Repeat Test Sets and T-30 Tests are the two categories of test sets.
Recording Repeat Test Sets
Repeat Test sets are performed in practice by athletes for several reasons. If done well, they give athletes confidence that they are improving and will do well in a meet. Depending on the rest interval in the test set, they provide either a high intensity anaerobic lactate tolerance workout set (such as 6 x 100 on 8:00) or a high intensity aerobic set (such as 20 x 100 on 1:05). They provide a "ball park" predictor of future performance.
The test set module is designed to allow you to record the set times for any test set that you may wish to administer. There can be an unlimited number of repeats in a set, and the interval can be anything, with a minimum time of 5 seconds.
To set-up a test set, click on Test Sets from the Training Menu, and then click on the Add Icon. A pop-up menu will allow you to enter the date for the test set, the number of repetitions, the distance of each repeat, the interval, the stroke, push-off or dive, and a 25 character remark about the test set. Each test can have an unlimited number of athletes.
If your test set is one of the standard test sets, meet performance predictions are displayed based on the average time for the entire set.
Standard Test Sets and Predicted Time
6 x 50 on 2 from a push-off 100 time
5 x 100 on 3 from a push-off 200 time
6 x 100 on 8 from a dive 100 and 200 time
6 x 200 on 8 from a dive 500 time
20 x 100 on 1:05 from a push-off 1650 or 1500 time
Caution: The predicted times must be used carefully. The first two test sets and the fifth (thanks to Bob Steele of US Swimming) are generally used in season about one week before a meet to predict the "in season" meet time. The third and fourth come from Jon Urbanchek at University of Michigan and are based on Elite College Men. They will not be as accurate for women or age groupers. The two standard dive sets are designed for predicting a shaved and tapered time using the best average before the 3 to 6 week taper begins.
You can also enter a heart rate progression and 40 character comment for each athlete. Typical heart rates to record are for ten second counts starting 10 seconds, 40 seconds, and 1 minute and 10 seconds after the last repeat. After entering an athlete's repeats and other data, you can preview and/or print a report of the test set.
Click Here for information about the Test Sets Report.