Swimflowstate

You know a practice is bad when you actually remember it.

I can’t even remember what I did in the pool last week, but there are a few practices that will forever be etched in my memory. It’s always a blessing every time we get to get into the pool, but there are those practices that feel like they may have taken a few years off your life—just kidding.

You know a practice is bad when, after you complete it, there’s a feeling you’ve never felt before—almost as if you unlocked a new emotion. It’s honestly a beautiful feeling: completing something so challenging that it leaves you grateful.

I want to go over the three hardest practices I’ve ever done in my swim career. Everybody probably has a top three. If not, it’s always entertaining hearing what others have gone through.

1. The 75s – Primary Stroke Pain

The first practice was a primary stroke set.

The coach turned around the whiteboard, and all we saw was:
? × 75

The 75s were all primary stroke—at the time, for me, that was butterfly. Every single one was best effort, all-out, from a push, on an interval.

We did them in groups of three, and after every set of three, the interval would change—sometimes going up, sometimes going down. The worst part? We had no idea how many we were doing.

We ended up doing 33 × 75 all-out butterfly.

That set disciplined me a lot. As brutal as it was, it played a huge role in improving my butterfly.

2. “Killing Lions”

The second practice on my list is a set called “Killing Lions.”

If a set has a name, you’re probably in trouble.

Here’s how it worked:
Everything was freestyle, and everything was from the blocks.

• 300s from the blocks until the coach was satisfied
• Then 250s from the blocks
• Then 200s
• Then 150s
• Then 100s
• Then 50s

And the cherry on top:

• 25s of fly from the blocks, alternating ends with a running start

This set puts you in a different state of mind. To finish something like this, you have to reach a place mentally that you don’t normally access. And that’s what makes it so valuable.

You learn that you can overcome something that looks impossible at the start—and actually finish it. That’s a powerful feeling.

The coolest part about sets like this is what happens after. Once you’ve done something this hard, everything else feels smaller. You start thinking:

“I just did all that… and now I’m worried about a 200 at a meet?”

It completely shifts your mindset.

3. 30 × 100 All-Out

The last practice on my list is 30 × 100s all-out.

I don’t remember the exact interval, but it was just enough to go all-out every time—but not enough to fully recover. Every single 100 was race effort from a push.

I had done 20 × 100s all-out before, but this was different.

Something about those last 10…

Usually, in sets, when you get close to the end, you feel better. You push harder because you know you’re almost done.

Not this time.

After 20, knowing you had 10 more—each one just as hard as the last—it didn’t get easier. It got harder. Every single one hurt more and more.

That’s a rare feeling.

Final Thoughts

Difficult practices are a blessing.

As I get closer to the end of my competitive swimming career, I actually hope for more practices like this. I want more sets that can go on this list. I want to see what I can push my body and mind to do—and how fast I can become.

So whenever you’re faced with a difficult practice—something that looks overwhelming from the start—understand how important it is. These are the moments that build mental discipline.

Think about how much better you’re going to be because of it.

You’ll learn to embrace the pain.

And hopefully, you’ll learn to love it.