Enter Evil Mutant Swim Coach five point zero

So on the opening Saturday of 2014, and full of resolve and good intentions I roll out of bed at 7:30 am and turn up at Dunston Pool for the first time since May last year. To be faced with of all things :-  a swimming coach!

Now we’ve muddled along at Gateshead with the swimmers just setting the sessions, for longer than I care to remember; but there he was larger than life and clearly eager to earn the distinguished title of Evil Mutant Swim Coach 5.0 (five point zero).

I think one of the pre requisites of being a swim coach is to possess a healthy  streak of sadism and a desire to inflict exquisite pain on your poor athletes flogging themselves up and down the lanes. Actually I understand that sadism is a mandatory module in a level 1 coaching course, and it soon became apparent, that EMSC 5.0 possessed this characteristic in spades. 

Not only that but he had obviously studied my team mates in previous sessions and had identified all of our weaknesses, you know butterfly, medleys, kick or whatever else we usually avoid like the plague because its too boring or too hard or too painful.

Well they were all there and incorporated in that first session much to my horror.  However having someone on the poolside makes a huge difference and although I had gone with the intention of getting out after an hour I survived the full 90 minutes, albeit only just; as the straggler off the back of Lane 2. I even found myself trying quite hard on a 100 IM timed swim towards the end of the session, (I was rewarded with a pants time for an obscene amount of effort.)

350 Free 50 kick, 100 drill, 200 swim
300 back 50 kick, 50 drill, 200 swim
300 brst 50 kick, 50 drill 200 swim
8 x 25's free @ 40 secs build 1-4 & 5-8
350 IM @ 7 min 50 fly,
8 x 50 IM order @ 70 secs
350 Free stroke  @ 70 secs
200 IM @ 4:20
4 x 50's IM  @ 70s
200 free stroke
4 x 50's free
1 x 100 IM timed 1:40
300 swim down
3650 swim down