12 days of Christmas set

I (Manda) first did this training session in December 2013 with Marsha from RG Active. We didn’t make it through the full set as we only had an hour in a 36m pool but December 2014 came around and Team Mermaids and friends decided to give it another go down London fields.

London fields is 50m so the set would come to 3900m (see distance for other pool lengths below) but with the promise of a team pasta dinner post swim we were optimistic of success. We arrived at London Fields to cries of the boiler being broken. There were chants of ‘to the pub we go’ but Katie was heavily pregnant and I was driving so despite the estimated 18 degrees water temp and 0 degrees with a gale winds air temperature we resolved to solider on. This was during the winter pool challenge of 2014/2015 so secretly I was thinking I only have to do 1km then can admit defeat. I think I made it to 1600m and ran to the embrace of a warm shower. Apparently Katie hadn’t seen me escape and upon finding out that I had got out a few minutes earlier she was less than supportive 😉

What is the set:
Well the carol goes like this…

On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

And so on until you get to the 12th day of Christmas.

You do 1 length for each gift the person got in the carol per day so as the carol goes on you build by adding the next choice/gift to that day/block. You then just have to choose a stroke/drill etc for each day.

Block (Day) 1: Choice 1

Block (Day) 2: Choice 2, Choice 1

Block (Day) 3: Choice 3, Choice 2, Choice 1

Block (Day) 4: Choice 4, Choice 3, Choice 2, Choice 1

All the way through to:

Block (Day) 12: Choice 12, Choice 11, Choice 10, Choice 9, Choice 8, Choice 7, Choice 6, Choice 5, Choice 4, Choice 3, Choice 2, Choice 1

Partridge in a Pear Tree

So how do you decide what to do each length:
We have done it one of 2 ways. Either decide and write down before going to pool. Or take it in turns to choose what you are going to do for each length. Warning: this can lead to people getting a bit carried away or sadistic (Brian!!!!)

Some ideas for lengths:
· Free
· breatstroke
· backstroke
· butterfly
· Single arm fly
· 3-6-3 drill (three strokes, kick on your side for a count of six, three strokes)
· single arm free
· catch up
· catch up + 10
· pull
· kick
· doggy paddle
· fists
· finger trail
· polo
· zipper drill
· tap float drill
· Various breathing patterns

How far:
It is 78 lengths in total (not taking into consideration any warm up or swim down you might want to do). So this is how far the set is depending on what distance pool you are swimming in…

25m -> 1950m

30m -> 2340m

33.3m -> 2600m

50m -> 3900m

Christmas 2015:
This year we headed off to Crystal Palace to complete it with Brian, Paul and Lisa. Here is what we did and what we ate in celebration 😀