Editors Note: The following is a letter from John Holohan to VASA, Inc. Company. It is NOT an advertisement, but rather we print it here as an innovative training alternative that we thought our readers would find interesting. John Leonard

"I developed our Vasa Trainer Training routine out of a desire to provide our athletes with the best possible training. Our existing program suffered from many limitations including summer only long course training, twelve hours per week of pool time, winter travel restrictions and no convenient or affordable way to strength train. These circumstances had been adequate to develop junior national qualifiers. However, none of our swimmers had qualified for Senior Nationals, and I sensed that our performances were leveling off. I knew strength training would help, yet I did not want to resort to traditional weight training. I wanted something that was stroke specific. I also felt we needed more time in the water.

I attempted to increase our water time by adding morning practices. The 6:00 AM start time and the 40-minute commute soon proved to be impractical. I reluctantly gave up on morning practices during the school year. These conditions set the stage for developing our Vasa Trainer program.

The Vasa Trainer is convenient, affordable, and specific to swimming and fits almost anywhere. In fact, most swimmers can fit one in their home. I believed that we could use the Vasa Trainers to complete our morning workout in the convenience of each swimmer’s home. I figured we could complete a morning Vasa Trainer workout in the same amount of time we spent in the car commuting to practice and school. I developed a routine which worked on strength, endurance and distance per stroke. It has worked well. Today we think of the Vasa Trainer as our portable pool and weight room.

We began the Vasa Trainer routine with our top sprinter Kim Black. At that time, I had been coaching Kim for seven years. She had just made her first Junior Nationals cut and was highly motivated to make Seniors and the Olympic trial cuts. I purchased a Vasa Trainer, and I put it in Kim’s house. The Vasa Trainer started out in the basement but was soon moved to the living room. Believe me, you know that you have a devoted swimming family when mom lets you put the Vasa Trainer in the living room.

My intention was to use the Vasa Trainer for strength training and as an endurance swimming workout. Therefore, we started with the monorail of the Vasa Trainer set at a low slope and using one stretch cord. This reduced the resistance and allowed Kim to train for longer bouts. Kim started with five minutes of butterfly / 2-arm freestyle stroking. Over a period of months, she built up to 30-minutes of continuous stroking, 3 per week. Once she had adapted to this workload, we increased the slope, decreased the time, and again progressed so she could stroke continuously for 30-minutes. This process has been repeated many times and today Kim trains at a moderate slope with two stretch cords. I use the stretch cords rather than increasing the slope of the monorail because I want to better approximate the swimming position. This routine is the foundation of our Vasa Trainer program.

As we approached the championships and the taper, I reduced the 30-minute sets from three times per week to once a week. I replaced the other two sets with one session per week of power training and one session of stroke count work. The power workout consists of 10 sets of 10 repetitions at the highest possible monorail slope setting that allow the athlete to maintain proper stroke. If the stroke technique deteriorates during the last part of this workout, reduce the resistance.

The stroke count set is based on the number of strokes the swimmer takes in their primary event. They complete ten sets of the desired stroke count. As an alternative, I also have them complete as many strokes as possible within their goal time for their primary event. I alternate the stroke count session and goal time session every other week. As championships approach, I wean them from the Vasa Trainer. Four to six weeks from the championships, they stop using the Vasa Trainer. However, I should note that I individualize as much of our training as possible. This applies to Vasa Trainer workouts. I have had swimmers on Vasa Trainer routines as late as one week before championships.

At the end of her first season on the Vasa Trainer, Kim Black went from 52.8 to 51.1 in the 100 yard freestyle and from 24.7 to 23.78 in the 50 free. She finished second at Juniors East in the 100 and fifth in the 50 yard free. The following season she went 50.3 in the 100-yard and 22.78 in the 50. She qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50 and went 26.45 and finished 17th at trials. I should note that Kim had no long course training the six months before the t trials.

I was impressed with these results and confident that the Vasa Trainer routine was a large part of why Kim had big drops in her times. I have no "scientific proof," but the addition of the Vasa Trainer routine to her training was the only major change we made. I decided I wanted all our athletes using the Vasa Trainer on a regular basis.

The second swimmer with whom I used this method was a 17 year old high school senior who had been stuck at 55.5 in the 100 yard free and 25.7 in the 50 free. Her goal of making Juniors seemed almost unattainable. I started her on the Vasa Trainer program about 7 months before her high school championship. I used the same gradual progression that Kim had used. At the high school championship, she exceeded all our expectations. She went 52.89 in the 100 and 24.44 in the 50 and made Juniors. She also won the high school swimmer of the meet award and set a section record in the 100 free.

Last year was her first college season. Her college program did not include Vasa Trainer training. Her 100 went back to 55 and her 50 to 24.9. Granted, in the first year of college there are many factors other than a change in strength training, which could affect performance. However, this summer we resumed her Vasa Trainer workouts. By the end of the summer, her times began to come back down. As a coach that’s all the proof I need. This year she has continued her routine at school. So far the results are promising. She has already gone faster than last year’s tapered and shaved college championship times.

I have had similar results with all our swimmers that have consistently used the Vasa Trainer workout. The routine is mentally and physically difficult. In fact, one of the unintended benefits of this training program has been increased mental toughness and possibly increased tolerance to pain. These factors have also contributed to improvements in performance.

The following is a summary of the results four of our swimmers have had using our Vasa Trainer routine. I have just started using the routine with male swimmers.