USRPT in swimming: short race-pace repetitions and what the sources say
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What it is
According to the review, a USRPT session usually has 20 to 50 repetitions over 15–100 m (5–70 s) at the speed of the swimmer’s best race performance, with 15–25 s rests.1
Illustrative example from the source
A typical example reported by the review, attributed to Rushall: 20 × 50 m at 200 m race speed with 20 s rest. Work volume is 1000 m. It is not a prescription: in the method, if the swimmer cannot hold the set speed (a “failure”) the next repetition is skipped; three failures, or two in a row, end the set.1
The stated principles
| Principle | How Rushall describes it (as reported by the review) |
|---|---|
| Specificity | Race-specific technique, psychology and conditioning. Technique at race speed is the most important part. |
| Overload | The number of repetitions is raised first, then the speed. |
| Recovery | The session adapts to the individual: a failure gives more recovery by skipping a repetition. |
| Individuality | The number of repetitions depends on the swimmer. |
These are the statements of the method’s author.1
What the review says
- Of 1347 studies found, 15 were read in full and all were excluded because the intervention was not USRPT.
- Rushall’s literature on his own site was not peer reviewed and, for the authors, largely anecdotal.
- For the authors USRPT is a derivative of high-intensity training (HIT), for which studies exist: an earlier review found 7 studies, 6 with physiological improvements and 4 with performance improvements, but mostly short (4–6.5 weeks).
- National and international level swimmers do about 6–16% of training as HIT; the rest is low and moderate intensity, strength and other work.
The authors suggest using USRPT as one method inside a periodized programme, not as a replacement for everything.1
More recent studies
Later work measures acute responses to a single session: for example 20 × 25 m at 100 m pace raised lactate to 13.6 mmol/L and heart rate to 188 bpm, and a USRPT-like session gave lower lactate than 10 × 100 m. These are responses to one session, not proof that the method works better over time.2
Limits and safety
- For young swimmers, the volumes the author gives (3–7 sessions a week for ages 8–12, 8–9 for 14 and over) are judged by the review as potentially harmful: repeated high-intensity fatigue raises the risk of dropout and overtraining.
- Events of 200 m and longer depend heavily on the aerobic system; only the 50 m and 100 m are mainly anaerobic.
- There are two sources: a 2019 review and a later study on acute responses (18 swimmers around 13 years old). No search was made for newer studies on long-term performance.
Sources
- Nugent, Comyns, Kearney, Warrington, Ultra-short race-pace training (USRPT) in swimming: current perspectives, Open Access J Sports Med, 2019. full text. Read.
- Comparison of Ultra-Short Race Pace and High-Intensity Interval Training in Age Group Competitive Swimmers. PMC10537129. Read in part (introduction, discussion, conclusions).
Sources read on 29 October 2026.