How They Train: The Workouts of MIT Standout Adam Janicki

Adam Janicki

How They Train: The Workouts of MIT Standout Adam Janicki

A 2019 graduate of George Mason High School in Falls Church, Va., 6-5 Adam Janicki helped lead his Mustangs to the VHSL Class 2 state title. In the process, he set two individual state records in winning the 200 yard IM (1:51.64) and 100 backstroke (50.10). Also a breaststroker on the state champion 200 medley relay, he finished his secondary school career as a five-time state champ.

At MIT, he has only gotten better. He was chosen as the NEWMAC Rookie of the Year in 2020 after notching firsts in the 200 back (1:49.26) and 400 medley relay (49.49 backstroke leadoff), third in the 100 back (49.45) and fifth in the 200 IM (1:51.98).

At this year’s conference championships, he notched five firsts and one third. While COVID torpedoed the 2020 and 2021 NCAA D-III national meets, Janicki was front and center at the 2022 contest, helping the Engineers to a sixth-place team finish. In Indianapolis, he led off the winning MIT 200 free relay (1:19.10) in 20.45 before placing fourth in the 400 medley relay (3:12.47/47.52), fifth in the 100 backstroke (47.30), seventh in the 200 medley relay (1:28.02/22.32) and 10th in the 200 back (1:45.48).

As he enters his senior year, Janicki finds himself a team captain, a five-time CSCAA All-American and holder of two individual MIT records: 100-200 back (47.12, 1:45.16) and a part of three relay marks: 200-400 medley (1:28.00, 3:12.26) and 200 free (1:19.10). “His love of the sport and ability to bring out the best in his teammates will make him a great leader this coming fall,” says his coach, Meg Sisson French.

“Adam came from the small Clark Swim Club in Arlington, Va. Training alongside a handful of national-level swimmers, he learned the importance of a positive attitude and being a good teammate. He brought many of those values with him to MIT,” French says.

“From his very first year, he set a positive, fun and hardworking atmosphere in workouts. After COVID cut short his first year, he was more determined than ever to come back when competition resumed, ready to show everyone of what he—and our program—was made.

“This past year, Adam really took charge of his training. He put in extra work in spring 2021 and throughout the summer, laying a solid foundation for what turned out to be his best season yet.

“Adam is a true student and fan of the sport. He genuinely enjoys talking through small technical details, breaking down race strategy and collaborating on his training plan through each phase of the season. He’s really invested in the process and has a clear plan of what he needs to do to improve at the end of the year. Adam likes to spend most of his time in the backstroke and IM training groups, but he proved this year that he’s a very talented sprinter. He pays great attention to his underwaters, surface kick, stroke tempos and overall power output.

“His favorite sets are off the blocks. Only a couple weeks into this last season, we had our annual ‘King and Queen’ fall competition. We swam 100s of each stroke and a 100 IM, and compiled the times for the top five men and women. Adam was the ’21-’22 champion with a total time of 4:22.76 (100 fly 51.31, 100 back 51.51, 100 breast 58.84, 100 free 48.33 and 100 IM 52.77). It was an impressive showing only a couple weeks into the season.

“Adam also really likes doing race rehearsals from the blocks. As we get closer to championship season, he gets after 200s and 100s—broken and straight—from the blocks. He’s intensely focused on his race strategy and doing everything he can to prepare for the end of the year,” says his coach.

TWO NOVEMBER 2021 SETS

Main Set #1
2x:
• 3 x 200 IM
Round 1: red kick/swim by 25 (descend the swim 1-3 high pink – high red @ 2:45)
Round 2: swim (descend high pink – high red @ 2:35)
• 4 x 75 @ 1:20 (1 FL/1 BK/1 BR/1 FR)
25 under, rest 5 secs., 50 @ 200 race-pace feel
• 6 x 50 @ :45 (2 FL/BK, 2 BK/BR, 2 BR/FR)
• 2 x 100 @ 1:30
#1: FR blue/closing speed!
#2: low pink recovery
Extra 1:00 to regroup before Round 2 & off the block work

• 2x {50 + 25 + 75
50: take out speed from the blocks @ 200/400 IM race-pace feel @ 1:00
25: high red BK @ :25
75: 25 blue BR + 50 low pink FR @ 1:30

Main Set #2
• 2 x 150 (50 red kick/50 swim 3-6 dolphin kicks off each wall/50 drill @ 2:30)
• 6 x 75
1-3: descend pink to high red @ 1:00
4-6: hold high red @ 1:30
• 100 low pink, regroup @ 1:30
• 8 x 25 @ :35
ODD: no underwater – 4 fast cycles, then pink
EVEN: 3-6 dolphin kicks + 4 fast cycles, then pink
Extra 1:00 to regroup
• 2 x 150 (50 red kick/50 swim 3-6 dolphin kicks off each wall/50 drill @ 2:30)
• 6 x 75
1-3: descend pink to high red @ 1:00
4-6: hold blue for best average @ 1:30
• 100 low pink, regroup @ 1:30
• 8 x 25 @ :35
ODD: drill (be intentional!)
EVEN: green!
Extra 1:00 for fins and paddles (pads optional)
• 6 x 75
1-3: descend pink to high red @ 1:00
4-6: hold blue for best average @ 1:30

Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” is in its second printing, and is available from store.Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and distributors worldwide.

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Sheev
Sheev
1 year ago

this is epic

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