Programme goals for 11-14 years old swimmers

These are the most important years for creating future national level senior swimmers. With their training, swimmers are determining what level of athletes they will be later. During this time, there is a gradual and proggresive buildup in the intensity and volume of training. The training for this age group should have the following goals:

• Place greater emphasis on team culture and swimmers' responsibilities. Because peer influence is huge at this age, coaches must ensure that the group ethos is strong and positive, and they must protect the team culture. Swimmers are expected to behave like champions and set a goood example for the younger swimmers who look up to them. 
• Focus on aerobic development. Swimmers can make huge gains in aerobic capacity with the right kind of endurance work. Training sets get progressively longer, repeat distances get progressively lengthened, send offs get tighter, and performance and consistency of performance are more closely monitored.
• Target certain events for training. For this age group, the target should be longer events than those for the younger group. Focus on the 200s of the form strokes, the 400 m and 800 m  freestyle, and the 400 m IM. Swimmers should not specialize in certain strokes or distances. Training is more frequent and more consistent with shorter breaks between seasons, and swimmers are expected to stay active during breaks.
• Continue technical improvement. Everything you do should have a stroke focus; never just swim. Because most swimmers are growing at furious rates during this time, and the proportional lengths and strengths of limbs and trunk are changing in the process, it is important to maintain coordination and control during this biomechanical restructuring.
• Emphasize the connection between training and racing. As swimmers mature physically and psychologically, continual progress in training performance should be expected. Further, there is a greater focus on tying together technique and physiology as you condition the racing stroke.
• Continue with general dryland training. Most work still involvesbody weight exercises, core strength exercises, stretching for flexibility, and games for coordination, agility, quickness, and competitiveness. 
• Account for gender and individual differences in maturation and development. Girls are generally one to two years ahead of boys biologically during this period, and because of this, more is required of girls earlier. It is important to proceed carefully and not squeeze them dry. As long as these girls keep getting better, there is no need to bump up their training radically and treat them as if they were senior swimmers. Give them a way to get better when they are 16 or 18. With boys, you can afford to move slower. Toward the end of this phase, some of the boys will be growing fast and developing muscles; they are ready to take off. 

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