assisting with club coaching;

Providing support to club coaches;

Training to become a swimming official;

Ensuring their children regularly take advantage of

pool time to ensure it is not taken away from the
club;
Assisting with club fundraising;
Becoming a member of the club committee;
Publicly supporting the committee and club

coaches; and
Expecting to pay good money in return for a quality

club training service.
If clubs are receiving enough assistance from parents and
volunteers, and can work to gain access to adequate
resources, the club then has an obligation to provide a
quality service to their members.
While many Borders clubs are striving to provide the
recommended amount of pool time to their Level One
and Level Two swimmers, it is difficult for clubs to
provide enough pool time for Level Three swimmers and
beyond. The BEST Performance Squad, an initiative of
the Borders Performance Development Programme,
was established in September 2008. This squad for
ambitious, committed Borders swimmers, was formed
to increase the amount of training available to eligible
Borders swimmers. Now, in conjunction with club training
programmes, the BEST Performance Squad provides
many Borders swimmers with the opportunity to meet
the recommended workloads outlined in the British
Swimming Long Term Athlete Development Framework.

SUMMARY
To increase their chances of long term competitive

success, swimmers should consistently complete

the training volumes recommended by British
Swimming;

Training takes priority over competition for young

athletes, and the frequency and results of
competition must be kept in perspective for the
successful future development of athletes;

Most Borders swimmers need to train more

frequently than they currently do to increase their
chances of long term competitive success;

In order for clubs to provide quality programmes,

meeting British Swimming recommendations, the full
support and involvement of Borders swimmers
parents is required;

It is essential that the training activities prescribed

by coaches at each stage of a swimmers
development comply with those recommended by
British Swimming;

The Borders Performance Development

Programme has educated its member clubs on
the training and competition frequencies, volumes
and activities recommended by British Swimming;

Swimmers not currently meeting recommendations

may still enjoy the many benefits offered by the sport
through their clubs. These swimmers could still forge
a highly competitive future for themselves by making
a full commitment later on. However, they should be
aware that the later they commit, the less likely it is
they will enjoy future competitive success;

The BEST Performance Squad, an initiative of the

Borders Performance Development Programme,
strictly observes British Swimming LTAD
recommendations.