The Swim Sprint Intervals is a expert-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the lats, middle back and chest, with the shoulders, triceps, abdominals and quadriceps working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesLats, Middle Back, Chest
Secondary musclesShoulders, Triceps, Abs, Quads
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelExpert
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Swim Sprint Intervals
Warm up with easy swimming and a few build efforts before the first sprint repeat.
Start each repeat from the wall and accelerate to full speed within the first few strokes.
Hold a high stroke rate while still pressing the hand and forearm straight backward on every stroke.
Keep the head steady and breathe as little as the distance allows without losing form.
Finish the repeat at full effort into the wall rather than easing off over the last meters.
Take the full prescribed rest, then repeat for the planned number of sprints.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Drives the anaerobic contribution that short freestyle events depend on.
Produces higher blood lactate than a continuous swim of comparable distance.
Trains speed and turnover under fatigue while remaining a non-impact activity.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Letting stroke length collapse as rate climbs, which raises effort without raising speed.
Cutting the rest short, which turns a sprint set into a moderate threshold swim.
Breathing every stroke through a short sprint, which disrupts body position and slows the swim.
Sprinting before the shoulders are warm, which loads the pull muscles hard from cold.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Swim Sprint Intervals, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
