Alberta Masters Provincials Recap & Week 1 Training Recap for Nationals
The Alberta Masters Swimming Provincials at Kinsmen Pool in Edmonton was the best way to celebrate my birthday and close out the month of March 2025. It was a fantastic weekend filled with its highs and lows, helping me achieve the first of many milestones towards the 70.3 Ironman in September. The countdown to Nationals has begun our next major milestone in this endurance-focused year.
Race Results & Reflections
Saturday Events:
- 200m Breaststroke – 2nd Place – 3:19.94 (Added 2.22 seconds to lifetime PB)
- I did not swim this race with as much intensity as I could have. I went into it planning to go at 90% effort to help set me up for a successful 50m Free race immediately following it.
- Around the 125 m mark, I felt my lungs stressed and my arms fatigued, so I needed to dial down my pace for the last three lengths of the pool.
- 50m Freestyle – 8th Place – 31.49 (Masters PB by 0.25 sec)
- These past eight weeks have become apparent due to my heavy focus on sprints and shorter races. A few minor mistakes during this race made me shy about betting on my 18-year-old self and my lifetime best time of 31.13.
- For the next five weeks, I’ll be tightening up my turns and starting to complement the physical work I’m doing in the pool.
- 100m Individual Medley – 4th Place – 1:22.41 (1 second behind lifetime PB)
- This was a tight race, and I was just short of my lifetime best; I am happy with the result.
- For the past four weeks, I have been limiting the amount of backstroke I swim in practice due to how sore it makes my back. The lack of powerful pull and kick was very noticeable in this race.
- I’ll swim more backstroke in the weeks leading up to Nationals.
- 50m Breaststroke – 4th Place – 39.49 (Lifetime PB by 0.32 sec)
- Another race where the sprint and shorter course work is proving its value. This is the only Lifetime Personal Best I achieved at Provincials this year.
- I had a good race, but I made a few mistakes that could have made the difference between 3rd and 4th place—a missed kick after my dive and a turn that was a little too slow overall.
- I will be chasing a sub-39 second time in Saskatoon in May.
Sunday Events:
- 100m Freestyle – 8th Place – 1:14.12 (Masters PB by 2.43 sec)
- Between this race and the two 50m sprints on Saturday, I was thrilled to see the fruits of my labour.
- 50m Butterfly – 5th Place – 35.41 (Masters PB by 0.72 sec)
- I am making solid progress, but I need to build my shoulder strength to help capture all the possible water to propel me through the water. While my kick and cadence were strong, my arms burnt out in the past 15 meters of this race.
- I am under 2 seconds behind my lifetime Personal Best time of 33.72. This will be one of the more challenging goals to accomplish this season.
- 100m Breaststroke – 2nd Place – 1:28.99 (Added 2.22 seconds to lifetime PB)
- While I did have a good start and initial 50m of this race, the second half was filled with minor mistakes and lousy luck draws.
- My second and third turns were not as fast as I would have liked, and the pullouts were weak. With a few missed kicks in that second half of the race, I couldn’t maintain the pace from my first half.
- In the last 15 meters of the race, I made a weird pull that hurt my right shoulder. For those final five cycles, I couldn’t pull to the wall with any force. I finished the race but lost some valuable time with that.
Overall, the weekend was a success, with a few errors that can be easily fixed in the weeks before the Nationals in May. I will focus on building my overall endurance so I can push harder in all of my races in Saskatoon. I will also round out my sprint and short-distance training with some longer-distance pushes to help me improve my 200m Breaststroke time as we chase down a sub-3-minute Personal Best time.
April 1st-5th Training Week
With Provincials wrapped up, it’s time to refocus on my broader goals. This week’s training was designed to transition back into high-effort work while focusing on technique and endurance.
April 1st – Double Session
Noon Workout:
- Warm-Up: 400m swim/kick/pull/swim (Alt. Free & Breast every 100m)
- 400m leg killer kick set
- 2x100m one-arm fly
- 200m breast
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
Evening Workout:
- Warm-Up: 200m swim/kick (Alt. Free & Breast)
- 4x50m reverse IM order smooth swim
- 400m reverse IM pyramid
- 2x100m IM
- 200m breast
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
April 2nd – Double Session
Noon Workout:
- Warm-Up: 400m swim/kick/pull/swim
- 6x100m free @ threshold
- 8x50m breast @ race pace
- 6x25m fly sprint
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
Evening Workout:
- Warm-Up: 300m swim/kick (Alt. Free & Breast)
- 4x100m IM @ threshold
- 6x50m free @ max effort
- 8x25m breast with paddles
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
April 3rd – Double Session
Noon Workout:
- Warm-Up: 500m swim/kick/pull/swim
- 3x100m breast @ threshold
- 6x50m free progressive build
- 6x25m fly sprints
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
Evening Workout:
- Warm-Up: 300m swim/kick (Alt. Free & Breast)
- 4x100m free on 2 min (sub-1:35 goal)
- 8x25m breast with paddles
- 4x50m fly drill/swim
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
April 4th – Single Session
- Warm-Up: 400m swim/kick/pull/swim
- 6x50m breast @ max effort
- 8x25m free with power push-off
- 6x50m fly drill/swim
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
April 5th – Single Session
- Warm-Up: 400m swim/kick/pull/swim
- 2x50m one-arm fly
- 4x25m back with paddles
- 2x50m breast drill/swim
- 4x25m free with paddles
- 2x100m IM
- Cool down: 100m easy kick, 100m easy swim
Takeaways & Next Steps
Recognizing the limited time between provincials and nationals this year, I’ve dedicated the extra time and effort to completing two workouts daily from Mondays to Thursdays until May 5th. At that point, I’ll taper down the distance and overall intensity of my workouts leading into Nationals. This is the perfect first step to help prepare my body for the training and effort it will take to get me ready for the 70.3 Ironman in September.
- Refining transitions—The IM races exposed weaknesses in my backstroke and overall endurance for racing that physically demanding event.
- Building endurance and speed—The freestyle events showed significant progress. I now need to adjust the goalposts and start pursuing the next steps in my plans.
- Maximizing stroke efficiency—Continued minor adjustments in technique, particularly in my breaststroke and butterfly events, will yield big-time drops.
Provincials was an excellent benchmark and tune-up meet for the upcoming Canadian National Masters Championships in Saskatoon. I am excited to see the outcomes from these next 7 weeks of training.