If you’re a sprinter, open water may be the last thing on your mind. We’re here to change your mind — you can still get some great speed work done in a lake, river or ocean!
Join Fares and his swim buddy Bordy for a fun, 1,000-meter super sprint workout!
Watch the Video
Listen to the Podcast
Related: How to Put on a Wetsuit
The Workout

Before hopping in the water, Fares and Bordy did a quick dynamic warmup that included arm swings, arm circles and some other stretches to get their blood flowing. If you’re swimming in cold water, a warmup is especially important!
Related: 5 Tips for Beginner Open Water Swimmers

The guys kept their swim short to ensure they maintained solid technique and stroke rate throughout the workout. They picked 2 buoys that were about 30 meters apart and swam a few sets of 60 meters nice and smooth to start, with a longer break between reps. Next, they mixed it up with a few sets of breaststroke and backstroke, followed by a few sets of 30 meters build.
They finished with speed work and dives off the pier for a total of about 1,200 meters!

Related: How to Start Open Water Swimming After 3 Months Off
Fares tracked the workout using the MySwimPro app on his Apple Watch. He was able to see real-time distance, heart rate and average pace to stay on track!

Are you a sprinter who has tried open water swimming? What’s your favorite workout? Let us know in the comments! Download the MySwimPro app for swimming training plans, open water swimming tips and more!
4 Comments
Do you know what the calorie burn is for a 5000m freestyle Masters swim is? It takes me about 1:22 minutes.
Hi Ed,
It depends on a lot of factors including the intensity of the workout, the strokes you did, and your age/weight. If you track your workouts with a smartwatch, you can enter that data and it will calculate calories for you!
Is something wrong with his watch why does it say 5 minute pace for a 100.
Sometimes when we’re filming, we have to take longer breaks to get footage! Also, short sprints with long rest can cause average 100 pace to slow down simply due to the long rest time. Hope this helps!