A Case Study on the Development of a High-Intensity Interval Training Set for a National-Level Middle-Distance Swimmer: The Conception of the Faster-than-Race Pace Test Set.

Background: Swimming coaches search for the most efficient training approach and stimuli for swimmers' improvement. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a well-established training approach used by coaches to accelerate swimmers' improvement. A HIIT variation, which has lately been discussed by many coaches about its possible effectiveness on performance, is Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USRPT). The present case study aimed to examine the effect of a faster-than-race pace test set (FRPtS) on the performance of a middle-distance (MD) swimmer at the freestyle events. Methods: This case study included a 21-year-old national-level MD swimmer with 16 years of swimming experience. The swimmer followed 11 weeks of FRPtS sets in a 17-week training intervention. The FRPtS sets were repeated two to three times per week, the volume ranged from 200 m to 1200 m, and the distances that were used were 25 m, 50 m, and 100 m at a faster pace than the 400 m. Descriptive statistics were implemented, recording the average with standard deviation (number in parentheses), the sum, and the percentages (%). Results: According to the results, the swimmer improved his personal best (PB) and season best (SB) performance in the events of 200 m and 400 m freestyle. Specifically, the improvement from his PB performance was 2.9% (-3.49 s) and 1.0% (-2.55 s), whereas in his SB performance it was 2.9% (-3.53 s) and 4.4% (-11.43 s) for the 200 and 400 m freestyle, respectively. Conclusions: Concluding, FRPtS is assumed to have beneficial effects on the swimming performance of MD events. However, further crossover or parallel studies on different swimming events with more participants and biomarkers must be conducted to clarify the effects of that kind of training on swimming performance.