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Mike Simpson has pretty extensive knowledge of the sport of swimming. With over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, including positions at 2 SEC power 5 schools, Simpson has helped build sprint programs from the ground up and has helped several swimmers make it to NCAAs which is the biggest stage in the college swimming world. Here is some valuable advice he has about recruiting, training, and more.

What is crucial for every elite sprinter to have?

Power. Learning how to be super efficient with your stroke but also being able to do it powerfully. [Olympic swimmer] Caleb Dressel's stroke technique doesn't look very pretty above water, but he is super powerful underwater. He's a really good kicker and unbelievably athletic. His vertical jump and the way he's able to get off the block is kind of freaky–for a swimmer. Not as freaky for a basketball player. Michael Andrew is similar, he is pretty athletic and has a lot of raw speed. If you look at the best male and female sprinters, they are powerful people. No exceptions on this.

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What type of sets are best for sprinters? (Dry land & Swim Sets)

For dry land: Anything that will help you get more powerful. So spend time in the weight room, and it can't be just fitness level, it's gotta be power based for sprinters. The other component on the dry land side, I think part of this has to do with when I grew up vs when you grew up. In school [currently], PE class is minimal at best. When I was in school, not only was PE a [legitimate] thing but there was the physical fitness test as well. So when kids came out of HS [back then], in some way they were more athletic. For a lot of kids these days, you have to compensate for that lack of athletic, explosive, flexibility, and  jumping ability. A lot of kids don't have the ability to jump, and that is essential for sprinters. You could be the fastest swimmer in the pool, but if you haven't mastered the jumping part of your dive, you aren't going to win. This is crucial for training at the elite level.

For swim sets: Working on top end speed. This will help your 50 freestyle and the front half of your 100 freestyle. You have to learn how to finish the 100, which is a different thing in my book. Working on sets without a breath will help with that. So for example; 2x25s with no breath and then a 50 all out pushing back end speed. The no breath part of the 25s will stimulate what you are going to feel like during your race.

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What are your favorite sets to give sprinters?

I love sets that involve all out speed. So 5x100s best average on 3:00 or 5x50s on 2:00. One of my new favorites is 14x25s on :30 all out with paddles broken up into sets of 2. After the first set of two you get 2:00 rest, and the amount of rest decreases 20 seconds each set of two. I like this set because it teaches swimmers to not save up at the beginning, we require them to do maximum effort from the start. The set isn't that difficult at the beginning, but by the last four 25s your body is really hurting. I also used to have my swimmers put on weight belts and swim several fast 25s, that was one of my favorite sets at my past school. Anything that involves using towers and racks as well. 

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Any lifting tips? How essential is lifting for sprinters? 

Lifting is very essential if you're going to get to an elite level, particularly after high school. Again, part of that goes back to athletic movements. I like Olympic lifts because they are athletic movements. A good example is the overhead press, there's an athletic component to it. It has an explosive element to it but also a timing and coordination aspect which I think directly relate to other things you do in sprinting, particularly with your start, that come into play.

Is sprint training different for men and women? Why or why not?

Yes. Some things that work for guys dont work for girls. When talking about physical makeup, if you think about it, girls by nature are not as powerful. Guys are naturally way more powerful- muscularly, their cardiovascular system is different, everything is bigger and more proficient. There are rare exceptions–some girls dont need to do as much, training similar to guys works for them. But most girl sprinters need to do more work than guys in practice. 

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What are your meet preparation tips for sprinters getting through dual and bigger meets?

It's important to practice doing whatever you're going to be swimming at meets over and over again because when you get to the meet you're gonna have to do that. At the bigger meets (midseason and conference) you're gonna have around 14 swims in the span of 3 days. If your body is not used to going fast that many times, it's not going to respond well at all. So much of preparation is teaching your body to have to repeat the performance over and over again. That's why doing a set like 5x50s on 2:00, holding your best average is beneficial. It's important to go fast on [set] 1 but also on 2, 3, 4, and 5. That is simulating what it's going to feel like when you get to the last relay at a dual meet, or the last relay at an invite meet, when you've already done 10-14 swims over the course of the weekend. At the end your body is not feeling fresh, so being prepared to swim through that is important. 

The other part is mentally being confident in yourself, knowing you will be able to get through the repetition. When you do stuff in practice that gives you the confidence to know that you can perform well in meets, you'll know that you have trained yourself properly.

What does a taper look like for bigger meets?

I've come to learn there's a lot of ways to taper people. It's different for girls and guys–girls don't need as much rest and typically need to do more going into the meet. They need to stay in a rhythm more. A lot of guys aren't doing much by the end, depending on their physical development. More physically-developed guys need more rest. 

It's a gradual coming down of everything. Three weeks out from the meet you're still spending time working on little stuff like breakouts and starts. As you get closer to the meet, the key is reducing it to the point of where you're still getting enough practice, but not too much. Another big part of taper is teaching swimmers to listen to their body and what they're body is telling them, on any given day.

What is the ideal race strategy for the 50 & 100 freestyle?

It varies for each swimmer. For the 50- some people can be super successful and not take a breath during the race. Some people can't do this and shouldn't because they start slowing down by trying to not take a breath. Some swimmers are bad at [underwater swimming], so it is crucial that they get up to the surface as quickly as possible after the start. Others are good at underwaters, so for them it's better to stay underwater for as long as they possibly can. Some people naturally accelerate into the wall, but most people slow down when they come into the wall. Learning how to attack the wall and use momentum to slingshot off of the wall is extremely important.

For the 100 it also varies. Some people need to breathe every single stroke, because that creates a rhythm that is comfortable for them. Many successful 100 freestylers get into a better rhythm when they breathe every stroke. Some people just need to go–no building, no easy speed, just start going as fast as they can from the beginning. Most people need to swim smart for the first 50, and there are different ways to do that depending on stroke and rhythm. Some people need to save their legs and not overkick the first part, others can kick all day long and still be fine at the end of the race. So it very much depends on the individual.

Do sprinters need to stay in shape during the off season?

Again, it really depends on the individual. Covid taught us a lot about this. People were out of the water for months and months and months. Coming back from Covid, everyone assumed that people would be so slow and it would be hard to get back into shape. But that wasn't the case. People came back to compete after Covid and still were able to perform extremely well. There were exceptions though–Covid hurt Katie Ledecky because she is someone who needs to swim a lot constantly to stay in shape. So it really depends on the individual and what their body needs.

Are there successful and elite sprinters at non power 5 schools?

My answer is yes. You won't have as many, you're not gonna accumulate 4 or 5 sprint girls or sprint guys to qualify a relay for NCAAs  at a mid major, but it is possible to get 1 or 2 at that level. There were people I coached at William & Mary and at Gardner Webb that made NCAAs and even scored or finaled.

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* Originally published on August 8, 2022, by Sammie Grant