A Look at Past Training Sets of Distance Ace Erica Sullivan

A Look at the Training Sets of Distance Ace Erica Sullivan

One of the feel-good stories of the United States Olympic Trials was the qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo by Erica Sullivan in the 1500-meter freestyle. Representing the Sandpipers of Nevada, Sullivan put together a career-best performance to finish as the runnerup to Katie Ledecky, and earn the opportunity to race in the inaugural 1500 freestyle for women at the Olympics.

Bound for the University of Texas, Sullivan has dealt with the death of her father and mental-health issues. Her willingness to shed light on personal and difficult topics serve as a reminder to other athletes that it is okay to reach out for help, and they do not have to sit back without support.

Sullivan has long been coached by Ron Aitken of the Sandpipers, whose athletes shined at Trials in Omaha. In addition to placing Sullivan on the Team USA roster, Aitken guided Katie Grimes and Bella Sims to Tokyo berths. Here is some of the training that Aitken designed for Sullivan during her development into a distance-freestyle star.

The training was shared with longtime Swimming World contributor Mike Stott and focused on stroke count.

Long Course
1) 3-5 rounds
3 x 100 freestyle on 1:30; holding time (1:14 1:16). Max DPS 36-38 Strokes
1 x 100 freestyle on 1:30; holding time (1:10-1:06). Max DPS 44-46 Strokes

“Her stroke is high (often 50 per lap) and we want to keep the rate up while improving the number of strokes taken without losing the rate,” Aitken said.

2) 2-3 rounds
6 x 100 freestyle on 1:30, followed by a 400 freestyle for time. On the 6 x 100 freestyle, Sullivan
concentrates on descending time while trying to maintain a consistent stroke count. The 400 free
is as fast as possible.

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