Okay, so they're not actual ladders, but using the idea of rungs as markers between each segment (similar to the concept of the 'property ladder') is a good way to keep fit while swimming, without getting bored. For both amateur and professional swimmers the training can be long and sometimes dull, swimming long distances every day. The swimming ladder breaks down the swim into manageable segments with a short rest break at each rung, with the emphasis on maintaining pace through the distances. A typical ladder for a 1.5km swim might be to do 100, then 200, then 300, 400 and 500 metres in unbroken segments with a short rest period between each segment The idea is that if you slow down at the start you will have enough energy to keep that pace, rather than slow down after a strong start. You can also use the ladder to train for a strong finish by swimming back down it. Starting with 750 metres, on to 400, 200, 100 then 50 metres the idea is that with the benefit and aim of a 5 second rest in between each segment the swimmer will have more energy towards the end of the distance to put to winning in a race situation. Of course, in a competitive situation there would be no time to take a break at each rung, but the swimming ladder is designed to help competitive swimmers focus on each part of a long distance event.

Ladders for Fitness

If you swim for pleasure or to get fit you can also incorporate the ladder into your trips to the swimming pool. Set yourself a goal of a total distance (perhaps 500 metres, which is 20 lengths) then break it down into increasing chunks. Depending on your fitness level you can start with 25 metres, then 50, 50, 75, working your way up to three lots of 100, or even one 100 and a 200 metre segment. The idea of starting off with a shorter distance is to allow the body to warm up. You can set your own rest period and increase or decrease the distances depending on your fitness levels, although the extra stamina that using the swimming ladder gives will probably cause you to increase your distances each time. You can also increase the number of lengths by one each time, building up to a number you can manage. Stopping on a rung and repeating a number of lengths (rather than adding one) is fine, and from there you can climb back down the ladder to warm down. With better stamina you will find that working up a real ladder becomes less tiring and a lot drier!