Use AquaPlan's free swim workout planner to build custom pool sessions with drag & drop, save them to your library, and export to Garmin FIT or PDF for poolside use.
A swim workout planner removes the guesswork from your training. No more scribbled sets on a coffee-stained notepad, no more forgetting what pace you planned for that 10x100 main set. This guide shows you how to use AquaPlan to build structured sessions, organize your library, and export workouts straight to your Garmin or a printed sheet for poolside reference.
Why You Need a Swim Training Planner Most swimmers who plateau train on feel. They swim hard when they feel good, take it easy when they don't, and wonder why their 100m pace hasn't dropped in six months. A swim training planner forces structure onto your sessions—and structure is how you engineer adaptation. When you write a workout in a planner, you're making decisions before you're tired.
You're setting GA2 intervals at a pace you can sustain, not one you'll chase yourself into failure on. You're building recovery weeks into the plan so you actually recover. You're tracking volume across weeks so you know if you're overreaching or undertraining. AquaPlan's free swim workout planner gives you the drag-and-drop tools to build these sessions in under five minutes.
You can start from a blank pool or pick from 130+ curated plans for everything from 50m sprinters to 10K open water finishers. Either way, you're designing your training with intent. Write your week's workouts on Sunday evening. If you skip this step, you'll default to whatever feels easiest in the pool—and easy swimming doesn't build speed.
Even 15 minutes of planning transforms your consistency. Building Your First Workout: Step-by-Step Open the workout generator and you'll see an empty session builder. The interface has three columns: your interval list (left), the drag-and-drop canvas (center), and your workout summary (right). Start adding intervals from the training zones library.
Here's a 2,400m aerobic maintenance session I'd prescribe for an intermediate swimmer logging 2-3 sessions per week: 8 x 50m (odd: swim, even: kick), 15s rest between Pre-set: 200m TU (Technique) 4 x 50m drills (catch-up, fists, 6-kick single-arm), 15s rest Main set: 1,400m GA2 4 x 200m @2:55/200m pace, 20s rest | 4 x 100m @1:22/100m pace, 15s rest Cool-down: 400m ReKom 8 x 50m easy, 10s rest, focus on bilateral breathing Drag each interval from the zone library into your session.
Adjust distance, reps, and rest directly in the builder. When you're done, hit Save and name your workout—something like "Mon GA2 Aerobic" makes it easy to find later. The builder automatically calculates your total volume (2,400m for this session), shows your zone distribution in a pie chart, and estimates session time based on your target paces.
If you're targeting a 1:30/100m GA2 pace, the tool tells you the session runs roughly 55-60 minutes. Understanding the Nine Training Zones AquaPlan uses nine color-coded zones. You don't need all nine for every session—in fact, most workouts lean on 3-4 zones maximum. Here's what each zone targets: GA1 (Light Blue) — General Aerobic 1 65-75% max HR.
Comfortable conversational pace. 70% of your weekly volume should land here. This is your engine-building base—the equivalent of your easy Sunday run. GA2 (Medium Blue) — General Aerobic 2 75-85% max HR. Threshold territory. You can speak in short sentences but prefer silence. Intervals at GA2 pace (typically 10-15 seconds per 100m slower than your 1500m race pace) build lactate clearance and fat oxidation.
A 2,000m session at GA2 burns roughly 550-650 calories. WA (Orange) — Lactate Threshold / Race Pace 85-92% max HR. Sustained threshold efforts of 800m-1500m. This is where your open water race pace lives. If you're training for a 5K swim, WA intervals should feel exactly like your planned event. SA (Red) — Sprint / Anaerobic 92-100% max HR. All-out efforts under 2 minutes.
SA work develops starting speed, turn explosiveness, and finishing kick. You can't do much of this—4-6 sprints per session, 4-6 sessions per season, is plenty. TU, Drill, Kick, IM, ReKom Technique (stroke drills), pure kick sets, individual medley combinations, and recovery swimming. These zones don't train your engine—they fine-tune the machine.
Skipping them won't hurt your fitness immediately, but your technique will plateau. Saving and Organizing Your Swim Workout Library
