Road to Huntsman: Recovery Mode with a 100M Breaststroke Focus

Today’s Huntsman training continued the recovery approach I started this week. I again limited the workout to 2,500 meters, but this time the primary objective was the 100-meter breaststroke.

Rather than trying to set another personal training best, the goal was to accumulate quality 100-meter breaststroke efforts while keeping the total training load under control.

The workout included 1,150 meters of breaststroke and 1,350 meters of freestyle. Most importantly, it provided nine dedicated 100-meter breaststroke swims spread throughout the session.

August 12 Workout Summary

Metric	Result
Total Distance	2,500 m
Freestyle Distance	1,350 m
Breaststroke Distance	1,150 m
Total Swim Time	41:31.4
Total Rest Time	8:30.0
Total Session Time	50:01.4
Overall Moving Pace	1:39.7 /100 m
Average Freestyle Pace	1:32.1 /100 m
Average Breaststroke Pace	1:48.5 /100 m

Workout Structure

The first 1,000 meters consisted of alternating 100-meter freestyle and breaststroke repeats. The second portion shifted to alternating 150-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke, followed by short mixed work to finish.

Set	Stroke	Distance	Swim Time	Pace /100	Rest
1	Freestyle	100 m	1:33.85	1:33.85	0:10.57
2	Breaststroke	100 m	1:45.76	1:45.76	0:18.78
3	Freestyle	100 m	1:29.44	1:29.44	0:16.50
4	Breaststroke	100 m	1:46.12	1:46.12	0:23.38
5	Freestyle	100 m	1:29.40	1:29.40	0:18.49
6	Breaststroke	100 m	1:45.12	1:45.12	0:27.60
7	Freestyle	100 m	1:33.01	1:33.01	0:15.67
8	Breaststroke	100 m	1:48.27	1:48.27	0:22.31
9	Freestyle	100 m	1:32.38	1:32.38	0:18.80
10	Breaststroke	100 m	1:47.03	1:47.03	0:22.16
11	Freestyle	150 m	2:18.68	1:32.45	0:19.09
12	Breaststroke	100 m	1:50.26	1:50.26	0:30.88
13	Freestyle	150 m	2:20.00	1:33.33	0:21.67
14	Breaststroke	100 m	1:47.45	1:47.45	0:28.45
15	Freestyle	150 m	2:21.33	1:34.22	0:40.95
16	Breaststroke	100 m	1:48.53	1:48.53	0:19.76
17	Freestyle	150 m	2:21.99	1:34.66	0:21.94
18	Breaststroke	100 m	1:49.33	1:49.33	0:31.91
19–21	Mixed FR / BR	300 m	4:59.31	1:39.77	1:11.37
22	Freestyle	100 m	1:33.32	1:33.32	—
23	Breaststroke	100 m	1:50.86	1:50.86	—

The Main Set: Repeating the 100M Breaststroke

The important numbers today weren’t necessarily the fastest numbers. They were the repeated 100-meter breaststroke performances.

100M Breaststroke	Time	Difference From Best
1	1:45.76	+3.21
2	1:46.12	+3.57
3	1:45.12	+2.57
4	1:48.27	+5.72
5	1:47.03	+4.48
6	1:50.26	+7.71
7	1:47.45	+4.90
8	1:48.53	+5.98
9	1:49.33	+6.78

My current 100-meter breaststroke training best remains 1:42.55 from August 9.

Today’s fastest 100 was 1:45.12, only 2.57 seconds slower than that benchmark. More importantly, three of the first five breaststroke 100s were under 1:47.

That is useful information on a recovery day. I wasn’t trying to produce one all-out 100 and then stop. The objective was to repeatedly return to the 100-meter breaststroke while alternating it with freestyle.

Where Fatigue Appeared

The breaststroke times also provide a clear picture of accumulated fatigue.

The opening breaststroke block was generally in the 1:45–1:48 range. During the second half, most of the dedicated 100s moved toward approximately 1:47–1:50.

That’s a relatively modest decline considering the number of 100-meter breaststroke repeats completed. More importantly, there wasn’t a dramatic collapse in pace.

For a workout designed around recovery rather than maximum performance, that’s probably more useful than producing a single exceptionally fast repeat.

Freestyle Stayed Strong

Freestyle was primarily being used to separate the breaststroke efforts, but the pace remained surprisingly strong.

Across 1,350 meters of freestyle, the average moving pace was approximately 1:32.1 per 100 meters.

The opening five 100-meter freestyle repeats were:

100M	Time
1	1:33.85
2	1:29.44
3	1:29.40
4	1:33.01
5	1:32.38

That’s another indication that reducing total distance this week has not meant losing speed. The workload is lower, but the quality of the swimming remains good.

Updated Huntsman Benchmarks

Today’s workout does not change any of my four official event benchmarks.

Event	Today’s Best Qualifying Effort	Current Best	2025 Bronze	2025 4th
1500M Freestyle	—	24:21.26	25:04.75	25:06.88
800M Freestyle	—	12:40.25	12:32.85	12:56.76
200M Breaststroke	—	3:31.71	3:39.92	4:00.27
100M Breaststroke	1:45.12	1:42.55	1:32.97	1:37.95

Current Gap to the 2025 Medal Standards

Event	Current Benchmark	Gap to Bronze	Gap to 4th
1500M Freestyle	24:21.26	43.49 sec faster	45.62 sec faster
800M Freestyle	12:40.25	7.40 sec behind	16.51 sec faster
200M Breaststroke	3:31.71	8.21 sec faster	28.56 sec faster
100M Breaststroke	1:42.55	9.58 sec behind	4.60 sec behind

Why Today’s Workout Matters

It’s easy to evaluate a workout by asking whether I set a personal best.

That wasn’t the point today.

This is a recovery week following two very large weekend training sessions. The objective is to allow the previous workload to produce adaptation without simply stacking more fatigue on top of it.

Today’s 2,500 meters accomplished that while still providing highly specific training for the 100-meter breaststroke.

I completed repeated 100-meter breaststroke efforts, kept several of them reasonably close to my current best, maintained strong freestyle between them, and stopped the workout at the planned 2,500 meters.

That last part may be as important as anything else.

There was no reason to turn a productive 2,500-meter recovery workout into another 4,000- or 5,000-meter endurance session simply because I felt capable of continuing.

Recovery Week Continues

The pattern this week is becoming clear: less volume without abandoning quality.

Yesterday concentrated on breaststroke with a strong 200-meter effort. Today shifted the emphasis toward repeated 100-meter breaststroke swimming.

Neither workout exceeded 2,500 meters.

That is intentional. The endurance base doesn’t need to be demonstrated every day. Right now the objective is to absorb the previous training, maintain race-specific speed and technique, and emerge from the recovery period ready for the next build phase.

Today’s headline: No new personal best—and that’s perfectly fine. Nine dedicated 100-meter breaststroke efforts, a fastest repeat of 1:45.12, strong freestyle between them, and the discipline to stop at the planned 2,500 meters.