{"id":606641,"date":"2025-03-12T04:34:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T11:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=606641"},"modified":"2025-03-12T04:34:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T11:34:20","slug":"special-sets-the-training-of-jude-burkhart-nbacs-latest-age-group-standout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/special-sets-the-training-of-jude-burkhart-nbacs-latest-age-group-standout\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Sets: The Training of Jude Burkhart, NBAC’s Latest Age-Group Standout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Special Sets: The Training of Jude Burkhart, NBAC’s Latest Age-Group Standout<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Jude Burkhart<\/strong> set two national boys 11-12 marks, one in the 1650 freestyle (16:05.52) and one in the 800-meter freestyle (8:48.44). On top of those NAG records, Burkhart, at the end of the 2023-24 short course season, held the top time in the nation in six short course and nine long course events. Many of these times put him in the top 20 all-time:<\/p>\n

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While Burkhart, who has been with NBAC<\/a> since he was 7, is beginning to make a name for himself nationally, closer to home he is already a known commodity. At NBAC, he holds 11 team 9-10 records and all the 11-12 records except the 50 free, 50 and 100 breast marks. His best SCY 13-14 400 IM time is a 4:05. By comparison, Michael Phelps<\/strong> went 3:56.<\/p>\n

IS PAST PROLOGUE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The financial community is quick to remind us that present performance does not guarantee future results. All of which is to say, for Burkhart, it\u2019s early yet.<\/p>\n

The six-foot Burkhart turned 13 on Halloween, but that hasn\u2019t stopped him from attacking practices and opponents in meets. Says Tom Himes<\/strong>, his current mentor and former coach of future Olympians Michael Phelps<\/strong> and Beth Botsford:<\/strong> \u201cJude is the real deal because he works hard at what he does. There is certainly talent there. He never misses a practice. When he finishes, he asks, \u2018Can I warm down a little longer?\u2019 He is very competitive and doesn\u2019t like to be beaten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that makes him even more amazing is he is not doing anything special from what everyone else is doing. He has those NAG distance records, but we don\u2019t spend a lot of time on distance free. He\u2019s just that good. What we try and do is make everybody good at everything at a younger age.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of years ago, his weaknesses might have been backstroke and breaststroke. We\u2019ve worked on those things a lot. Now he has AAAA times in both the 200 back (1:55.53) and the 200 breast (2:16.96). With some of our better kids, I honestly try not to overdo things, but rather recognize how well they have done\u2014and also how much better they can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a seventh-grader, Jude is not doing doubles or anything crazy from a practice standpoint. He goes six times a week for 1:30-1:45, no 10,000 sets. What makes it special is there is so much more room for him. Next year, he\u2019ll move to our top group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t tried to make him a superstar yet as far as training to make him faster and faster. I\u2019m convinced that if we\u2019d focused on a couple of more things, he could have broken several more NAG records while he was 12. Right now, he\u2019s set to take off at some point because he can do pretty much anything. (Coach) Paul Yetter<\/strong> and I think his 400 IM is going to be pretty awesome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Old School. I used to be into yardage. Now I\u2019ve gone to shorter, more quality stuff. Many of my fly sets are 25s on short intervals. I\u2019d rather have swimmers hold stroke together than push through a 10 x 200 fly set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell our swimmers anybody can make these sets. It\u2019s HOW you swim them. In Jude\u2019s case, he swims them hard all the time. So, yes, we do a lot of fairly fast swimming in our practices.”<\/p>\n

THE FUTURE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine at the next Olympic Trials, he wants to be there. At the rate he is going, it is certainly a possibility,\u201d says Himes.<\/p>\n

Burkhart Best Times (SCY as of 2-19-25)*<\/strong><\/p>\n

* All age 13 except for 1650, 100-200 Breast, 100 IM, when he was 12<\/strong><\/p>\n

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BURKHART WORKOUTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

NBAC coach Tom Himes oversees and explains Jude Burkhart\u2019s workouts:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJude\u2019s road to success is led by his desire to be the best he can be and to not put limits on himself,\u201d says Himes. \u201cHe will pretty much do whatever he is asked…and beyond. Hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence is the fuel that makes Jude the quality swimmer he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur primary focus with all of our swimmers is IM-based. We want each swimmer to excel in each stroke. While Jude has broken two distance-event national records (800 meter free\/1650 yard free), there was no focus on those events.<\/p>\n

\u201cJude trains all strokes each week: generally, one-to-two IM-focused practices, one fly, one back and one breast plus one-to-two free-focus practices per week. Nothing crazy…just fairly simple sets swum fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butterfly<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the fly sets are short distance with fast intervals\u2014lots of 25s and 50s of fly. We\u2019re looking for fast swimming and holding the stroke together. Following are some sets that Jude has done recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

2x:<\/em><\/p>\n