Sprint Triathlon Taper Swim: 2000m Easy Drills Session

Session Overview

This 45-minute taper swim is designed for the week before your sprint triathlon, keeping your feel for the water sharp while letting your body arrive race-ready. You’ll cover 2000m with a blend of technique drills and short race-pace bursts to prime your nervous system without adding fatigue.

What You’ll Need

• Pool access (25m or 50m)
• Pull buoy (optional)
• Swim fins (optional, for drill work)

Warm-Up (15 minutes — 500m)

Start with 200m easy freestyle at RPE 3, focusing on long smooth strokes and bilateral breathing every 3 strokes. Follow with 4 x 25m drill sets: fingertip drag, catch-up drill, zipper drill, front balance drill (15 seconds rest between each). Finish the warm-up with 2 x 100m at easy-moderate effort, RPE 4.

Main Set

The main set is deliberately short — this is a taper session, not a fitness builder. Aim for smooth, confident swimming at race pace on the sprint efforts. Total main set: 1100m.

• 4 x 100m at CSS pace — 20 seconds rest between reps
• 4 x 50m at sprint triathlon race pace (RPE 7–8) — 30 seconds rest between reps
• 4 x 25m fast — last 5m push hard — 20 seconds rest between reps
• 200m easy pull buoy, focusing on high elbow catch

Cool-Down (10 minutes — 400m)

Swim 400m easy, alternating 100m freestyle with 100m backstroke or breaststroke. Keep effort at RPE 2 and let your heart rate return to normal. Use this time to visualise a clean, confident race-day swim exit.

Coaching Notes

• On the CSS 100s, think “controlled fast” — purposeful but not flat out. You should finish each rep feeling like you could do another.
• The 50m race-pace bursts are about activating fast-twitch muscle memory. RPE 7–8 means quick but not all-out sprint.
• If you’re feeling sluggish, shorten the main set to 2 x 100m CSS and 4 x 50m. Better to undershoot a taper swim than overdone it.
• This session should leave you feeling sharp and confident, not drained. If you finish feeling heavy, you went too hard.